“There you are,” Addison called from far too fucking close for my liking, considering the monster hard-on I was rocking.
“Fuck.” I dropped my forehead to Everly’s shoulder as I tried to will my cock down.
She breathed out a laugh, running her hands through my hair. “Are things a little…hard for you right now?”
“Very funny.”
“I thought so.”
“What are you doing?” Addison asked, stopping right next to us. “It’s your turn.”
Thankfully, my cock was mostly behaved, so I stepped back, grabbing Everly’s hand as we faced my sister. “My turn for what?”
“The auction, obviously.” Thebachelorauction she’d sworn would be the biggest fundraiser of them all because, and I quote, “There are a lot of horny old women in this town, and I’m not above exploiting that.”
“What about it?”
She shot me a look that was both imploring and scary as hell. “You’re up.”
I sure as hell wasnotup because I was not a bachelor. We might not have said the words, but I was Everly’s, plain and simple. “No, I don’t think I am.”
“Yes, you are,” she said through gritted teeth, a forced smile on her face. “Remember thatthingwe’re raising money for?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you want all the money we can get, right?”
I clenched my jaw so tightly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Everly could hear my teeth grinding. “Yes.”
“Great!” she said with false brightness. “Then get up there and give these people whatever it is they find so enticing about you. Personally, I don’t see it.”
“Well, I should hope not. You’re my sister.”
“You’ve got five minutes, or I’m making you go out there shirtless.” And with that, the little witch walked toward the gazebo where a line of guys stood waiting their turn.
“So…” Everly said. “You’re auctioning yourself off?”
“I wasn’t aware I was.” I scrubbed a hand down my face and exhaled a heavy sigh. I could think of twelve thousand things I’d rather do than auction myself off for the “horny old women” of Starlight Cove, despite the cause we were raising money for. “I’ve gotta go talk to her.”
“Oh. Sure, okay,” she said, surprise and…hurt? evident in her voice.Fuck. I was going to kill Addison for this. “I’ll just…hang out and watch the crowd go wild until you’re…done.”
“I’m just going to go tell her to find someone else, okay?” I cupped Everly’s face, brushing my thumb across her lower lip. I couldn’t tell her yet what this festival was for or why Addison was pushing for every dollar we could get. So instead, I leaned in and kissed her, brushing my tongue against hers and pouring everything I felt into it. Saying without words how much she meant to me. How much I loved her. How every bit of this was for her.
* * *
Everly
Well,tonight certainly hadn’t gone how I thought it would.
Finally, Beck and I had been able to connect, when it’d been nothing but hit or miss for almost two weeks. I missed him fiercely, and that in and of itself was what had made my decision so easy.
Besides the fact that I’d grown to love this life I’d carved out for myself here, I couldn’t move back home to Washington because Beck wasn’t there, and I’d be miserable without him.
I’d even told my parents as much earlier today. I’d called them and finally laid it all on the line, telling them that I loved them and I missed them but that my life was here now. It’d been unnerving, but as soon as the words had come out of my mouth, I could hear the truth in them. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted off my chest, and I could finally breathe again. Why the hell hadn’t I been standing up for myself all the time?
As I was telling them all the reasons I wanted to stay, I’d realized I loved this life I’d built here in Starlight Cove because it wasmine. And maybe the reason I hadn’t felt like I belonged here like I did in my hometown had more to do with the fact that I wasn’t bending over backward to please everyone else and instead was focusing more on my own happiness. And I was totally and completely okay with that. It was time for a little selfishness.
So after my stellar afternoon when I’d finally made the decision to stick around and figure out how I was going to make the amount of insurance money I was getting work, now I was facing my boyfriend auctioning himself off for a date with someone else.
