Chapter 2: The Party

“Thank you all for coming today. Mason and I are so glad you guys can be here to celebrate with us.” Heather smiled brightly from the porch, where she addressed the party. Mason stood next to Heather in a casual suit and pulled her close.

“I just wanted to say something really quickly, and then let everyone mingle and have some fun,” Heather continued. “We are both just so grateful that Fate brought us together. Mason and I came into each other’s lives at the perfect time, when we both were starting to feel like we’d never meet our soulmates.”

I downed the rest of my champagne flute, hoping that once I got tipsy enough, I wouldn’t be as obvious about showing my feelings through my facial expressions.

From where I was standing, I could see Heather’s exposed ankle, where her Mark seemed to be glimmering in the fading sunlight. She’d always thought her Mark was beautiful, with edges that curved like the petals of flowers.

When Mason raised his glass to make a toast, I spotted the exact same design on his hand. Every single line and arc were identical to the one on Heather’s ankle.

Everyone raised their glasses and congratulated the happy couple. My eyes found Finn’s, who was standing on the opposite side of the patio next to some more of Mason’s friends. He rolled his eyes and overexaggerated a toast, taking a large sip of his drink.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. The warmth of the champagne seemed to finally be kicking in.

Once everyone started moving around and talking again, I made my way over to the table with the alcohol, eager to keep this buzz going. I grabbed another flute, and just as I was about to go over to where Finn was standing, I heard a large crash behind me.

“Sh*t!” A voice yelped as I turned.

The first thing I saw—actually, felt is the more accurate word—was champagne fizzing as it pooled around my high heels and soaked my ankles. I stepped back quickly, but not fast enough, because I could feel my foot sticking to the inside of the heel. Then I saw the pieces of broken glass on the floor.

“I am so sorry. can get that.” It was that same voice that cried out when the glass broke and I looked up to see the culprit of the mess.

He scrambled for napkins from the table, letting them fall into the pool of liquid at our feet. His maroon shirt was rolled up to the elbows, and a strand of his dark hair fell in front of his face as he leaned over to pick the glop of material back up .

I had the sudden urge to brush the hair out of his face. I had to shake the thought out of me. ‘He’s a complete stranger, Evie,’ I thought to myself. ‘Don’t be weird .’

And yet, I found myself smiling at him as frantically tried to clean up the spilled champagne. I set down my own glass on the table and knelt down next to him.

“Here, let me help,” I offered as I began carefully picking up the glass pieces.

The guy grabbed some of the shards that were closer to him, and went to place them in my hand. His fingers brushed mine, for a brief moment, when he went to move his hand away.

Something like a jolt of electricity seemed to travel through my hand, and all the way through my body. I had this strange sensation of feeling warm. Relaxation washed over me right before my heart started pounding. So much so that I could practically feel the vibrations it caused through every inch of my body.

The guy cleared his throat, snapping me out of whatever had just occurred. I started to feel normal again, just as he said, “um, thank you.”

Finally, I met his eyes. They were a piercing hazel, the green more dominant than any of the other colors that seemed to be perfectly mixed in. I felt stuck in that moment, like I couldn’t look away, no matter how much I tried. He must’ve felt the same, because he didn’t look away either.

At the sound of loud, sudden laughter nearby, I was able to pull my eyes away. I quickly grabbed the last few of the glass shards and stood up, dumping them carefully in the nearby trash can. When I looked back, the guy was picking up the damp napkins and coming over to where I was.

He tossed them into the trash can, and just when I thought he was going to walk away, he said, “are your shoes okay?”

I laughed, unable to help myself. “Yeah, I think they’ll survive.”

A hint of a smile appeared on his lips, and I noticed through the light stubble that he had a small dimple. “Sorry about that again. I didn’t think I was that clumsy, but it’s what I get for trying to hold both a plate and a glass of champagne at the same time.”

We both started making our way back to the champagne table. He sighed as he saw his plate flipped over on the stone patio floor.

“What a waste of a good lemon bar. It was the last one, too.” He shook his head and picked up the plate.

“Well, the lemon bars are actually a classic from a local bakery called Whitman’s Pastries, so the good news is that they’re always around,” I respond. I made a note in my head to tell mom and dad later that I mentioned our shop just in casual conversation. They’d be so proud.

