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“Come on, I’ve got you.”
THIRTEEN
IVY
The party is in full swing as the three of us make our way through the gardens, torches in hand.
“I have no idea why you thought a floor-length dress would be a good combination with leaves,” Penelope grumbles, side-stepping a large stone with her skirt in hand.
We didn’t, she was the one who decided that’s what she wanted. It’s half the reason both Tamsin and I are in knee-length dresses in the first place.
“We’ll only be out here for an hour, tops,” Tamsin argues. “And then you can show that dress off to its full potential.”
“He’d better appreciate it too,” she clips out, her irritation getting the better of her as we dodge wet branches and falling leaves.
Tamsin doesn’t bother arguing with her or explaining herself any further. Penelope didn’t have to come, she volunteered herself, not that we asked, but here we are. We walk in silence the rest of the way, finding ourselves almost at the clearing soon enough, the sound of male voices carrying over the distant sound of music playing,
“Ooh, I’m nervous,” Tamsin admits, shaking her hands out. “No, I’m okay. We’re good.”
All the work she’s done on this outfit is going to be worth it once he sees her.
“We can hear you over there,” Taylor calls.
“Fuck,” Tamsin hisses, fluffing up her hair. “Do I look all right? No errant twigs sticking from my hair?”
“You’re fine, let’s get this over with and get back to the house.” Penelope sighs.
“You’re welcome to leave whenever you’d like to,” I say, getting between the two of them before Tamsin loses it, the rope of irritation she’s holding onto getting thinner by the second, or maybe that’s mine. “We can do this without you.”
Penelope rolls her eyes, adjusting her skirts in her hands before shaking her head.
“Are you girls good?” Jasper asks, peeking out from behind a tree. “Your knight in shining armour awaits, and we have carpet… for the skirts.”
“Thank God,” Penelope says, raising her head to the sky before setting off in the direction he points.
“If you’d like to duck out, I can make up some excuse, you know?” Jasper asks, a mischievous twinkle on his smirking face. “Or you could just swap him out and have me instead. I’m a catch, you know?”
“I’m sure you are.” Tamsin laughs, his silliness exactly the thing she needed to calm the nerves and ease the tension rippling in the air between us. “I just need a minute to check my makeup and then we’ll be there, promise.”
“You know it’s dark as hell right now and he can’t see for shit, right?” he asks with a chuckle.
“Oh, just go, Jasper. We’ll be there in two minutes,” I reply, whooshing him away with my hands.
She waits until he’s out of sight before asking, “You’ve got the band, right?”
“Of course,” I reply, tapping the bag on my shoulder.
“Good.” She nods. “And I really don’t have mud up my leg or half a tree sticking out my hair, do I?”
“You look perfect,” I reply with a smile.
She nods, excitement replacing the tension that was here just minutes ago, looping her arm through mine as we set off in the direction everyone else went—they can’t be far.
“There she is.” Taylor smiles as we pass through the copse of trees.
The solar fairy lights we hung a few days ago light up the area beautifully, the butterfly spikes floating around the ground marking a perimeter for the carpeting the guys brought earlier on, something we never even considered.
Excited energy radiates from Tamsin, and I’m transfixed by the serenity of the moment, completely oblivious to the other half of our group, until I hear his deep throaty chuckle. My head snaps their way, my steps faltering for just a second as my gaze zeros in on the red nails pressed against his crisp white shirt sleeve.
