Chapter 3
Everly
My first day has me rethinking everything.
Why did I run away from my life? And why do I act like a complete idiot around guys?
Or just that guy? Okay, to be fair, I don’t exactly have instances to compare where there were any guys to act any kind of way around.
Except the one incident—the big bad—that sufficiently wrecked my life as I knew it.
I spent the rest of the day avoiding him and dodging his stare.
And I wasn’t imagining it. Every time I looked up from whatever I was doing, I’d catch his intense blue eyes piercing me in one of the mirrors.
I’ve never understood the cheesy term “undressing me with his eyes,” but I think I’m beginning to.
I felt naked, exposed, like he could see right through me.
And why was he constantly watching me anyway?
He’s probably the most beautiful guy I’ve ever set eyes on.
I’m quite sure he could have any woman he wants and probably does.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it though.
I want to be unaffected by him, but I’m not sure anyone with a pulse could deny his appeal.
He obviously works at it. Watching him sweat the day away, showing everyone from geriatrics to desperate housewives how to work out was beyond entertaining.
I could tell the moves weren’t hard for him, but his skin still glistened with the effort of correcting form and demonstrating equipment.
“So, what are we looking at? Oh, solid choice.” The body belonging to the voice sets up close to my ear. “He definitely gives the eyes a workout, as well as the imagination. Am I right?”
My cheeks burn as I turn to the person leaning over my shoulder. “Lilliana, I presume,” I say, recalling Allie’s earlier overview on Fit and the other employees. I smile, not bothering to defend myself, and offer my hand. Do teenagers shake hands?
She looks down at my extended right hand and clasps it in her left like we’re holding hands, not a handshake, squeezes and says, “I like you already,” with a little giggle.
“Ooh, it’s Mrs. Stevens. Or Deena, as she insists we call her.
How many times has she needed Julian to demonstrate the squat so far? ”
“Twice. Is she new?”
“You’d think, right? Nope. She’s been coming to Julian for years. One of his first clients. But she’s not as bad as Drea. Her perfume alone is enough to gag on. But the way she throws herself at him is embarrassing.”
“Perfume Lady was first thing this morning. I think her scent stayed at least an hour longer than she did.”
“Sounds about right. I guess it’s kind of petty, but it’s entertaining watching the Cougar Club compete for his attention. I’ve even heard he’s hooked up with a few.”
“Ewww. I think I just threw up in my mouth,” I joke.
But my heart plummets into my shoes. Why am I so devastated to hear that this beautiful man whores around with women twice his age?
What do I care? Shuddering, I swivel my head away from the cougar competition and focus on Lilly, as “everyone calls me.” Because of her, I feel like, for the first time since I arrived, that I might enjoy this place.
She slings her arm over my shoulders, pivots me away from the Julian/cougar spectacle and says, “Let’s go get a juice shot.”
I guess shots are my new thing. At least these types of shots won’t get me canceled and ruin my life.
Lilly made the second half of the day fly by, thankfully.
Thankful is an understatement. Her personality is everything.
I adore her, but by the end of the shift I was so bothered by the Julian gossip and the cougar parade that I didn’t even stay to work out myself.
Allie insisted I learn my own workout so I could better assist at Fit.
I bailed. Lilly tried to convince me to stay and workout with her, but I couldn’t wait to be alone and contemplate all I learned on my first day.
Now back at Allie’s, I decide to head out to the lake path and at least take a brisk walk and get some fresh air.
Taking her back stairs down to the trail, I stop to stretch and loosen up.
Across the cove, the sun glares off the windows of the Blue Brew Café & Marina.
Being a seasonal business, it’ll still be quiet for a couple more weeks, then the bustle of campers will keep the whole lake humming until August. I decide right then to make this a daily habit and take advantage of the quiet until the tourists descend.
Blue Lake is just that. Beautifully blue and aptly named, reflecting the sky like a mirror.
The air and the view are so inspiring I trade the walk for a run.
I welcome the burn in my legs and lungs, and by the time I reach the marina, I’m sucking air.
I stop and bend at the waist, hands resting on my knees, and gulp deep breaths to slow my heart rate.
The air and the terrain are not like running in the city on pavement.
Once I steady myself, I sit and watch the sunset.
I could take the steps down to the dock and sit on the edge or head up to the patio deck and watch from the outdoor dining area off the café.
Both were vacant so I could enjoy it in peace.
I opt for the higher vantage point of the patio.
Propping my feet up on the chair across from the one I sit in, I cross my ankles and watch the sun sink, setting the lake on fire with its reflective glow.
Despite the nerve-racking day, I begin to relax.
I do love this place. My mom would bring me and my sister here when we were little.
Allie’s family owned most of the lakefront property, the café/marina, all the cabin rentals and, of course, her house and the property it sits on.
