by Fields, MJ
I walk downstairs, and all of my brothers are waiting in the foyer, decked out in their black-tie best. What a ridiculously handsome lot they are. All of my friends are going to faint on the spot with the four of them arriving at the same time. Papa and Mamma come down a moment later. She looks splendid in her sapphire-blue gown.
Papa eyes me up and down as he walks over to kiss my cheek. “The wolves will surely be circling my baby girl tonight. You boys had better be on high alert.” He gives his command. His thick Italian accent breaking through.
A chorus of agreement comes from the foyer, and I roll my eyes.
“Please, Papa, don’t get them riled up before I have a chance to even dance my first dance. You will have me standing alone in a corner all night.”
“Not a chance, bella. Your dance card will be most definitely full tonight; I am sure. Shall we?” He holds both his elbows out for me and Mamma to place our arms in, and he leads us to the awaiting car.
My brothers follow us in a car of their own, and I’m buzzing with excitement as we make the trek into Manhattan to Papa’s country club. He rented the entire club for the night and had a party planner do all the decorations. The club itself is catering, and my favorite local band will be playing as well as a DJ for part of the night. I’m so happy. I just know this is going to be a night to remember.
“You are here. Wow, look at you!” Adriana is waiting for us as we pull up to the valet. She is in a mini black cocktail dress and mile-high heels. Her black hair is in an updo, and her lips are a startling bright red against her pale skin.
“I am. How does everything look inside?”
“Like a fairy tale. Your papa really outdid himself. I have been racking my brain, trying to think of something I can hang over my papa’s head to guilt him into a shindig like this for my eighteenth next year.”
“Your parents always spoil you rotten, Adi. You are crazy.”
Never one to be outdone, she continues to brainstorm. “True. Maybe I will just ask for them to spring for all my friends and me to fly to Bora Bora or something for my birthday.”
When we enter the club, we are met with an enormous Christmas tree glittering with red and green and gold ornaments and twinkling white lights. The banister of the grand staircase leading up to the ballroom floor is entwined with fresh garland on both sides and wrapped with large red ribbons. Christmas music is playing, and guests are meandering about with glasses in hand. We climb the marble steps and make our way into the ballroom, and my jaw drops.
The event planner really outdid herself. It’s breathtaking from the ice-blue and snow-white floral arrangements to the enormous willow tree branches draped in icicle lights and faux snow sprinkled around the walkways between the tables and around the dance floor.
A winter wonderland, just as I pictured. I’m so filled with elation; I can hardly contain myself. I turn, and Papa is propped in the entryway, watching to see my reaction. I run to him and into his arms.
“Are you pleased, bella?”
“Oh, Papa, it is more beautiful than I imagined. Thank you so much.”
He kisses the top of my head. “You are so welcome, my dear. Now, go and enjoy your night, but remember to save your papa a dance.”
He walks back out, and I make a turn about the room to say hello to everyone. I spot Dante at a table and stop.
After our first meeting last year, he called and asked me out on an official date, but my brothers instantly shut him down. As far as I know, Cross and Nicco kept the drunken skinny-dipping incident to themselves, but they felt a twenty-year-old was much too old to be dating their sixteen-year-old sister. Big brothers. What are you gonna do? Rather than be annoyed, I was kind of relieved they’d stepped in. Dante is nice enough and quite attractive, but there is something about him that makes the warning alarms go off in my head. I can’t put my finger on it. It is just instinctual. He is a little dangerous. Then again, it could all be in my head because Cross planted it there that night.
“Hi, Dante. Glad you could make it.”
“Thank you for inviting me.” He looks me up and down and wickedly licks his lips. “Don’t you look stunning tonight?”
I blush at the compliment. I might think he is dangerous, but every girl likes to hear she has hit the mark when getting dolled up.
“Thank you. I hope you enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
I start to walk away, but he reaches and gently tugs my wrist.
“Dance with me tonight?”
