Page 31 of Try Hard

Fia

T he venue was already packed, the party in full swing, when we arrived.

The fact that Kim and Kieran had hired an entire nightclub for their joint stag and hen party was just another sign of how massive the wedding was going to be.

The week between the party and the wedding suggested things were going to get pretty wild, too.

“Ready?” Eve asked by the door as if she could sense my apprehension. Maybe she could.

I nodded. “Sure.”

She smirked like she knew I wasn’t quite telling the truth and moved to pull the door open.

Just inside were two people in all black who looked at us expectantly.

“Names, please?” one of them asked.

“Pendrick and Archer,” Eve said with a huge grin.

Her hand found my back again and it struck me how natural that was becoming—not just the feeling of her touching me, but the ease of how she did it.

She hadn’t even looked away from the two checking the guestlist. And, just as automatically, I stepped closer into her.

I was pretty sure teenage me died a little.

“Fia?” the bouncer asked, looking between the two of us. They were apparently going in order of which name Eve said first.

I nodded briefly as Eve shot me the biggest grin and told them, “Yes, she is.”

“Archer,” I breathed, not truly exasperated.

“And… oh.” They looked up at Eve with wide eyes, and I tensed, knowing what was coming. “Eve Archer?”

“The one and only,” Eve replied with a laugh, perfectly at ease. Her hand stroked the side of my ribs and I knew she’d felt my stress.

“Wow,” they breathed as the other bouncer shot them a questioning look before eyeing Eve with interest. “Well, um, have a great night!”

“You too,” she said, shooting them a finger gun with her free hand. “I hope it doesn’t get too rowdy for you.”

“Uh-huh,” they breathed as Eve led me away.

“It’s remarkable just how many people know you, Archer,” I said quietly as we headed for the internal doors.

She laughed and shot me a look. “Come now, Ophelia. They were obviously queer. That’s like… my whole audience.”

“Sure,” was all I got out because she chose that exact moment to slide her hand across my back, down my arm, and to take my hand in hers.

As a teenager, I’d pictured that more times than I wanted to admit.

But Eve was tactile. And it wasn’t like she’d interlaced our fingers.

I’d pictured that more than I’d like to admit, too.

I’d watch the way she gripped the rugby ball, the way she wrapped her arms around people in scrums, and, while I’d never wanted to be in a scrum, I’d desperately wondered what it felt like when she touched you.

Now, I didn’t have to wonder anymore, but that didn’t mean I understood it.

Knowing I wouldn’t want to walk in first, she pulled the door open with her free hand and led the way through the crowd. I stayed close behind her, clutching her hand tightly.

The place was lit up with neon club lighting and there were even more guests than I’d anticipated, but the benefit of that was the low likelihood of anyone seeing that I was holding Eve’s hand. If they didn’t know, they couldn’t comment on it.

Being led by Eve felt an awful lot like the time I’d followed her down the corridor at school—made all the worse by the number of our former classmates who were at this thing. I felt almost dizzy from the nostalgia and Eve’s hand in mine.

There was no point denying that I was still attracted to her, in every way it was possible to be attracted to someone, but she deserved someone who could give her everything she wanted and I wasn’t sure that was me. You didn’t get to date Eve Archer if you weren’t… whole.

I sucked in a breath, my lungs feeling uncomfortably tight. This wasn’t the place to have a breakdown over all the things I was and wasn’t.

“Alright?” Eve called in greeting over the music as she cut easily through a crowd that parted to reveal Kim and Kieran.

It was the most British I’d heard her sound since we were kids.

Of course, there were still words she used and ways she communicated that were British, but her decade in the US had left an impression on her accent.

Not fully American, not entirely British. Something uniquely hers.

“Archer!” Kieran called, and the laugh Eve let out suggested that felt very different coming from him than it did when I called her that.

“Good to know you remember who I am, you dick,” she said jovially, pulling him into a one-armed hug. Her other arm stayed resolutely between us, our hands locked.

Kieran let out a noise of complaint. “What did I do?”

“Ignored my text all week.”

“Oh. Right.” He pulled back and shot her an apologetic smile. “Well, I have had a lot going on.”

“Yeah. Suppose I’ll forgive you.”

