Page 140 of Hate You Up Close

He looks at his fiancée through furrowed brows.

“This is her,” Skylar grins before turning back to me. “I knew you would give Elliot a run for his money, but I have to be honest…You two together is thelastthing I would have ever expected.”

You can say that again.

“Trust me…me neither,” I chuckle before extending my hand out to Everett. “Hi,” I say in a friendly tone. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

He wraps his large hand around my palm, giving my hand a firm shake.

“Nice to meet you,” he grins before letting go of my hand and placing his hands on his hips. He pauses and pinches his brows together like he’s puzzled. “Now…I have one serious question for you.”

“Oh, God,” Elliot groans as if he already knows that his brother is going to make a smart-ass comment.

Everett ignores him and continues with his question.

“How in thehelldo you guys work together forty hours a week and not kill each other?” he chuckles and shakes his head. “From what Zion tells me, my brother is known as the ‘office grump’,” he taunts.

“You know,” I click my tongue. “That isagreatquestion. One I’m still trying to figureout myself.”

Skylar and Everett both laugh as I jokingly nudge Elliot’s shoulder, giving him a hard time.

Elliot scoffs, nodding his head before chiming in.

“Elliot,”he mocks, lowering his already deep voice to sound like Everett.“Bring a date to the shower, they said. It will be fun, they said.”

“Oh, come on,” Everett laughs before throwing an arm around his brother’s shoulder. “You know I’m just messing with you. What kind of an older brother would I be if I didn't give you shit from time to time?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Elliot rolls his eyes. “You’re still on my shit list.”

“Eh, I think I’m permanently on that list,” Everett shrugs.

Skylar and I lock eyes at the same time, chuckling at their brotherly banter. It’s nice to see Everett and Elliot like this…so carefree and easygoing with each other. Before Skylar or I have a chance to chime in, the sound of metal lightly tapping against glass catches our attention.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

A petite brunette who looks similar to Skylar stands in the middle of the living room, gently clinking a butter knife against her champagne glass. Once all the chatter quiets down, she clears her throat and begins speaking.

“Hi, everyone,” she smiles, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. “As many of you already know, my name is Kara, and I’m Skylar’s sister. I first want to thank all of you for showing up today to show your love and support for Skylar and Everett. I know you all have busy schedules, so it means a lot that everyone made the time to be here. We’re going to start off the evening with dinner, and then we’ll play a fewhow well do you know the bride and groomgames before they open gifts. The burgers are ready, so feel free to grab a plate and help yourself. Thank you again for beinghere, and to Skylar and Everett…We all love you both so much.Cheers!”

Guests clink their glasses together, cheer, and clap before getting in line for dinner. Tonight is off to a great start.

About an hour into the shower,everyone finally finishes eating and begins trickling into the living room to start the game section of the evening. Elliot hands me a full glass of champagne, my second for the night, before placing a soft kiss to my cheek. Right as I’m about to take a seat on the couch, my phone starts ringing with a call from Evie. She’s probably just calling to chat, so I send her to voicemail and remind myself to call her after the shower.

Seconds after I decline her call, I get a text.

Call me. ASAP.

Shit.

Something must be really wrong for Evie to send me an urgent text like that.

“I’ll be right back,” I whisper into Elliot’s ear. He nods, partially distracted by his dad talking to him as I quickly sneak away to the bathroom. Once I shut the door, I immediately call Evie back.

She answers the call in tears, completely distraught and speaking a mile a minute. Through broken sobs, she proceeded to tell me that she found out Nate, the guy she’s in love with and who asked her to be his girlfriend last month, had been cheating on her since they started talking. They were at dinner tonight when he left his phone at the table after getting up to use the restroom.

His phone rang with a call from a girl named Brittany, and Evie said that she instantly got an uneasy feeling in her gut. So, she decided to answer the call…and everything unraveled from there.

Evie’s currently stranded outside of the restaurant since she punched Nate in the face and refused to get in his truck. She’s devastated, blindsided, and so sick to her stomach that she threw up all over the sidewalk.