“That’s awesome,” the guy said, smiling for real this time. “I’ll have to go check it out.”

I pick my glass back up, and Finn comes up next to me, reaching in front of me to get a new glass for himself.

“Ah, so I see you’ve met Caleb,” Finn said, looking in between me and the other guy.

“Oh, you’re Mason’s cousin?” I asked the man. Caleb.

He nodded. “Yep, cousin and Best Man. Quite the combination.”

“I’m Evie, best friend of the bride and also Maid of Honor,” I replied.

“Ah, another great combination,” Caleb said as he smiled again at me. I couldn’t help but return the gesture.

Finn looked between us for a moment, then said, “Well I’m glad everyone is getting to know each other, but I actually came to steal Evie away for a second, if that’s okay.”

Caleb met my eyes again before replying, “yeah of course. It was good to meet you, Evie.”

“You too, Caleb.”

I turned and followed Finn, glancing over my shoulder at Caleb one last time, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

***

“Where are we going?” I asked Finn a few moments later, after he pulled me past the fence of Heather’s house, away from the crowd.

But my question was answered not long after, when we came up to the guest house. It had only ever been used for our trio’s weekly hangouts, but it was always kept unlocked.

Finn glanced around quickly, as if looking to make sure nobody was around, and then pulled me inside.

“What are we…oh…” My voice trailed off as I felt Finn’s arms wrap around my waist. He pulled me closer and crushed his lips against mine. My hands went straight for his hair, digging in and pulling him closer to me, if that was even possible.

Finn pulled away just long enough to whisper, “I’ve missed this so much.” I pulled him right back to me. This time my hands found their way under his shirt and I ran my fingers lightly down his chest. I felt him catch his breath.

This time, it was my turn to pull away for air. My hands remained on his chest. Both of our hearts pounded in sync. “Me, too. I was worried for a second back there that you were gonna jump my bones right at that party in front of everyone.”

He laughed as he planted small kisses along my jaw, then down my neck. “Oh, come on, you have to give me more credit than that. We’ve been doing this a while, so I know how to keep myself in check.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Oh yeah? You seem to be doing a great job of that right now, when we’re less than a hundred feet away from a ton of people who would freak if they found out about us.”

“This was a special occasion. After all, you’re in this dress, and just look so damn good .” He kissed me again, harder this time, hungry. He picked me up and moved me onto the counter.

It’s been almost two weeks since we’ve been able to have some time alone together, even though we’ve been hanging out with Heather basically every day. It felt like we were always together but couldn’t touch, couldn’t kiss. It all built up to this moment. The moment where we finally could put away the charade and the façade that we were just friends.

Finn’s hand moved slowly up my leg, reaching under my dress.

“Don’t we need to get back to the party? People will notice we’re gone,” I said, gasping at his touch.

Finn smiled against my lips. “Right now, I really don’t care,” he said as his hands go even further up my leg.

I shuddered, but pressed my palms against his chest. “I think I do, though.”

Finn leaned back to look at me. “Oh, come on,” he pouted, brushing his fingers up and down my thigh.

I grasped his wrist, stopping him. “I’m her Maid of Honor, Finn. As much as I want to be with you, and as scandalous as this may be, it’s her engagement party. I need to be there for her. She’s going to notice I’m gone.”

I held onto his hand, trying to let him know that I wasn’t upset with him. But he pulled his hand away.

“Fine. I guess you’re right. Let’s go back.”

Finn brushed past me and out the door without looking back. I sighed and jumped down from the counter. I counted to thirty before I made my way back to the party.

When I made it back to the backyard, Finn already had another drink in his hand. He was talking to Mason and some of his friends as if nothing happened.

I searched the patio for Heather to see if she needed anything from me, but my gaze caught on a pair of eyes already looking at me. Those hazel eyes. Caleb.

His eyes darted down to my legs, but it wasn’t in a creepy way. In fact, when I glanced down to see what he was looking at, I saw that my dress had ridden up way further than it should have.

Heat flooded my cheeks and I yanked the bottom edges back down. I nonchalantly smoothed down my hair that had been slightly messed up.

When I looked up again, Caleb was still watching me.

Before he finally looked away moments later, I could’ve sworn he’d almost seemed disappointed.