Courtney looks over my shoulder and she smiles warmly at Izzy. “You must be Izzy?” She releases me and sweeps Izzy into a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you. Does that sound crazy?”
Izzy smiles. “Not at all. I feel the same about you. I’m so thrilled Everly’s brought me with her this weekend.”
Courtney places an arm over Izzy’s shoulder, and she winks at me. “Ladies, we are going to have a great girl’s weekend. Oh, by the way, I hope it’s okay if I stay over?” she asks, gesturing to the backpack on her back.
I shake my head, smiling. “Like you even need to ask. We’ll bring the mattress down off my old bed and then we can all camp out in the front room.”
An hour later we are sitting eating chocolate and crisps, all sitting around the low coffee table in the front room on cushions. Courtney has been filling me in on all the local gossip and it honestly feels like I haven’t been away.
“So,” Courtney says, waggling her eyebrows, “tell me about this hunk of a boyfriend of yours.”
I smile and sigh. I can’t help breaking out into a shit-eating grin whenever I think about him. “He’s great. We’re great.”
Izzy chuckles. “The two of them are sickeningly in love. The way he looks at her is just...” she sighs as she searches for the words to describe it, “it’s the way every girl dreams a guy will look at her, with total love and adoration.”
I bat her comment away with my hand and scoff. “You can talk. You and Dom are just as bad.”
Izzy grins. “Dom loves me, but it’s not in the all-consuming way Grayson feels about you.” Izzy smiles at Courtney. “You have to see it to understand what I mean.”
Courtney shakes her head, laughing. “Well, enough with the boy talk. This is a girl’s weekend. So, tonight, Jake Trentham is having a party at his house. His parents have gone off on another camping trip so I thought we could head over there, drink and dance the night away and then tomorrow night, maybe a girly night in? We can do face masks and manicures and watch old cheesy eighties movies like dirty dancing.”
“That sounds perfect.” I agree and Izzy nods her head in approval, chewing on a mouthful of food.
Later that evening I am changed and ready to head out. I’ve opted for jeans and a purple peplum top. My wardrobe now has more labels in it than it ever has before, so I’m careful to choose a less expensive-looking top as I don’t want to give people around here the idea that I’ve changed. Just as I’m about to head downstairs, my phone buzzes and a photo of Grayson appears on my screen. He’s dressed in a navy suit and he looks every inch the perfect male specimen. His brooding face makes my heart flip, as does the caption which says ‘miss you more than words.’
Grinning from ear-to-ear I message him back, sending him a photo of me with the caption. ‘Miss you too, Posh.’
My grin quickly fades when memories of his dad giving me the cheque and trying to buy me out of Grayson’s life surface. What kind of man tries to bribe his son’s girlfriend to leave him? I think he was honestly shocked when I didn’t take the cheque. It definitely reaffirmed the low opinion he clearly has of me. I also have to wonder what his game is? Why does he want me gone? And why is it important enough that he’d offer me that much money to do so?
“Everly, the taxi’s here. Get your arse downstairs now.” Courtney’s voice bellows up the stairs, pulling me from my troubled thoughts. Like it or not, I am going to have to decide what I tell Grayson when I get home. Maybe I’d chat to Izzy about it. She knows what a dick his dad is and she might be able to help me decide what to do about it.
WE ARRIVE AT JAKE TRENTHAM’S house, which is on a quiet estate about a five-minute drive away. His house is a simple semi-detached and probably worth a fifth of the houses my new friends live in. We head inside and the music pumps through the walls, even the hallway is full of people and we have to push our way through. Courtney guides us through until we reach the kitchen and she finds a bottle opener and opens our drinks. Izzy had looked at us confused when we’d loaded a carrier bag full of cider and she’d asked would there not be drinks at the party. I’d laughed and told her she wasn’t back home now and at parties here, no one could afford to supply the drinks for everyone and they expected you to take your own.
“Come on, let’s find Jake and say hello,” Courtney says, shouting in my ear over the music. She takes my hand and Izzy takes my other and follows behind us. We head outside into the back garden and find Jake sitting with a group of people on a decked area towards the back.
“Hey Jake. Look who I’ve brought along,” Courtney announces loudly, pulling the attention of everyone with Jake our way.
Jake grins as he recognises me. “No way! Is that Everly Taylor?”
I smile and feeling self-conscious; I nod my head. “It sure is.”
Jake shakes his head, smiling. “Man, I haven’t seen you since school. How you been?”
“Good. I guess,” I reply.
Jake nods and his smiles softens to one of sympathy. “I was sorry to hear about your mum.”
I shuffle my feet as I feel the sympathetic looks on everyone’s faces. “Thanks.”
Jake springs up from his seat and comes between Courtney and me. His eyes land on Izzy and he smiles a lazy, flirty grin her way. “Who is the redhead?”
Izzy rolls her eyes but smiles.
