Saving Ever After (Ever After #4)

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  We said goodbye outside the fitness center and I dragged my sore butt back to my dorm. I’d just plopped down on my bed, with the intention of not moving for at least a good week, when my phone rang. Across the room. I had to get up. I did not want to get up. At that moment, across the room seemed so far away. I groaned and pulled myself up, my achy body protesting.

  When I saw that it was Sadie calling, I quickly reached for my phone before it sent her to voicemail. “Hey. You’re back?”

  “Yeah, we got in a little while ago. What are you doing today?”

  “I just got done working out, so really my only plan was to lie down and not move for a solid week, maybe longer.”

  “Well I’d hate to ruin your plans,” her amusement was evident even over the phone, “but any way you could meet me for dinner in a couple hours? There’s something I want to talk to you about?”

  Oh shit.

  Momentary panic prevented me from responding right away. Had Chris filled her in on just how low I’d sunk last night?

  “Mia, you there? Did I lose you?”

  “No, I’m here?” Crap, could she hear the shakiness in my voice brought on by my nerves?

  “Okay, then can you meet me for dinner? I know you have classes in the morning and you probably have homework or studying, so it can be somewhere close to campus. It won’t take long.” I wasn’t about to tell her that yeah, I probably did have homework, but I wouldn’t know for sure because I hadn’t made it to either of my classes today.

  “Um, sure,” I said, hoping my reluctance wasn’t obvious. “That’s fine. There’s a really good Mexican place I’ve been to, The Cantina, or something like that, if that works.”

  “Okay, meet you there at five-thirty?”

  “See you then.”

  I disconnected the call and spent the next few hours worrying about what my sister wanted to talk to me about. My stomach was in so many knots by the time I pushed through the doors of the restaurant. I tried to steel myself for the look of disappointment that I knew was about to hit me. A glimpse of red hair out my periphery told me she was already here and had secured us a table. She was angled slightly away from me as I approached, but she caught my movement out of the corner of her eye and started to turn.

  My stomach clenched like I was a child being sent to the principal’s office to be reprimanded. I couldn’t honestly say how many times I’d stood before my mother like this, and I’d never felt such shame and admonition before. Sadie wasn’t my parent or my disciplinarian, and I hated that I’d put her in this position. Most days it felt like she was the only person trying to look out for me, the only person who didn’t believe that just because I’d screwed up so much in the past, that I was a screw up. Now I was going to have to look her in the face and tell her I’d pushed the limits again and gotten myself in the position of needing Chris to come rescue me.

  When Sadie’s eyes met mine though, all I saw was affection. There was none of the expected disappointment, only a wide smile. I think my entire body might have sagged with relief as she stood and embraced me. Maybe the lecturing would come later, but I was just thankful she didn’t appear upset with me. After releasing me, she dropped back in to her seat and I took the one across from her.

  “I’m glad you could come. I hope I’m not interfering with your studying too much.”

  “No. Really, like I said, I didn’t have much to do tonight other than rest after that brutal workout.”

  She grinned, “It’s good that you’re working out. Not because I think you need it, but I’m glad that you’re building a life here that’s not just classes and studying, or,” this time her expression did take on a slightly worried edge, “partying.” Here it comes.

  I swallowed dryly and then grabbed the glass of ice water that was already on the table. I took a sip and cleared my throat.

  “Yeah. I’m trying,” I said.

  “I know, and I’m proud that you’re doing so well. I know there’s been a lot of craziness. Moving to a new city and starting college, things with Mom and Dad, my news. It’s a lot to get used to, and I know that part of college is having a social life and letting loose a little. Please know that I’m not mad about before, at my engagement party. I understand it, I really do. I just want to see you pull things together and succeed and it looks to me like that’s what you’re doing.” She smiled and I was slightly confused. It sounded to me like Chris hadn’t told her about last night.

  She went on about how excited she was for me, and how she knew I was going to kick ass at school and that she knew when I figured out what I really wanted to do, I would be amazing at it. Hearing her faith in me was almost worse than having her lecture me, because I knew I didn’t deserve it. I wasn’t kicking ass at anything.

