Page 66 of Secrets in Love
M.I.X. was chock-full of people—something I normally hated and would have been bitching about—but I was so relieved not to be alone with Nate I could have kissed every stuck-up wanker and pretentious socialite one by one. The sound of clinking glasses, alcohol-infused chatter, and laughter was the respite I needed.
I’d never been here before, but Finn had been a few times lately and seemed to really like it. Some bubbly blonde, who was way too friendly to Nate while completely ignoring me, showed us to the table, but as soon as she was gone, we hit the bar.
“What can I get you guys?” the gorgeous bartender asked the minute our butts touched the stools. “I’ll take whatever you have on tap. Evie, you want a rosé?”
“Yes, please.”
“Coming right up.” He smiled and began pouring Nate’s beer.
“Shit! I forgot to message Finn. Good one, Evie. Forget to invite the guy you’re surprising to the surprise.”
A loud gasp rang in my ear. “Bloody hell! UH-UH. NO WAY! Did you say Evie and Finn?” I nodded to the excitable British man sitting beside me. “Are you Evie Austen? Of course you are. Look at that hair and those eyes!” His excitement increased tenfold.
“Sure am.” I nodded while edging away. “And you are…?”
“Well, ding dang. If it isn’t Finn McHunk’s sister, Missy McHunk. I’m Teddy, Teddy Digby. I work with Finn and Scarlett at Wise, Bernstein, and Wright.”
“Oh, yes. Hi, Teddy. Finn talks about you all the time. You’re the guy he went to the pub with who hit on everything that moved.”
Teddy’s face went from delight to fright, and my gaze shifted from him to the hot bartender placing himself and our drinks before us. “What’s this I hear about hitting on people?” he asked.
Teddy lunged across the bar, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled his ear to his lips. After animatedly whispering, the barkeep smiled and nodded. “Hi, Evie. I’m Asher. This one’s boyfriend.”
“Shit.” I turned to Teddy on my right and smiled through gritted teeth.
“Don’t worry, you haven’t gotten Ted in trouble.” Asher laughed. “Trust me, he can manage that all by himself.”
Within ten minutes, Asher had ditched the bar, and he and Teddy were sitting with us at the table, laughing their asses off as Nate and I gave them all the dirt on Finn. Nate had just launched into his favorite—the time the ass of Finn’s wetsuit ripped in front of half of Byron Bay—when the man himself strolled through the door, lipstick on his neck and draped all over a dizzy, sex-drunk-looking Scarlett. “Nate, quick, hide. Finn’s here.” He ducked beneath the table, smashing his head as he did.
“You behave yourself under there, Nate.” Teddy smiled. “Or not. Up to you.”
I stood to greet the loved-up pair, but their eyes went straight past me and set on Teddy and Asher. Scarlett’s confusion showed on her face, twisting from afterglow bliss back to stark reality. “What’s going on? How did you and Evie meet?”she asked Teddy.
“Well, I was here at the bar with Asher—fill you in later—and I overheard Evie talking about you two. We got to chatting, and here we are. She’s quite the firecracker, Finn. I love her. But us being here together is not your surprise. Is it, Evie?”
“Nope, not even close.” I smiled.
“So, where’s the surprise, then?” Finn snapped quickly, losing patience with being out of the loop.
“Right behind you.” Finn froze, and I quickly captured the moment of recognition on my phone.
“Nate?”
“G’day, bro.” Nate threw himself into the back of Finn and wrapped his arms around his chest. Finn twisted his body to face him, and both man-babies looked like they were about to cry. This was nothing new for Finn—he cried all the time—but Nate rarely had the whole time I’d known him.
“Nate! What the hell! You’re not supposed to be here till December!” Finn chuckled.
“I know, but things changed. Evie helped me switch flights, and here I am.” He was still slapping Finn’s back when his eyes settled on and ran over the enviable figure of Scarlett. “And who’s this beautiful creature you’ve come in draped around? You’ve outdone yourself. It looks like I’m not the only one keeping a few secrets.”
Finn and I slapped him on the back of his head before Finn replied, “Nate, this is, um, Scarlett Grant. A work colleague.”
Teddy, Asher, and I all exchanged glances. Scarlett was way more than a work colleague to my idiot brother, but I had a suspicion as to why he’d unkindly referred to her as such. “Nice to meet you, Scarlett,” Nate said, shaking her hand and grinning like a fool. “Keeping the big fella in line at the office, are ya?”
Poor Scar said nothing, just lost all color in her face and laughed awkwardly as she was guided into a chair by Teddy like we used to do with my drunk nanna at Christmas.
Things then went from bad to worse. Finn decided to ditch his date and sit next to me, but Nate made a sprint and claimed the seat first. Their childish fight and daggers over his victory would have been comical if not so hurtful to Scarlett. Finn did end up next to her but continued to act as though they had just met for most of the evening. Teddy and I did our best to encourage him to open up, but he was acting like a complete dick, pulling away from her touch and borderline ignoring her sometimes. It took all my strength not to beat the shit out of him. Scarlett was an absolute sweetheart and deserved better.
Not that it excused his behavior, but Finn was equally, if not more so, emotionally screwed than me. He wore his guilt and grief over the death of Shelby—Nate’s sister, Iris’s mum, and his first love—like armor, shielding himself from the world and hiding behind it whenever things were too hard. Shelby had died during childbirth. Finn had never forgiven himself and lived a half-life since. It was something I was painfully aware of and understood completely.
