14. EVERLEE – KNOX IN THE BOX
EVERLEE – KNOX IN THE BOX
Beckett walks over to me with a shit-eating grin spread across his face, and my stomach turns with a combination of fear and excitement.
“What have you done?”
His brows furrow. “Why do you think I did something?”
With a pointed finger, I gesture towards his face, making a circle with my hand to emphasize my words. “Your face.”
“Is beautiful? Handsome? I think you left out a descriptor or two.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing,” he whines.
Tilting my chin down, my eyes lock on his.
“Oh fine. I may have grabbed an extra egg from the house this morning and brought it with me.”
“Why?”
“I plan to throw it into the mix when we’re doing our egg toss with the guys.”
“You aren’t going to cheat.”
“No. Never. I just plan on throwing it at Knox in the middle to confuse him a bit.”
“Beckett.”
“Everlee.”
“That’s cheating. You can’t do that. One, because I won’t ever hear the end of it, and two, because you’re better than that.”
“I wasn’t doing it to cheat. I just genuinely enjoy screwing with Knox. He’s almost like a jack-in-the-box. You know what’s going to happen when you keep poking him, but it still excites you every time.” He laughs. “A Knox in the box!”
“It sounds like you’re describing Jax.”
“He’s just scary. Like if the jack-in-the-box had a scary twin that no one knew about called Gack. He pops out with a knife in his hand.” Beckett holds his hand up like he’s gripping a knife and bobbles his body back and forth like a jack-in-the-box on a spring.
“What are you both talking about?” Jax asks, walking up with a boy beside him.
“Nothing,” Becketts says too quickly.
Jax’s brows peak, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Who’s this?” I ask, changing the subject for Beckett’s sake.
“This is Mason.”
“Oh! Mason!” I smile and hold my hand out to shake his. I thought hugging him may seem a little too forward or awkward since I’ve technically never met him.
“You’re Everlee?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
“No funny ideas. She’s already taken.”
“It’s a pleasure meeting you. I’ve heard so much about you.” I smile.
Jax seems to have taken a special interest in Mason. After their conversation on the log last year, Jax felt a need to stay in touch. He hasn’t said exactly what is driving it, but I haven’t asked. It’s not something that needs to be explained. I think it’s sweet he’s developing a relationship with this boy. I don’t know what it’s like to be raised in the foster system. The uncertainty about where you’ll be, who will keep you, or if your parents will come back and get you. The hope they will, or maybe they won’t.
We haven’t talked much about Mason’s situation, only that he’s been in the system since he was five and has moved around to four different homes. Apparently, at first, it was because he was hard to manage, but as he’s gotten older, the other moves were because the foster parents didn’t want to do it anymore, or wanted younger kids, or who knows the reason.
Jax seems to think the house he’s in now is where he’ll finish out. From what Jax has said, Mason is a good kid. Smart. Though I’m not sure how much he knows about us. How do you tell a boy that? Do you even tell him? I guess it’s something we should figure out if we’re going to have kids or will it just be natural when it’s our own?
Tightness clenches at my chest for a second as worry flutters through me like a dark butterfly spreading uncertainty.
No. This will be good. This is what we all want and it will be good.
“If you all don’t mind, Mason is going to hang with us for the day,” Jax continues, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Absolutely.”
“I’m Beckett.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Ev’s cool, younger brother.”
“Typically, if you have to say it, it’s not true,” Jax jokes.
Beckett grabs his chest. “That hurts.”
“What’s going on over here?” Emmett asks, walking over with Knox and Lizzy.
When I look over their shoulder, Tony, Will, and Callum are talking about something.
“Nothing much,” Jax says.
Before he can finish the last syllable, Lizzy has her hand out. “Hi, I’m Lizzy.”
“Hi Lizzy,” Mason chuckles, and his eyes shift to Jax.
“This is the other thorn in my side,” Jax adds, and Mason laughs.
“That is one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said to me.” Lizzy rests her hand on his shoulder. “It’s obviously symbolic of how you know I will never leave your side because I’ve embedded myself into everything that is part of you. And!” She points her finger in the air. “What has thorns? A rose. You are calling me a rose. So sweet,” she chirps, then wipes away an invisible tear.
Mason laughs and Jax reprimands. “Don’t. You’ll only encourage her.”
Every time I see a rose, all I can think about are the rose vibrators she purchased for me when I was in the hospital.
So many vibrators.
My mother calls out on the microphone that the egg toss is going to start in a few minutes, so we all walk over to that area of the field.