  The waitress appeared, putting a stop to Sadie’s, Mia is so awesome, pep talk, which was good, because if she had gone on any longer, I probably would have cracked like a guilty schoolgirl in a confessional and told her just how not awesome I was doing, and that I felt like I was just floundering, barely keeping my head above water.

  After we ordered, we smoothly transitioned into wedding talk when I asked about her trip. She told me all about the gorgeous and charming location on Orcas Island they’d picked for the ceremony and reception. She went on about her vision for the wedding, and how detail by detail it was coming to life. They’d met with florists, and dj’s and cake decorators, on top of coordinators all vying for the chance to help plan this celebrity wedding. To me, it all sounded a little overwhelming, but Sadie just sounded excited.

  “I’m really glad you brought up the wedding though, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you.” By this time, we’d been served our food and had been chatting wedding details for a while. Like I said, she got excited, and she wanted to share everything. I didn’t mind, even if it caused the slightest twinge inside me.

  “Okay, what did you want to tell me? Is it about the color of underwear you’re going to wear on your wedding night, because honestly Sadie, I think that’s about the only thing you haven’t already shared,” I teased her playfully.

  “Actually, I was going to ask you to be my maid of honor,” she shot back, grinning. I almost dropped my fork.

  “You want me to be your maid of honor?”

  “Who else?” she asked as if it was a silly question.

  “I don’t know, Jax maybe?”

  “Nope. I want you. Jax is my best friend, but you’re my sister, and Mia, you and me were sharing secrets and taking on the world together long before I ever met Jax. You were the one who used to sneak into my room, after everyone else was in bed, for secret slumber parties. You were the one who gave me your favorite doll to cheer me up when you saw me crying over some boy and the one who went shopping with me to pick out my prom dress. Then you waited up for me on prom night so you could hear all about it. There might be eight years between us, and I know there were a lot of years that I wasn’t there for you, but you have never just been my baby sister.”

  “Well, I guess when you put it that way . . . of course I will.”

  I didn’t know much about being a maid of honor, except that it meant planning her bridal shower and bachelorette party and helping her with all kinds of stuff. I could do that. I would do that, and I would get my shit together so that I didn’t give her any reason to worry about me or doubt the faith she had in me. I wanted to be the sister that she was so proud of, that she knew could succeed. I just had to push aside the distractions and get my priorities straight. No more missing classes and slacking on my studying.

  I felt so much better walking out of that restaurant than I had going in. I was determined and optimistic for a change. It was a nice feeling.

  Chapter 15

  Chris

  “Come on babe, we’re going to be late,” I hollered from the living room. Technically we were already late, the Halloween party had started half an hour ago, but trying to rush Katrina was rarely effective.

  “Hold on. I’m a
lmost ready,” she shouted back. I considered just kicking back on the couch and flipping on the TV. I knew ‘almost ready’ could mean anything from five minutes to another twenty. I pulled the top hat off my head, setting it on the coffee table and running a hand through my already sweaty and matted hair. I was due for a cut soon, but Katrina insisted that the slightly longer look was sexy, that she liked being able to tangle her hands in it. All I knew was that under the weighty hat, it was warm and slightly itchy. Katrina had styled my hair with a little bit of waxy product so that it would stick out from under the hat in a sort of disheveled way to really give it that madman look, but it only made the whole sweaty hair situation worse.

  I drew the line at letting her put make-up on me though. I didn’t care if Johnny Depp looked sexy in eye liner, I wasn’t wearing that shit. It was bad enough that she had me in this ridiculous jacket and bow tie. Of course I made this Mad Hatter get up look good, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. I’d tried to talk her into going as Catwoman and Batman, but she had shot down that idea, and insisted on this one instead.

  I was slightly less disgruntled about the whole thing when she finally appeared before me in her tiny, corseted, black, red and white dress with hearts going up the front of it. It reminded me of those naughty nurse and French maid costumes. It was sexy as hell, and the icing on this delicious piece of cake was the long black stockings that came up her thighs, edged with lace and little red bows on top. I looked forward to peeling those down her legs. In fact, I was starting to think to hell with the party, I was ready to go straight to our own personal after party.

