Page 30 of From You to Me

I suppressed the urge as we all walked up to them.

Mikey noticed me and immediately got up, bypassing Lily like she didn’t even exist to envelop me in a hug.

“E, fuck! What are you doing here?”

I shrugged as I hugged him back.

Gabe stood stupefied, starstruck as he gaped. His eyes moved from Mikey to Jay to Matt and back to Mikey over and over again.

I sighed, introducing both Rory and Gabe to Mikey, who thankfully welcomed them with open arms. Even Matt and Jay shook their hands, greeting them with a smile reserved for their fans.

I exhaled a breath of relief, glad Jay didn’t say anything. Soon, we all huddled up in the lounge, and our drinks were served tothe table. I stuck to Lily’s side to escape his glare, but that was impossible, given that he was sitting directly in front of me. The bimbo in his arms was slowly clawing her way up his body. If she kept it up, she would soon end up on his lap.

But he didn’t spare her a glance as he looked straight at me. And if I said that it didn’t bother me, it would be an understatement.

His eyes drifted to Lily, narrowing into thin slits. “Lily, you know very well not to bring strangers up here,” he said in a cold voice.

The relief from earlier was replaced with anger as I felt every single muscle in my body tensing up at his words.

I looked straight at him. “I’m not a stranger. I’m your ex,” I snapped at the same time Lily said, “She is not a stranger. She’s my friend.”

His jaw clenched; the muscles ticked with annoyance but he didn’t say anything.

“Don’t mind him. He thinks he’s above everyone.” Lily placed her hand on my thigh, smiling softly.

I nodded, gripping my drink and taking a huge swig.

And soon everything went back to normal. Well, as normal as things can be. I kept drinking every single drink thrown my way while I gossiped with Lily. And Gabe was talking Mikey’s and Matt’s ears off, and the latter even gave a small smile that surprised me. And Jay ignored us the whole time, too focused on the hand on his chest. I still wanted to break it into a million little pieces.

After several drinks, I was shaking on the edge of my seat, needing to pee. I grabbed Gabe’s hand, pulling him away from everyone to guide me because everything was blurry at this point.

“Evy, I can’t believe I met the Four Foxes because of you. Being your friend finally paid off,” Gabe squealed as I left the restroom.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“I mean, did you see them? They were all so hot and sexy! If I wasn’t with Rory, I would definitely bag one of them.”

I yawned, too tired and drunk to even reply to him. But in typical Gabe fashion, he continued.

“And I can’t believe you’ve seen one of them naked. I totally get it now! I was even drooling at one point. That’s one fine specimen of a man, Evy. Too bad you had to go screw things up.”

I sighed. “I didn’t do it on purpose. Remember, Gabe?” I mumbled. “I think I’m actually gonna go home. I’m too tired.”

“What, no!” he moaned.

In the haze, I could see a familiar figure approaching us.

Marcus.

“Evy, Gabe, I’ve been looking all over for you. I stepped outside for a second, and then you all disappeared.”

Gabe nudged me toward him, and with my two left feet, I fell on Marcus’s arm.

“Actually, Evy was just telling me that she wanted to go home. Would you be a kind gentleman and call her a cab?”

Marcus held my shoulder, pulling me to his side and linking his arms with mine. “Of course, I’ll take care of her.”

Gabe grinned, wiggling his fingers as he bid me goodbye.

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