It’s all hers now that her grandma who raised her is gone.
We haven’t visited in years. Mom got busier with work, and we got busier being teenagers.
Well, my sister did anyway. I stayed the same, consumed with my grades and books and make-believe worlds.
The few times I ventured out into my sister’s world of general teenage debauchery proved to be well above my pay grade and experience level.
I didn’t know how to play all those mean girl games and flirt with boys and get wasted.
The one and only time I got truly wasted, my life turned upside down and transplanted me to Blue Lake permanently. Or at least for the foreseeable future.
Not that I’m complaining at the moment, enveloped by this fresh air and beauty, silence and solitude. Most people don’t like being alone. I find it soothing and simple.
Exactly one year after the first party my sister’s crew invited me to when I learned hangovers weren’t my thing, I broke my rule and had more than one.
The peer pressure was at an all-time high that night, and since I was feeling particularly ostracized that day at school and like the most boring eighteen-year-old on the planet, the crew convinced me to hop off that wagon and try it again.
Using my newly turned legal status as the excuse to coax me to “live a little for once.” There’s some clichéd saying in there about fooling me twice, but since both times were my choice, I’m not entirely sure it applies.
And I don’t know any famous quotes or clichés about being stupid twice—even with my vast memory bank of quotes.
But it was stupid for a smart girl like me.
Because deciding to cut loose that night and later blacking out caused a ripple effect none of us could’ve imagined.
As if the universe hears me relishing in the peace and quiet and knows I don’t deserve it, a voice from behind me pierces the stillness. “Brew isn’t open to the public yet.”
I turn ready to explain I’m allowed to be here, but freeze, mouth agape, seeing Julian—again.
“Oh, it’s you. Um, Ev . . . er . . . , it’s fine. You’re fine. You can stay here.”
“I know. But thanks. And it’s Everly . .
. Julie, is it?” I know I’m being a bitch, as he’s clearly not trying to be an asshole.
He just gets under my skin. Between crashing into him—twice—the rumor of him sleeping with older women (Gag) and him being .
. . everywhere I am, I can’t seem to help myself.
And why do I give a shit who he sleeps with? Not my circus, not my monkeys.
He smirks at my intentionally mistaking his name and seems to find his confidence and maybe a touch of irritation at my flippancy.
“Oh, well, Ever-ly, I didn’t mean to disturb you.
I didn’t know it was you. Sometimes, we get kids up here trashing the place with their litter.
And I have to be the asshole and run them off.
Also . . . I kind of like Ever. It suits you. ”
Frowning, I return my face to the almost sunken sun and answer under my breath, “And I kind of like Julie. It suits you.”
His “hmph” of a chuckle echoes as he turns and walks back inside.
What is he doing in here anyway? Brew’s closed. The back of his shirt displays the Blue Brew logo, an employee shirt. Apparently, we’ll be working together here too. The idea of seeing him more made my heart race . . . from dread, I lie.
Guys don’t make my heart race. Okay, that’s a lie too.
But the ones that do are fictional. On pages in books.
Or in my dreams—of fictional guys on pages in books.
My sister always said I set myself up for failure with my “book boyfriends” because no guy would ever measure up in real life.
But that’s not entirely true. Chase did.
Until he didn’t. But I didn’t exactly crush on him.
I crushed on them. He and Kendall were the couple goals of my dreams. And then they weren’t.
In fact, they ruined my life. Although they like to say I ruined theirs. And by they, I mean Kendall.
In the end I guess she got what she wanted.
She got to blame me for everything that went wrong and got an entire community to believe it too.
Of course, no one thinks Kendall is behind any of it.
She never is. That’s the mean girl shit I’d never understand or aspire to master.
The sneaky super bitch masquerading as the town sweetheart.
I mentally shake my head to clear the image and reminder of it all.
I don’t need to prove myself to anyone, and I don’t have to see them ever again.
Seeing the glimmer of doubt in my sister’s eyes was enough to bring me here.
If she doesn’t believe me, then I have no one in OV anymore.
I’m not mad at her for it. Weirdly, I understand where she’s coming from.
I question myself and how I got here. Everyday.
Maybe my sister, Olivia, is right. I set myself up for disappointment and failure with my make-believe worlds.
The real world so far hasn’t come close.
Maybe I’m delusional that true love and genuine hearts exists.
Chase and Kendall sure fell way short of what they appeared to be—at least in my eyes.
Olivia and her boyfriend, Ryan, seem unsure about what to believe.
And my sister’s doubt in me is more than I can stand.
She deserves a break from the drama and essentially raising me the last few years.
That was when I came up with moving to Blue Lake—the only place I could remember where I only ever felt happy.
I hold no bad memories of this place. And more and more, OV only held the bad.