Page 72 of Love Thief

“Yes, but I did talk about them,” she points at me, “Evie, Marcus, Xan and you. Things from your childhood.” Tears start in her eyes. “What if I’ve said something, and they use it.”

I look at her and, even though there’s no smile on my face, I hide my anger at the women. I don’t want to upset Orla even more. “They better get ready if they do.”

Turning to walk to the other side of the area, I’m greeted by another, equally unpleasant sight. No way! Jude is staring at me, standing stock still, with fucking Isobel. I stop dead in my tracks and James bumps into me.

“You are fucking kidding me,” he shouts, looking over my shoulder. “He did not say she was coming, Mum. I promise, he did not.”

Bucky’s face changes to fury and he starts to go over. I pull him back. “No, Bucky, stay here, baby, with me.”

I turn to Tommy. “Can you find us somewhere we can go without seeing people we can’t stand? At least for a while. And then we’ll need to find a spot away from this shower of shit to watch the band. I think I need a drink.” I turn in another direction, away from the gallery of haters.

“I’ll get drinks, Mum,” says Bucky. “Get a seat over there with James, I’ll fetch them over.”

“Unbelievable. You could not get more people I loathe in one place if you tried. It’s as if someone set a list up and invited them all to come. What did the invitation say? ‘If you hate Evie, come on down’?”

“I don’t think they hate you. I think they’re jealous of you. They see what you have and they want it. But they don’t realise the reason it’s so good is because of you and you alone. With them, it would just not be that, and then they may hate you for being better,” James says with a smirk.

Jude decides to come over, Isobel behind him, just as Tim is also heading my way. “Thirty minutes to show. Evie, can I whisk you away? I’ll bring you back to watch the show. There’s a family area in the VIP section and it’s a good spot, so…”

I smile and stand up just as Jude arrives. “Hey, I’m just off to see Kell. See you later, okay.” I kiss his cheek and walk away.

I don’t address Isobel and I walk straight past the coven. “Saved me there, Tim,” I tell him. “Is it just me? or is Becky coming?”

“No, they all said just you.” I shrug at that, odd, but anyway…

He leads me behind the stage and into a makeshift dressing room area on the other side. Not glam, pure function. I walk in the door and Kellen pulls me in fast and the door is slammed shut behind me.

“I need a snog to keep me going,” he says. He’s laughing but he looks a bit pissed.

Kissing me, he backs me up against a wall. I can hardly breathe by the time he lets me go, and my knees feel a bit weak.

“All alright out there?” he asks.

Does he know about Lauren and Grace? He might, from Gabe.

“Yeah, good. We’ve just got back, so excellent timing.” I keep my face neutral, a happy smile plastered on it.

Xander walks in, kissing me on the cheeks. I can feel a totally different energy coming off him, pure excitement. “Party tonight, it’s going to be great. Gabe says he’s set up a bit of a belated birthday bash for me.”

“Fantastic,” I say sarcastically, my mask slipping slightly.

He looks at me sharply. “Really? that didn’t sound like it.”

“It’s just?—”

I’m saved from my non-apology over my lack of excitement when Gabe rushes into the room, shouting, “Hey where’s the party at?”

“Where are our shots?” calls Levi from right behind him.

“All good, Evie?” Gabe asks, and I can see Levi, Xan, and Kell watching for my answer. They all know about the girls. What a set of spineless bastards.

I continue to feign ignorance and smile, saying, “Amazing. Been out and about, it's totally fantastic. Knock ‘em dead tonight, I know you all will.” I move towards them all and give them each a peck on the cheek. Kellen looks stunned, Xander suspicious.

Oh, yeah, they all definitely know about the women. Never thought my skill of reading my brothers would come in this handy.

Ifeel sick. The back stabbing gits. I smile, wave, and walk out the door.

My face drops instantly. This is not for me. I am not dealing with this shitshow. They can’t even support me, even Kellen and Xander. Grace and Lauren, really? Both of those women have caused me pain. And they know it. All of them. If I feel like this now, and we’re only one festival in, I know this is not for me.

---