Nellie and I both reached for the same cannoli at the same time. Our fingers touched, and a small shock at the contact had Nellie pulling her hand away like it’d electrocuted her. “Sorry,” she said quickly.
“No worries, it’s all yours,” I nodded at the pastry.
Nellie’s eyes narrowed, dropping down to my lips until she forced her gaze away.
“How chivalrous of you,” she said, fighting a smile.
“I am a gentleman,” I said. I’d won an almost-smile from Nellie, and it made me feel like I could walk on water. I could hear Donovan chuckling beside me, and I discreetly elbowed him to shut him up. In my peripheral, I watched him shake his head and walk off, leaving me to it.
“Uh-huh,” Nellie replied, seemingly biting her tongue on a further retort. She knew exactly how ungentlemanly I could be. Judging by the pinkish hue on her cheeks, she was thinking exactly that.
Auston came up behind Lilah, putting his arms around her and whispering in her ear. “Come dance with me.”
Lilah let out a giggle, setting her plate down to follow Auston out to the living room. Tabitha and Parker had pushed their furniture back enough to make space for a little dance floor.
The big screen in the living room was tuned in to CBC so we could all watch the countdown in various capital cities across Canada, but the volume was muted, and music was playing loud enough to hear and dance too, but low enough that conversations could still happen.
Nellie watched Lilah and Auston dance with a small smile on her face.
I inclined my body toward her. “Are you having a good time?”
“Oh yeah, the party is great,” Nellie answered, looking around at the room full of people and revelry.
“T-minus ten minutes!” Tabitha called out as she made her way around the room with a tray, offering glasses of champagne to everyone for the countdown. Nix carried another tray, and he stopped by long enough to press a kiss to Sage, then headed back out of the living room to get the stragglers in other rooms.
Sage slipped over to where we were still standing by the food table, two glasses of champagne in her hand. She offered one to Nellie.
“Where’s mine?” I joked, but before she could reply, Tabitha was thrusting a glass at me from her tray and whirling off. “Wow, fast service around here. Almost makes The Quarter Lounge look slow.”
Sage and Nellie exchanged a loaded look with each other. Sage tilted her head, and Nellie shook hers, taking a small sip of her champagne. I felt like they were having a whole conversation without a word, and that conversation was about me. I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not.
“Can you guys speak out loud, you’re making me feel insecure.”
“You? Insecure?” Sage laughed. “I didn’t think I’d see the day.”
“I’m flattered you think I’m so self-assured that telepathy wouldn’t make me uneasy.”
Nellie snorted, her smile lighting me up inside. “I’m sure you’ll be okay,” she patted my arm gently. “Besides, who’s to say we were even talking about you?”
“Oh, now that hurts my ego.”
“It could use a little deflating,” Nellie said cheekily, and Sage nodded in agreement. “It’s abnormally large.”
“Oh, you remembered?” I teased back with a smirk.
Sage was taking a sip of her champagne and ended up spitting a little out when she saw Nellie’s vexed frown.
“Three minutes!” Tabitha called out over the din.
“It’s impossible to forget how big your ego is, it takes up all the oxygen in the room,” Nellie retorted, rolling her eyes.
I chuckled as Nix made his way back through the crowd, his focus on making it to Sage. It didn’t matter that Nellie was teasing me, so long as I had her attention.
“It’s nice to know I left you breathless,” I murmured into her ear.
Sage was watching the two of us with a delighted glint in her eyes, although she was trying to look irritated on behalf of her friend—whose skin I was definitely getting under, judging by Nellie’s annoyed expression.
“One minute!” Tabitha shouted again, and someone, probably Parker, turned the music down so the countdown could be heard on TV. Everyone chimed in, the entire room counting down with the timer on the TV.