Knox stops suddenly and turns around, placing his hand on Mason’s shoulder. “I did something to my arm earlier.” He grabs it and rotates his shoulder, wincing in pain. “Would you mind taking my place with Jax for the egg toss?”
He’s lying. He’s been talking about retribution for losing last year for almost a month.
His eyebrows peak on his forehead as he waits for Mason to answer. “Please? It would take a lot of pressure off of me.”
“Ok,” Mason says softly, eyes darting to each of us for a second.
Knox perks up and claps, then immediately grabs his wrist.
Mason cuts his eyes at Jax, but doesn’t say anything.
“I’m going to go check on the pups and cheer for you from the sidelines. Take them down!”
“Who are you cheering for, exactly?” I pop my hip out with a tone full of sass.
“You, of course, my darling.”
He blows a kiss, then walks up the small hill to where the pups are playing in their pen. A minute later, Tony is walking down to meet Lizzy.
“Where’s Knox going?”
“He hurt his arm, so he’s going to sit with the pups and Mason here is going to fill in for him,” Jax says.
Mason laughs. “We all know his arm isn’t hurt, right? That he was pretending?”
The crowd laughs. Jax had mentioned this kid was sharp.
A few minutes later, we’re taking our places. This year they picked a different part of the field which is longer, allowing for all the groups to go at one time.
Mom takes her spot on the microphone and goes through the rules, then hands out all the eggs. Same as last year, throw on the whistle and back up in five-foot increments.
Beckett and I move further down the field, putting several couples between us and the guys and Lizzy because we don’t want any shenanigans. Not going to lie. I was a little nervous Beckett was going to leave me on my own this year and want to play with Will, but thankfully Will said he didn’t want to participate. Plus, we have the family tradition to uphold and need to win back our trophy.
The horn blows and I toss the egg first. I made the change from last year so Beckett would be on the receiving end of the first long throw. Out of the twenty or so teams, two exit on the first round. By the time we get to twenty-five feet, there are ten teams left. An uncomfortable number because we didn’t get much further last year. All the couples are still standing in their original positions, so we’re fairly well spread out. There is one couple between us and Lizzy and Tony. Jax and Mason are beside them, and then Callum and Emmett are further down.
They also separated from the pack.
The whistle blows and I toss the egg. It’s cutting through the air with a little too much speed. My hands curl by my lips and my right leg pulls up to my chest as I cringe. Beckett scoots back, following the arc and scoops it, and hops away from me, lifting his hands into the air. It’s quite the spectacle.
My lungs burn, searching for a breath as I wait to see if it cracked.
He thrusts his fist into the air and goes into a star pose. The crowd erupts and even mom mentions the catch. Beckett gives a bow, and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
Lizzy walks over and whispers, “Give ‘em hell.”
When I look at her, she has egg running down her neck and chest.
“Oh, sis.”
“If only I were a freaking fairy like your brother…”
There are only four teams left. The guys, a couple I don’t know, and us. It feels oddly reminiscent of last year. We take our steps back, increasing the distance to thirty-five feet. The wind stops blowing, and the crowd is silent. The only noise is the gentle lap of the water on the shore's edge just behind us.
My eyes lock on Beckett as my pulse thumps like a drum in my ears. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to catch an egg so badly in my life before. My gaze cuts down the line and I see Emmett and Jax both on the opposite side of me, preparing to toss the egg to Mason and Callum. Jax tosses me a quick wink that sends a heat through my core.
“Focus, sister,” Beckett commands.
“Try to toss it straight this time.”
“I have problems with straight,” he says with a sassy head bobble.
The whistle blows, and the egg is up in the air. It feels like seconds pass as I watch it hang there, trying to measure the speed and the angle of descent. I take a few steps forward, bend the knees, readying myself, running through all the things one should do, not to end up with egg on them.
I hear an egg crack and the crowd moan, but I can’t look. I need to stay focused. Three… two… one. The egg rockets into me and I cup my hands around it, swinging them backward, letting it lead me to the ground as I cradle it, praying it doesn’t crack. I just need to hold on.
My elbow cries out in pain as it hits the hard ground first, followed by my hip, and then my head. Rolling over to my stomach, I open my hand and find the egg sitting there, uncracked.
Relief pours through me. I don’t know how much life this egg has left and I’m just glad it’s not me on the other side of the forty-foot throw.