“Sure. I am going to finish greeting everyone and grab a glass of punch. I’ll be right back.”
I try to speak to everyone as I make my way back out and down the stairs. I want to powder my nose and then eat a little something before I go back up. On my way down, I run into Cross—literally. I trip on the step and stumble right down into his back.
“Whoa there. Steady.” He turns and clasps my shoulders to brace me.
“Oops. I haven’t drunk a drop either. Imagine once I’m tipsy,” I joke.
I haven’t drunk a drop since he found me and nursed me through my first hangover. It was awful. Why would anyone continue to do that to themselves?
“Oh, I don’t have to imagine.”
“Joking,” I concede as I put my arms in the air in surrender. “I gave up the life of reckless, drunken nights over a year ago.”
I take him in. He is in a black tux that is tailored to fit him perfectly. His dark hair is still a touch beyond needing a cut, and the dimple on his left cheek is showing as he grins down at me. His green eyes are dancing in the twinkling lights, and they are mesmerizing.
“Scutari, look up!” someone yells from the bottom of the stairs.
Both our eyes follow everyone else’s gaze up into the air where a mistletoe is hanging down in the middle of the staircase from a red velvet rope. Right above our heads.
I swear, I feel my entire body flush with embarrassment as they all start chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss,” over and over.
My eyes return to Cross, and I am sure he can read the panic all over me.
He lifts his hands to the sides of my face and gently tilts it up to his. “Relax, Tesoro. It’s just a Christmas tradition,” he whispers right before his lips connect with mine.
I’m instantly liquid. He moves one of his hands to the small of my back to support me, and the movement deepens the kiss. As his touch hits the skin above my skirt, an electric current slivers down my spine, and I instinctively lift my arms and wrap them around his neck. I open my mouth and melt into the kiss. He pulls me in even closer until I’m tucked tightly against him. It’s like our audience just fades away, and it’s only us on the staircase.
I haven’t been kissed since that night at his loft. I have been starved for it. I dream about kissing him every time I close my eyes at night. Every part of me has longed to be in his arms. I know it’s wrong. I know he is twenty-five, and I am seventeen. I know he is my brother’s best friend, and Tony would kill him. I know he only thinks of me as a little sister. I know all the reasons, and I don’t care. I want him … want this so badly.
I’m not sure how long we put on a show—it could not have been but a few moments—but the sound of catcalls from the people who have gathered draw me back to reality, and I pull back. Breathless and a little disoriented, I look around at all the cheering faces. All, except four, that is. My brothers are among the crowd gathered at the foot of the stairs, and their expressions are a mixture of anger and confused amusement. I guess that kiss looked as scandalous as it felt.
“Wipe that guilty look off your face and laugh for them, Gabby.”
I do as he said as he addresses the crowd, “You guys just wait. I’m going to stand at the foot of these stairs all night long and make sure every single one of you is forced into a kiss. Thank goodness Gabby here was the one caught with me and was a good sport. I hope you assholes aren’t so lucky.”
Everyone roars with laughter as he descends the stairs. I look around
, and even my brothers’ suspicious glares have dissipated.
Did I imagine how hot that kiss was? Because Cross doesn’t seem the least bit affected. Maybe I did.
On shaky legs, I head down to the food to grab something to eat and drink and compose myself. I have got to get over this infatuation before I make a huge fool of myself.
Seven
Brie - Present
When I walk in from my overnight with little Cassian, Dawn is perched on the couch, still in her pajamas, waiting for Kelsey to wake up.
“My head hurts, and it’s not even the good kind of I partied my ass off last night, and I deserve this misery headache,” Dawn whines from her spot on the couch.
Apparently, the girls had as sleepless a night as I did with the baby, although theirs wasn’t as uneventful. They went out to a nightclub on Sunset where Daniel and his band were scheduled to play as a last-minute replacement.