  It was safe to say things had been pretty good with us since she got back from California.

  I stood, stalking toward her, making my desire and intentions clear. She gave me a flirty little grin. “You like?”

  “Oh yeah, I like. I like a lot.” I reached for her and tugged her body into mine. Her tall as fuck heels made us about even. I stared into her dark eyes as my hands gripped her waist tightly.

  “I thought we were late,” she breathed out. “Late for a very important date,” she tacked on teasingly.

  “Oh, we’re going to be late alright,” I told her, backing her up into the wall.

  She gave me a little shove and giggled. “Behave, or it’s off with your head.”

  “I don’t think I can behave with you looking like that. In that costume, you’re body is just begging me to do all sorts of wicked things to it.”

  “After the party,” she pushed me back again and this time stepped out of my embrace, going right for her purse. I groaned and followed after her, enjoying the sway of her hips.

  The party was in full swing when we arrived at Jax and Kyden’s. The number of guests had to be somewhere around fifty. It wasn’t the big blowout that the tabloids would no doubt be calling it tomorrow, spinning tales of drunkenness and debauchery from inside sources who weren’t even at the party, but it was a Halloween bash nonetheless. If any of those tabloid journalists actually knew Jax, then they’d know she would be the last person to allow any sort of debauchery in her house. Unfortunately, since she was married to Ky, nobody seemed to care. They just loved raking those two through the media.

  I led Katrina through the house by her hand, looking for our hosts or any of the guys, but it was hard to tell who was who with all the costumes. Wigs and masks obscured faces, and the lighting in the house was dim, to create a spooky feel that went with the haunted house theme and décor. I had to admit that Jax had gone all out and nailed it. Everything looked and felt so realistic, like it was straight out of a classic horror film.

  The hallways were filled with fog and music was being piped through the whole house by Ky’s bad ass sound system. It was loud, but not the kind of loud that made it impossible to carry on a conversation. We shuffled through the rooms, recognizing and stopping to talk to several people along the way. Our agent and his wife were here, a few other guys from the label and their girlfriends, some of our good friends from the old bar scene crowd.

  Shit, was that Grandma Helen?

  Yeah, I was pretty sure I just saw Ace’s grandma dressed as Catwoman. Suddenly I was glad Katrina had vetoed that costume idea. Seeing Ace’s grandma decked out in all that very revealing, black spandex and tight leather had a way of killing that fantasy quickly and brutally.

  I nodded when we passed Jax’s brother Shane, and a humongous Lucy. I wasn’t trying to be a dick, but she was huge with their twins. I was concerned that we needed to have paramedics on standby in case she popped here. She looked like she might. The next people we bumped into were my brother and Lissa, who also looked ready to pop.

  “Nice costume,” I smirked at Bas. He was dressed in referee black and whites, and Lissa was dressed up as a basketball player in some sort of crop jersey, her stomach painted to look like a basketball. It was cheesy as hell, but also kind of funny.

  “Hey!” Lissa punched me on the arm. “Don’t make fun of our costumes. Not when you’re a crazy lunatic who wears a bow tie and a top hat.”

  “Touché,” I laughed. “You guys know where Jax is? I wanted to say hi, but I can’t find her or Ky.”

  Bas just rolled his eyes and Lissa chuckled. “Ky’s probably trying to drag her out of the kiddie room again. The family room is set up with games and stuff for all of the kids, and even though they paid a couple of teenage girls who live down the street to watch the kids for the night, Ky can’t seem to keep Jaxyn out of there.”

  I laughed. That didn’t surprise me at all. If there were kids around, that’s where Jax was. “Hey, did you guys see Catwoman?” I asked.

  “How could we not?” Bas said as if he’d been as mentally scarred as I was.

  “That woman is strange,” Katrina commented.

  “Strange is one word for it,” Bas agreed, “but you gotta give it to her, she’s ballsy and doesn’t take any shit. All the girls seem to love her too.”