Kieran glanced at me and how close I was standing to Eve. I didn’t miss the way his jaw and eyebrows twitched in amusement. “Seems like everything’s working out for you, Archer, so I don’t know why you’re complaining. But I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about that right now.”

Eve laughed and, without letting go of me, adjusted her arm so the back of her hand rested on the small of my back. I tried not to react to the way the move had her brushing over my butt.

“Fia,” Kieran said by way of a greeting. “Good to see you again.”

Kim grinned widely. “We are so glad you agreed to come to the wedding! It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

“And you know Archer here would have been devastated.”

“I’m sure she’d have survived,” I said darkly, watching Kieran with narrowed eyes. He’d changed quite a bit since school but he looked happy.

“Hardly,” Eve said, amused, and she leaned even closer into me.

My heart thudded demandingly in my chest. There was no way Kieran and Kim weren’t going to think we were together.

I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that.

They’d both known me back in school. They’d known I was never good enough to be around someone like Eve.

Surely they still thought that deep down?

“Archer!” Adnan threw his arms around Kieran’s and Kim’s shoulders, leaning into the group. “And Ophelia Pendrick. The whole school really is here.”

“Adnan,” Eve said, pulling me infinitesimally closer to her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a little worried about the smile he gave me. “You seem to be doing better.”

I had no idea what she was referring to, but it was fascinating that she’d stayed in touch with this group.

I’d stopped talking to everyone from school, whereas she seemed incapable of losing her friends.

I couldn’t blame them all for wanting to stay in touch with her.

After finally getting her number and her time, I was unbelievably reluctant to give them up.

“Yeah, I’m over it and back on the scene,” Adnan said, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that made it clear he’d gone through a recent breakup but was well and truly back out there.

Maybe it wasn’t that surprising Eve was keeping me tightly by her side—especially not when Adnan very unsubtly looked me up and down. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Eve moved readily with me when I twisted slightly and hid part of my body behind her. I was certain she felt the tension coursing through me.

“Sorry about the way it all went down,” she told Adnan sincerely.

“It’s fine. I’m over it.” He laughed and nodded towards Kieran. “At least I got the finished wedding cane from him before the breakup.”

My eyes flicked to Kieran’s cane. It took a second of him twisting it to see that it had been painted with his and Kim’s initials and what I could only assume were important memories of their relationship. Our old school crest sat near the handle.

Eve grinned. “He did a great job.”

“You’re supposed to take my side, Archer,” Adnan shot back.

“You’ve always been a shit painter.”

Before he could reply, the song changed and Kim screamed. “Babe, we have to dance!” She shot me and Eve a look. “We picked loads of songs from when we were at school and stuff.”

I nodded as people raced for the dance floor, ‘Mr. Brightside’ blasting from the speakers.

Eve shot me a look. “Dance with me?”

I shook my head, looking down to hide my smile. “Sure thing, Archer.”

“Save me one for later,” Adnan called after us, but I didn’t look back.

Despite the chaos of everyone around us, Eve’s hands found my hips and she pulled me against her, moving us to the beat.

“I think you’ve got an admirer,” she said into my ear.

I fought the way the memory of his eyes roaming my body made me want to cringe. “He’s barking up the wrong tree.”

Eve pulled her head back to look at me. “I thought you were bi?”

“I am.”

“I see.” She wrapped her arms around my back like she was hugging me, still moving us to the music. However, she didn’t move fast enough for me not to see the smile on her face, and that was lethal.

Sure, she hadn’t exactly been subtle that she liked being around me, but being glad I wasn’t into someone who was hitting on me felt different. It felt like a declaration of sorts.

My arms readily found her neck, and, as we danced, I knew we must have looked like a couple to anyone watching. I wasn’t nearly as bothered by that as I should have been—and not just because I hoped it would keep Adnan away.

“You know,” I said when ‘Mr. Brightside’ started bleeding into the next song, “I’m sure Sammy isn’t going to be too happy about you dancing so close to me.”

Eve laughed. “There is no way she’s still on that. We’ve talked about this, Ophelia.”

The way she said my name, especially in the midst of the packed dance floor, sent shivers down my spine that I hadn’t felt for a long time.