They just settled into their booth when Kelsey spotted her boyfriend, Bradley, across the room, waiting at the bar. He was supposed to be in Temecula with his parents at his aunt and uncle’s thirtieth wedding anniversary party. Confused but happy to see him, she headed over to him. That was when a girl approached him from the side and whispered something into his ear. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up close before kissing her and handing her one of the drinks he had ordered.
Kels saw red, especially when the scantily clad companion turned her head toward the stage as the band was announced, and she got a good look at her face. Tonya. Kelsey barreled toward the pair. Bradley caught her before her fist connected with its intended target. He picked her up over his shoulder and fireman-carried her back up to the booth, leaving the seething backstabber at the bar. Chaos ensued, and Dawn, Kels, and Bradley were asked to leave halfway through Daniel’s band’s first set.
I make us a pot of coffee and sit with her as she fills me in on the rest of their night.
“It was a terrible Uber ride home. I felt so bad for the driver. I had hopped up front, and Kels and Brad were in the back. She was screaming mad. He told her that he had gotten the weekends mixed up and the anniversary party was actually two weeks from now. When he realized the mistake, he decided to get some study time in Saturday afternoon, so he could spend Saturday night with her. He lost track of time, and by the time he came by our place, we were gone. So, he headed to Sunset to see if he could catch up with us. He was at the bar about thirty minutes when Tonya came in. He said it was a coincidence. She asked him to buy her a drink while she went to the ladies’ room, and that was when we came in. He said he saw us and that he was headed our way when Tonya came by to get her drink. She pulled him into an embrace and gave him a quick, friendly peck to thank him. He swore Kels had overreacted.” She takes a break in the story to take a sip from her mug. Then, she continues, “He is such a lying sack of shit. Even if he really did mix up the weekends, why wouldn’t he have just called Kels and told her?”
I stop her there. “Why didn’t he take Kels with him to his aunt and uncle’s party?”
“Oh, that’s another thing. He told her his mom had said it was a small event space, and they were inviting family only.” She rolls her eyes, as if to say, Yeah, right.
She gets up to grab a bagel out of the box I picked up on my way home.
She tears a piece off and pops it in her mouth as I ask, “Do his parents not like her?”
“They love her. That’s why I’m not buying the whole family-only thing. They consider Kels family. So, anyway, like I said, why not call and tell her about the mix-up? Then, he said he came by here and just missed us and headed to the Strip to catch up to us. First of all, how in the hell did he know where we were or where we were headed? We hadn’t known anything about Daniel’s gig until Saturday morning; plus, he was already at the damn club, ordering drinks when we arrived. We went straight there. No way he could have come here, found us gone, and then beat us to the club, much less in enough time to get there, accidentally run into Tonya—the traitor—and get drinks.”
I just sit there, nodding in agreement at the twisted story.
“And, Brie, I saw that kiss, and that wasn’t a friendly thank-you kiss. He pulled her into him, and he kissed her. They were there together. It was so flipping obvious.”
Damn it, I hate this for Kelsey. She is crazy about Bradley.
They met when she changed high schools after her mom married Uncle Matt, and they moved from downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills. Apparently, he instantly liked her, but she was still seeing a guy from her old school at the time, so he was friend-zoned. They reconnected when he started working at the coffee shop his parents opened near the campus of California State. They started dating shortly afterward and have been together ever since. That was over a year ago, and she is now head over heels in love with him. He and Daniel have become friends, and the four of them do just about everything together. When Tonya moved in, she became the fifth wheel, and apparently, she wasn’t happy with that position.
Oh God, I think to myself. Am I the fifth wheel now?
Dawn finishes with her story as we both eat.
