The night progressed, and the thing that surprised me most was that after a couple of hours, I was able to relax in public, and it had nothing to do with how much alcohol I’d consumed. Old habits die hard, and at the beginning of that evening, I found myself looking over my shoulder for paparazzi, but none appeared. No one seemed to give a fuck about what I did in this small town, and I couldn’t be happier.
Towards the end of the evening, it was clear everything was wrapping up, and it looked like people were pairing off. I briefly debated throwing out the suggestion for Audra to come home with me, but I had to be very careful how I played this. The same concerns and reservations I had before were still there. She was still Maeve’s best friend. I couldn’t lose Maeve. Ergo, I couldn’t do something stupid with Audra. I had never once hesitated to go for what I wanted, but I had to play this smart.
Soon after that, the night officially ended, and we all went our separate ways. Well, Audra and I went our separate ways. Everyone else seemed to have a partner. I would have loved to continue an evening with her, but that would come in time.
14
DONOVAN
Ispent some of the next day working at Quest, following up to make sure things were getting back on track with the lumber. Then at home, I worked on my garden project, but before I knew it, I was headed to poker at the twins’ house. It was a stretch of town I was familiar with as I’d looked at some investment homes there. It was a beautiful street; one of the most sought after. I couldn’t believe that the two of them lived together in such a family-centric neighborhood. Especially given their reputations. But I was certainly curious to see their place. As I pulled into a long, winding driveway, I was blown away by how stunning it was. There was a disconnect between the guy who was goading me to sing karaoke and the guy who owned this magnificent home. The lake was behind the house and I bet they had one of the most perfect views in the entire damn town. Wow.
Knocking, I stood in awe and waited for someone to let me in. Tonight I was much less nervous than I had been yesterday, even though there would be some strangers. I reminded myself that I was Donovan, just Donovan here, and I loved that.
Murphy opened the door and stood off to the side to let me in. The entire far wall was just windows that showcased the lake and mountains. I was gobsmacked because it was undoubtedly the best view in town. Adding to the charm was a huge dog that lumbered up to me and sat waiting to be pet. He was looking at me with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. My sister’s knees would have buckled. She loved dogs, and she asked for one for every birthday and holiday there was.
“Glad you could come, Donovan,” Bennett’s voice cut through my wandering thoughts, bringing me back. No—this house belonging to these men didn’t make any sense at all.
“Thanks for inviting me. I’m not particularly good at poker, but I brought this to make up for it.” I said, holding up a bottle of my favorite scotch.
“I’m terrible at it, and all I have to show for it is this.” He held up his beer. I quickly settled in around the table and we all made small talk as we waited for Maverick to arrive.
“What the hell?” Tucker said. “Maverick is never late.” At that, Bennett pulled out his phone to text him. Within seconds, a frantic reply pinged back explaining that he had been distracted, was on his way, and would arrive soon.
“Wonder what he was distracted with?” Murphy asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Bennett shot back at his brother. “What the hell do you think distracted him?”
Murphy just looked at Bennett and shook his head with his hands in the air, confused, like he genuinely didn’t know what he was talking about. Jesus, even I knew what he was referring to.
“Cora, dumbass. Did you see them last night? Pretty sure they hooked up,” Bennett replied as if he couldn’t believe his brother didn’t pick up on it.
“No way!” Murphy shot back. “There is no way.”
“Are you blind?” Bennett laughed at his brother.
“Maverick and Cora are a thing?” said one of the other people there.
After last night, maybe?I smiled to myself.
“Donovan is removed from this situation. What’s your take, good sir?” Bennett turned to me, as did the whole room.
“I’m too new here to make those kinds of calls.”
“Come on. Don’t play the indifferent game. Gut check, are they hooking up?”
“I mean, there’s obvious chemistry between them. But as for acting on it. I don’t know.” I wanted to stay neutral. At the beginning of all these new friendships, I was going to make sure to proceed with caution for the same reason I was doing so with Audra. Nothing was worth losing Maeve over.
“Oooh, I didn’t realize this was happening tonight,” Tucker said, pointing towards the lake, bringing a stop to the current conversation. His abruptness told me that he might be the only one who knew the answer to the question we were currently debating.
It was May, and they explained that this was the time of year they started doing graduation boat parades. People would decorate their boats like floats and cruise around the lake, dock them, then have an all-night party. Murphy assured me there were no high schoolers on either side of their house, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Foolish teenage activities like that always made me laugh, and I imagined the men I was sitting with had their share of shenanigans. Bennett pulled out his phone and shot a message to Maverick informing him he had eight minutes to arrive or we were starting without him, and some other empty threat about being barred for eternity. He shot back a middle finger, not an emoji, an actual photoof his hand flicking off the camera in front of the steering wheel, that Bennett showed to us, which made us laugh while we waited.
Less than five minutes later, Maverick came busting through the door, profusely apologizing for being late. He caught flak, but the cards got dealt, and the game began. The entire poker game lasted about two and a half hours, and when we were done, we took the party outside. Murphy started a fire in the pit, and we played some made-up game that we all got too competitive over.
I had a solid buzz going after I lost both the poker game and the ridiculous game we invented. The other attendees had gone home, and the five of us were sitting around the fire pit, continuing to drink. If there was an unspoken expectation of me to leave, I didn’t pick up on it.
“So, Wright, what’s going on with you and my favorite Audra?” Bennett slurred across the circle. If I hadn’t heard him call her that before, my shackles may have been raised. But if he had any genuine interest in her, he wouldn’t be taking home women in front of her, left and right. As it stood, admittedly, I didn’t love him calling her that, even though he’d been calling her that for a hell of a lot longer than I’d been around.
“Whatever do you mean, Bennett?” I said as I smirked at him, amused at how little shame he had in prying for information.