When I hold it up, I look up and see Callum walking by with an egg on his face and I choke back a laugh. His eyes glimmer as he tosses me a wink. “Missed it by just this much.” He holds his fingers up to show a small space between his thumb and index.
The other couple is also eliminated, so now it's just Mason and Jax, Beckett, and me.
My mom asks if we want to move closer together and Beckett and I yell out no at the same time. We’re in a good spot. A lucky spot. Pretty sure I left elbow skin on the ground for that catch. I’ve marked it and we’ve become one. One with the earth. One with the egg.
When Mason and I look behind us to take another step back, we realize there’s no marker.
Mom laughs. “Right. Well, we didn’t think anyone would make it past this point. But I suppose I underestimated the competitive spirit of my children.” She laughs again. “Let’s do this.” Her finger strokes her chin as she thinks up something on the fly.
This should be good.
“Let’s move back to ten feet. You will all need to spin in a circle until I say stop, and then I will blow the whistle for you both to toss the egg.”
We’re fucked.
Jax chuckles and I shoot him a stink eye. He knows I don’t do well spinning in circles.
How do we know this with such certainty you ask? On Valentines, the guys thought it would be fun to spin in circles on the swing until the straps were tight, then let me go.
They let me go, and (warning), I let my dinner go. I was like Elsa, but instead of shooting out ice, I was… well… I think you get the picture. Not my proudest or sexiest moment. It was a great way to top off the evening and what’s best is the circle of mirrors caught it all. Ever puke while looking at yourself in the mirror?
A shiver moves up my spine just thinking about it.
“Let’s go Ev!” Knox yells from the sidelines, clapping his hands. He’s standing beside the others, laughing.
Fucker wants to see what will happen to me again.
“Be a ballerina Ev!” Beckett shouts. “Spot, or whatever it is they do.”
“I’m not a ballerina, Beckett!”
“No shi…takes! No shitake mushrooms… were in my store… this week?”
“What?”
I can hear Lizzy call him an idiot off to the side.
He bats his hand. “Don’t puke.”
Blowing a few rapid breaths out of my mouth, I psych myself up.
You can do this.
“Spin!”
We all start spinning, moving at about the same pace. No one wants to spin faster than the others. I try to spot, though I don’t really know how to. But I do what I can and I’m certain I look like an ostrich on a merry-go-round, whose necks stays a little too long in one spot while the rest of the body keeps moving.
I have confirmation a moment later when I hear Lizzy laughing. Hard. Like the kind of laugh you know, she is bent over and grabbing her stomach and there are tears in her eyes.
Twat face.
“Stop!” my mom yells.
We all stop and I wobble from side to side for a moment. I feel Jax’s eyes on me and when I look up, his gaze is hard. He’s watching me like he’s waiting to run to my rescue, which makes me love him even more.
“Ready! Toss!”
We throw the egg and it’s a little wobbly on the exit, but Beckett dashes to the side to catch it.
Fiddlesticks and biscuits! Of course, Mason executed it perfectly.
“Well, let’s back up to the next spot and repeat.”
“No,” I whimper out.
Lizzy’s laughing only gets louder.
“Spot,” Beckett encourages.
“For the love of God, will you stop telling me to spot!”
Jax laughs and I want to stomp across the field and punch him in the throat. And then fuck him, because… well, why not?
We spin, we stop, and I wait. I’m going to mess up. We’re going to lose and I’m going to get covered in egg. We have tossed that egg around too many times for it to not have little cracks. Damn it!
“Toss!”
Shit! Shit! Shit! It’s coming through the air, hurling at me. Great execution. It’s getting closer. Shit, fuck, motherass! It’s too fast. Too fast. Damn it! I freeze and cross my arms over my face and scream out.
Thwack! The egg magically misses all parts of my arms and smacks me right in the forehead. A sharp sting radiates over my face before the ooze of the egg does.
The crowd is silent.
What happened?
“What happened?” Beckett asks, looking stunned.
“Well, I guess that’s a way to finish the game,” Mom teases and laughs awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
“You ok?” Jax asks, walking over, grabbing my elbow, before he scoops a blob of egg off my face.
“I’m fine. Embarrassed but fine.”
Beckett runs up to me. “What happened? You just stood there.”
“I don’t know. I… I guess I freaked out and… I don’t know. I really didn’t want egg on me.”
“That turned out well, didn’t it?”
“Let’s give our new winners, Jax and Mason, a round of applause!” Mom cheers through the microphone.
A hand brushes over my low back, and a heat radiates up my spine.
Callum.