“So, when we made it back here, I called him out on all his bullshit because she wasn’t. He started backpedaling, saying he had heard somewhere that Daniel’s band would be filling in, but he could not recall where he’d heard it, so he assumed that was where we were headed, and he hadn’t called because he wanted to surprise her. It was all just more bullshit piled on top of bullshit, but I could tell Kelsey was trying to make it work in her head so that she could let herself believe him. She finally told him to leave because she needed a little time to think. He wasn’t happy about it, but he got in a taxi and took off at about three a.m. Asshole probably had it take him straight to whatever evil lair Tonya lives in now. That fake bitch. I swear, I wish I had throat-punched her for Kels when we were in the club. I mean, hell, we ended up getting kicked out anyway.”
As I sit here, listening to Dawn rage, I realize that maybe the ugly isn’t my favorite part after all. My heart aches for my new friend. There is nothing like thinking your life and relationship are perfect and then finding out it is a lie. A girl gets a serious case of whiplash, going from blissfully happy to utterly devastated in a matter of seconds.
We finish our breakfast and watch three episodes of our latest Netflix obsession while we wait for Kelsey to emerge from her bedroom. She finally walks into the living room, looking like the walking dead, a little after noon. She doesn’t say a word. She just sits on the couch and lays her head on my shoulder. I reach up and start running my fingers through her hair, and we start the next episode. The three of us watch mindless television for the rest of the afternoon. I know what it is like to need people close but to need them to give you space, all at the same time, so you can figure out your next move. I look over at Dawn, and we silently agree to do that for her.
Eight
Gabby - Past
I’m standing at one of the high-top tables in the ballroom, resting my feet for a few minutes. I have danced the night away. Adriana keeps making her way to the band to make song requests. It’s her sixth or seventh trip. She has her sights set on the lead vocalist, and she will find any excuse to go whisper in his ear. God only knows what she is whispering other than song requests.
“I have come to collect,” a voice demands from behind me.
I turn to find Dante standing there with his hand outstretched to me.
“Collect?”
“Yes, ma’am. I do believe the birthday princess promised me a dance.”
I stand there for a moment, debating on whether or not I should take his hand. There is just something about him that raises the hair on the back of my neck. Ever since that night in the woods, he has found reasons to unexpectedly show up where I am, and he always looks at me so intensely. I’m sure it’s just my imagination running wild because he has always been perfectly nice. Maybe it’s my own embarrassment from that night that bothers me, and I’m just p
rojecting it on him. As the first notes of my favorite Ed Sheeran song start to play, I decide to just let it go, and I take his hand and follow him to the dance floor.
“You look stunning tonight.” He gives me a quick twirl before pulling me in close to his body.
“Thank you. You clean up nice yourself.”
He is a really good dancer, which is a relief. I have had the hardest time following the lead of most of the guys here tonight, and in some cases, I had to take over the lead. My poor toes have suffered greatly.
“To be fair, the last time we spent any time together, we were in the woods in November. Hoodies and jeans aren’t my usual attire. If you would agree to go out on a real date with me, you would know this.”
“I told you, I don’t date.”
“And why is that exactly?”
“It’s called an overprotective papa and four large, scary big brothers.” I laugh, but it is oh so true.
“Your brothers don’t scare me, Gabby.”
“Then, I worry about your sanity because they should.”
“I am perfectly sane. I’m just not afraid to go after something when I want it.” He moves my hair and brings his mouth close to my ear. “And I very much want you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night.”
The song ends as he makes his declaration, and everyone starts to clap for the band. We separate, and he gives me a little wink and kisses my hand before he turns to walk off the dance floor. I’m a little taken aback by his boldness.
I turn to return to my table, and my eye catches what appears to be a very unhappy Cross standing against the wall, watching me. I begin walking toward him, and he stands up and puts his hands in his pockets. He glares at my approach, and then he walks right past me and out the door.
What is wrong with him?
I follow him out and down a dark hallway leading away from the ballroom and stairway. He darts out of sight, and I hurry after him. About five feet in, a hand reaches out and grabs me, pulling me into a room about the size of my bedroom. It’s dark, except for the faint glow of the Exit sign above the door. He shuts the door hard once he has me inside and whirls on me.
