Chapter 33 #2
Scout looks at her and shakes her head like she still can’t believe it. “Oh, he absolutely did. I was mortified. When Franco finally opened the door, poor Gem had her tank top on backward, and her hair looked like she’d been wrestling a bear.”
“It is kind of like wrestling a bear.” Gemma’s devilish laugh bubbles up. “I forgot all about that.”
“I don’t know how,” Scout says with a chuckle.
“Probably because I met my bestie that day,” Gemma says sweetly.
Scout smiles. “We did.”
Gemma looks around the table. “Long story short, tonight’s kinda felt like that, don’t you think? The boys are getting on, but I feel like us girls have a connection.”
“I think so. I also think you should have another margarita,” Scout says.
“Defo.” Gemma picks up her almost-empty glass and hands it to Scout. “Go on, then.”
Scout tips her chair back to grab the pitcher on the table behind her and tops Gemma off.
“You’re right, Gem.” She looks at us while Gemma takes the glass that’s filled to the top with two hands and brings it directly to her mouth, so she doesn’t spill any.
“We need to all stay in touch when you go home.”
“Agreed,” Audrey says. She raises her glass. “To new friendships.”
We all repeat after her and clink glasses.
“So, how long have you all known each other?” I ask Scout, Gemma, and Audrey.
“I met Audrey about nine years ago. She hired me as her assistant at her advertising firm and gave me a place to live when I moved from New York. And Gemma and I met about six months later when she and Franco started dating. As you can imagine, I fell in love with them both instantly.”
“Were you already dating Gus when you started working for Audrey?” Lola asks.
She grabs a peanut butter cookie from the plate in the middle of the table and breaks it in half before taking a bite. “God no, we couldn’t stand each other back then.”
Lola rubs her hands together. “Enemies to lovers, my favorite trope.”
“Really?” I ask. “You guys are perfect for each other. Watching you tonight, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple more in tune. Seriously, the man looks at you like you hung the moon. It’s cute.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” Audrey agrees, and it’s obvious she adores Scout.
Gemma takes a cookie too and says slyly, “Speaking of in tune and hung the moon, how long have you and Ever been together? Because the way he looks at you? That boy is smitten.” She overenunciates smitten like it’s two separate words.
“It’s the eye contact, isn’t it?” Lola asks, nodding.
Gemma’s already big, blue eyes widen in agreement.
“Yes. I’ve never seen anything like it. Swear to God, watching the two of you have a conversation tonight, the eye contact was so intense I felt myself blushing.
And possibly getting pregnant, which is a miracle because I don’t even have a uterus anymore. ” She fans herself with her free hand.
Lola claps conspiratorially.
I cover my face with my hand.
Gemma reaches over and grabs my wrist to lower it.
“Don’t hide. Own it. Christ, it was hot.
You’re two attractive people who are properly into each other.
Not to mention the age gap. As the older woman in my own relationship, I fucking love it.
” She finally takes a bite of the cookie and asks, “How’d you meet? ”
When I go to cover my face again, Gemma’s deep chuckle rumbles. “Oh, there’s a good story behind this one. Let’s hear it. Scout’s already told you all she heard me shagging the first time we met; it can’t be more embarrassing than that.”
“You want me to tell it?” Lola asks.
“Go on,” I say, because I know this version will be entertaining.
“This is crazy. Soph and I went to see Ever and Jesse play, and she posted photos from the show afterward. She’s an awesome photographer, by the way. Some random guy comments on her post, and they start messaging and instantly click.”
“Because you meddled,” I add.
“It’s who I am, you can’t fight DNA,” Lola says, matter-of-factly, and everyone laughs.
“Oh, I like you even more now,” Gemma says, still smiling.
“Little did she know that the guy she’s getting flirty with is Ever—”
Gemma stops her. “Wait, did he not have photos of himself on his profile?”
Lola shakes her head. “Nope. And this one,” she jabs a thumb at me, “never posts photos of herself online either. Not one fucking selfie.”
“So, you’re chatting with no clue who the other person is? He could’ve been seventy and lived in the Arctic Circle,” Scout says.
We must be more alike than I realize because that’s almost the exact thought I had back then. “Clueless. He just made me laugh. And I made him laugh.”
“That’s so sweet,” Audrey says with a tilt of her head.
Lola continues with the story. “Then she gets invited to go out on tour with the band as a photographer. Sparks fly—”
Scout leans forward in her seat. “Wait. Did you know Ever was the mystery guy online when you agreed to do the tour?”
I shake my head. “No. I still had no idea. We’d only been messaging for a few weeks at that point.”