  “She’s hilarious, and so sweet,” Lissa spoke up. “I hope that when I’m almost eighty I have the guts to wear a cat suit.” Bas cocked an eyebrow at her. “Okay, maybe not the cat suit, but I hope I’m not afraid to be bold like her.”

  “Well we’re going to go find drinks, and hopefully Jax,” I told them, taking Katrina’s hand again as we made our way toward the kitchen where I expected to find refreshments. We also found Jax and Ky in there. At least I assumed it was Ky under that furry Beast head piece. If it wasn’t, some guy was going to get his arms ripped off for having them wrapped around Jax. Not that there was any guy besides Ky who would willingly dress up as the Beast to indulge Jax’s Beauty and the Beast fantasies.

  “Chris!” Jax exclaimed when she spotted us. She pulled out of her husband’s arms just long enough to throw hers around me. I squeezed her small frame back. It had taken her all of five minutes to lose the baby weight.

  “You look awesome,” I told her truthfully. I’d never seen a prettier Princess Belle, if Princess Belle had hot pink and purple hair. Jax’s colors of the month.

  “Thanks,” she said, pulling back. “So do you guys.” Then she moved to hug Katrina, who awkwardly accepted it. Jax acted like she didn’t notice though. She was a hugger. Katrina wasn’t really, but she would have to get used to it, because Jax didn’t exactly give you a choice. She just hugged the shit out of you whether you liked it or not. I don’t think she got too many complaints though. “Oh my gosh, you have to come see Abel’s costume. It’s so freakin’ adorable.”

  She grabbed my hand and started yanking me out of the kitchen. “Babe, I’ll be right back,” she threw over her shoulder.

  “Mmhmm. Right,” he mumbled good-naturedly, pulling of his head piece and looking relieved to get out of it for a few minutes.

  “You coming?” I asked Katrina.

  “I’m just going to get something to drink. I’ll wait here for you.”

  I let Jaxyn pull me down the hall toward the back of the house, where I could hear the high pitched laughter of little kids
. “It’s pretty cool that you set up a party for them back here,” I told her.

  We stepped into the huge room and it felt like we’d stepped right into Nightmare Before Christmas. The movie was playing on a large screen for the kids and the whole room had been decked out to go along with the theme. There were about ten kids it looked like, ages ranging from baby Abel to about ten or eleven. A handful were bobbing for apples in one corner with one of the babysitters. Another was helping Izzy and some of the other kids paint on pumpkins while a few of the really little ones crawled around, and Abel chewed on the decorations. Jax spotted him and hurried over to where he was lying on his back on a blanket, slobbering on a cardboard cutout Jack Skellington’s leg.

  “I need to go clean him up,” Jax said, scooping him into her arms. The dye from the soggy cardboard had bled all over his mouth, face and hands. It had even stained some of his furry little Gremlin costume.

  “Take him,” I chuckled. “You were right though, that’s a pretty great costume.” She smiled and carted the little dude off.

  I started to head back and join the rest of the party, but a flash of short, pale pink hair caught my attention. I assumed the girl kneeling on the ground with her back to me, showing off her weapon to a couple of eight or nine year old boys, must be another of the hired babysitters for the night. Even from the back, I could tell what her costume was. That hair, the red cape, the knee high brown leather boots and weapon were a dead giveaway, at least for anyone into Final Fantasy, which I admittedly was. I had to tell her how awesome I thought her costume was.

  “Is it a real sword?” One of the boys asked her, and I was surprised to recognize the voice that answered.

  “No it’s not. I wish it was real, but it’s just a prop, and it’s actually a saber, not a sword.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Mia?” I said. She jerked her head around and looked up at me cautiously from her position on the floor. “Or I guess I should say Lightning.” I smiled and then she returned it, rising to her feet. First thing I noticed was that she’d cut a few inches off of her hair. Usually I was a long hair kind of guy, but she’d always looked really good with her short hair, and this even shorter look suited her perfectly, just barely reaching her chin.