Page 54 of When Alec Met Evie
Juno stills in my arms, her eyes transfixed on the screen. On Alec.
“I can’t blame you there, baby girl,” I say softly, running a hand up and down her back.
Alec smiles as the interviewer asks him a question—something about his responsibilities as captain and how he interacts with his team. Even though I’ve seen this video a million times—thank you, Juno—watching it on Alec’s enormous television hits a little differently. He really is so unbelievably handsome. Confident and charming, but somehow still self-deprecating and humble. And that glint in his eye…gah,it’s just so sexy.
And he invitedmeto have dinner with him and his friends.
Logically, I know it’s not really a big deal. A big group thing. That’s what he called it. Just a casual gathering of friends.
But it doesn’t feel casual to me.
During the symphony concert with Victoria last week, I easily spotted Gracie. Both because she’s principal cello and because she was by far the most beautiful woman on stage.
At the reception after the concert, Victoria introduced me to several musicians, including Gracie, and I had a few moments to explain my connection to Alec. She smiled wide and gave me a big hug, saying she couldn’t wait to get to know me better. She was so kind, and I immediately liked her, but once I was home, I looked her up on Instagram. Her profile is full of pictures of her and Felix and her best friend, Summer, who I already know is dating Nathan. Summer’s profile led me to several others, all people who seem connected to the Appies. I couldn’t quite piece together exactly how, but I’d be willing to bet a lot of the people I found will be included in the group dinner. Which is only problematic in the sense that every single one of them is young and vibrant and happy and beautiful and very much part of a couple.
Then there’s me.
With my postpartum body and my milk-filled boobs and a tagalong baby.
I’m not one who usually struggles with confidence. I don’t think I’m the most beautiful woman in the world, but I have great hair and decent skin, and when I wear makeup, I really know how to make my blue eyes pop. But even when it’s being kind, childbearing istoughon a body. I’m a little looser, a little more jiggly than I ever was before. My boobs are different, my hips are different.Everythingis different.
Which is fine, honestly. The expectations society heaps onto women are ridiculous anyway. But I’m only human, and thishuman is having a hard time not comparing myself to all the beautiful women I’ll meet whenever this dinner happens, especially when I would really love to impress Alec.
Alec’s video reaches the end, and I pick up the remote and restart it. That’s when a truly horrifying thought pops into my brain.
What if Riley comes to dinner?
It’s an irrational question because Riley’s Instagram profile makes it very clear she lives in Chicago. But Chicago has airports. Even if Megan is convinced she isn’treallydating Alec, I can’t know for sure. Maybe she’s perfectly willing, in all her Flex-clad glory, to hop on an airplane to attend a dinner party with her very sexy boyfriend.
Except,that doesn’t sound right. Megan was right when she said Alec isn’t a player. If only to respect his commitment to someone else, I think he would have different boundaries with me if there were another woman in the picture.
The long hug, all the texting, the baby gift. Those things don’t necessarily mean Alec wants more than friendship. But they do feel like more than he’d be doing if he had a girlfriend.
If he and I really were dating, I’d be pissed to find out he was texting someone as much as he’s been texting me. I just don’t think he’d do that.
Juno and I are halfway through a second listen of Alec’s video when the floor creaks behind me, and I spin to see the man himself standing at the edge of the living room. He’s shirtless and barefoot, pajama pants slung low on his hips, looking sleepy and disheveled and entirely too sexy.
My eyes graze over the dips and curves of his bare chest, the sculpted muscles dusted with hair and marked with a small tattoo on the top of his left pectoral. From here, it looks like the Appies logo.
“Hey,” I say. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”
“Nah, I got up for a drink,” he says. “Then I heard myself talking and…” His words trail off like he can’t quite figure out why his face is filling his television screen.
“Juno likes it,” I say, heat climbing my cheeks. I’m at least grateful it’s dark enough that he probably can’t see. “Something about the register of your voice, or the tone. It usually calms her, puts her to sleep when nothing else will.”
Juno’s whimpers escalate into more of a cry, and I let out a frustrated whimper of my own.
Alec walks a little closer. “She’s having a rough time?”
“We’ve been at this for hours. I can tell she’s exhausted, but she just won’t sleep. She’s not exactly setting us up for a great first day tomorrow.”
Alec studies me for a long moment, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Can I try?” he finally asks.
I lift my eyebrows. “Really?”
He nods. “You look like you could use a break. If she likes my voice, I’ll just…talk to her. See if it helps.”
He steps closer—close enough for me to feel the warmth of his big body—and lifts a hand to Juno’s back.