A smile grows on Scout’s face, she’s invested. “You were attracted to Ever in person? When you got out on the road with him?”
I take a gulp of my margarita to finish it and then nod. “Obviously. Impossible not to be when the man looks like that.”
Gemma sighs next to me in solidarity. “Was it the tattoos? Franco’s tattoos were the reason I agreed to have a drink with him the first night we met. Looked so naughty, I couldn’t say no. I’m a sucker for tattoos. And a good sense of humor, he did make me laugh.”
“I mean, I do love his tattoos, but he’s funny, and he’s thoughtful, and he’s talented.”
Lola smirks. “And those abs, and that face, and those dimples.”
“Those too. And he has great hands,” I concede with a smile. “Ever checks every box for me.” I hand Scout my glass. “Can you top me off, please?”
She takes it and gladly gives me a refill. “Were you also attracted to him online before you knew who he was?”
Taking my glass back, I say, “Thanks. I don’t make friends easily, never have, but he was different. Like Lola said, we just clicked. So, yeah.”
“Shut your mouth, you do make friends easily. Look at us,” Gemma says. “Plus, you’ve won Scout over. Only unicorns get past this one’s defenses.”
Scout shrugs in unapologetic agreement. I wish I had her confidence.
Lola adds, “Soph’s being honest. She doesn’t. Ever, Jesse, and you guys are anomalies.”
“Nothing wrong with that. You’re good at seeing through bullshit.” Scout states it like it’s something she already knows to be true. “I love that.”
“Like you,” Gemma adds.
“Took me a long time to get there,” Scout says, before she jumps back into the story. “So, you fell for two different men, one in-person and one online, but they were both Ever?”
“Three men,” Lola corrects, and when everyone looks at her, she wiggles her eyebrows.
Audrey crosses her arms on the table and leans in. “The plot thickens.”
“Treachery’s Riot. Raven is Soph’s ultimate fantasy,” Lola says with a knowing smirk.
“Shut. Up.” Gemma is stunned.
I nod and take a gulp and then lick my sticky thumb. “It’s true. Mask and all, he just does it for me.”
Scout and Gemma look at each other, and their eyes go comically wide before they burst out laughing. It’s the kind of laughter you can’t hold back when something’s taken you completely by surprise.
“Holy shit,” Scout mouths at the same time Gemma claps and squeals, “That’s fucking brilliant.”
“Wait, I’m lost. You’ll have to excuse me, because I should’ve stopped the margarita before last and I’m still a bit jet lagged from our trip, but isn’t that the band Gracen loves?” Audrey asks.
Scout nods. “That’s the one.”
“And Raven is?” Audrey asks almost timidly, like she’s embarrassed to not know.
“Their singer and lead guitarist. He’s gifted, like on a different level gifted. Think Gus, but he also plays drums,” Scout says. I’m impressed; she’s done her research. “His videos are on the agenda for tomorrow morning’s meeting.”
“I love it when he does the screamy thing. Gives me chills.” Gemma rubs her arms.
“Gives me more than chills,” I add with a wink. These margaritas are doing a number on me.
“Ever is Raven,” Lola clarifies for Audrey.
Who slow blinks, astonished. “You literally fell for three different versions of the same man?”
I nod.
Her smile widens in amazement. “If that’s not kismet, I don’t know what is.”
Gemma touches the sides of her head and snaps her fingers apart to mime an explosion. “Mind. Blown. What are the odds?”
“Right?” Lola asks, smiling.
“Sometimes truth is so much better than fiction,” Scout says, and a softer side of her peeks through.
“You live in Colorado?” Gemma asks.
“We do,” I answer. “Lola, Benji, and I live in a little house in the suburbs of Denver. It’s the same neighborhood we grew up in. We rent from Mabel, and she lives in a tiny home in the backyard.”
“Built-in grandma, mom, life coach, and instigator of fun slash trouble,” Lola adds.
“Mabel’s a hoot. Speaking of truth being better than fiction, she’s lived a vibrant life, hasn’t she? She said in the late sixties she danced on Broadway for a year,” Audrey says.
“Broadway is one of the tamer stories. That was after she dated a mobster, but before she lived in a commune in San Francisco. She’s truly done it all,” I add with a laugh.
“She mentioned you started a baking channel online.” Audrey looks at Lola and grins. “I bet there’s never a dull moment between the two of you.”
“Gus said something about it the other day too. When I pressed him for details, he didn’t have any but said he was going to film something with you while you were here. You do realize where Gus goes, Franco goes? That’s bedlam,” Scout warns.
Lola grins. “Mabel’s very persuasive, so we’re counting on it. I’m not sure they stand a chance of backing out now.”