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I walk through the yard and say my hellos, I grab a beer out of the cooler, open it up and toss the cap in the trash, all while my eyes are flying around the yard in search of her. I don’t see her, but I do see Devon and Gabby.
I start to head towards them, but Mick stops me first with a hand shake that turns into a bro hug. Bro, brah, brofus, dude . . . these are all words that sum up Mick. You would think he lived in a fraternity but nope, that’s just Mick. He’s a dude’s dude and a player through and through. That’s why seeing Emily with him at Kells filled me with instant rage. I was never so relieved to hear him say the word sister. Except that does mean that Mick is her brother, and I want more than friendship from Emily. Things could get ugly if not handled correctly.
“Bro! So glad you could make it! Sucks balls that you got called in on your day off, man. Glad you came by anyway.”
“Of course, couldn’t miss your first big shindig at the new place.”
“Well, thanks for helping me move in, dude. Help yourself to whatever you want. What’s mine is yours.”
I don’t think he’s referring to his sister, but I thank him anyway.
Mick takes off to say goodbye to somebody, and I take another look around but still don’t see Emily. I find Devon and Gabby again and head that way. They’re talking as I approach them and with a nod of her head Gabby signals to D that I’m behind him and they instantly stop talking. As soon as Devon turns around, something seems off with him.
“Hey man, what’s up?”
“Not much, J. Sucks you had to pull a shift today.”
I can tell there’s something that he’s hiding from me and Gabby looks at me almost like she feels bad for me for some reason. What the Hell is going on here?
“Yeah, it does. So what’s up?”
“Not much, just the usual crew here tonight.”
“Not what I mean, D.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on man, I can read right through you. Something’s not right and you aren’t telling me what it is.”
Gabby speaks up this time and says, “It’s nothing bad Jonathan. Emily was just looking for you. She wants to talk to you about something.”
“Why does this not make me feel any better?”
“Just ignore him. Devon’s already had a few too many beers and he’s just being stupid,” she says and gives me a hug. “Glad you’re here, and I’m sure that Em will be back out in just a minute.”
Just as she says that, the back slider door to the house opens and there she is. She is gorgeous as always and she doesn’t even have to try. I noticed at The Gym the other day that her body hasn’t changed much at all. She’s a bit curvier, but in the best possible way. She isn’t twenty-one anymore and it looks good on her. Tonight she’s wearing those tight as hell skinny jeans that are rolled at the bottom—just like in California—with some flip flops and a dark blue t-shirt. Nothing fancy, but to me she is perfect. Intoxicating.
I’ve held so much hostility towards her these past years, but once I saw her again it all came back. That instant connection. It’s like I was an addict who had been clean and sober, and the moment I saw her I fell right off the wagon and started imbibing again. I feel a calmness overtake me just knowing I’ll be in the same room with her, but at the same time I’m nervous as hell. What is she going to tell me? Will it be enough to make me understand how she could just walk away from us?
I start to make my way towards her and Devon pats me on the back and still has that strange look on his face. What. The. Hell? I feel like everybody knows what’s going on but me.
“Hey there, Georgia, glad you could make it.”
“Me too. Did I miss anything exciting?”
“Nope, no drunk cop stories to tell yet. I see you got a beer are you hungry? Can I get ya something?”
“I’m good right now. I’ll get something in a bit.”
Tell me now!
I hate this polite conversation and beating around the bush bullshit. Right when I’m about to lean forward and ask her if she wants to go talk we’re suddenly surrounded by people. It appears Emily was wrong and the drunk cop stories have begun. Eventually we all find deck chairs to sit in and the beers start flowing. I notice Emily still doesn’t seem to drink. She’s been sipping on a Diet Coke all night. I notice her sneak away into the house a couple of times. She must be keeping her own personal stash of Diet Coke in the house. Lord knows you have to hide things with this crew because anything out in the open is fair game.
After a while Emily seems to be in a deep conversation with MacKenzie Theissen and her girlfriend Liz, so I take this time to sneak away to the bathroom.
As I leave the bathroom I hear something coming out of the room just across the hall and notice there’s a small light on and the door is cracked. On instinct I take the two steps across the hall and peek my head into the door.
In the bed talking to her stuffed animals is the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She has big brown eyes and curly blond hair. She sees me and gasps and closes her eyes to pretend she’s asleep.
