“I’d say it has if you could be here at all.”
“Sap.”
“You know it.”
We hugged, and it just affirmed everything I was doing. This mixer was going to go great. It had to. Because I believed all the way down to the depths of my heart that outside of the most heinous people, everyone deserved a best friend.
Or at least the chance to find one.
“I believe you had a checklist of last-minute details and things to make sure are right?” Carolina said when we parted, both of us a bit misty-eyed.
“I do. I’ll work from the top and you from the bottom?”
“Excuse me, if either of us is a bottom, it’syou, Miss Thang.”
My mind flooded with many scenes of my time with Rowan that proved just that. One probably would assume the opposite from our dynamic from outside of the bedroom, but when we were in between the sheets, I loved when Rowan took control. And goodness, he wassogood at it. Sure, I challenged him sometimes, but that was only because I wanted him to earn it that time, and it wasjustas delicious to lose.
“Guilty as charged.”
Laughing, we went about our business, making sure all trash cans had lids, that all the drink stations were set up and only waiting to be filled, and that the freezer in the kitchen was filled with bags of ice. There were lots of other little things too—toilet paper in the several bathrooms, brooms and mops ready to go in case of spills—stuff I wouldn’t normally have thought of if I hadn’t tried to plan everything to a T. I was sure there weresomegaps in my extensive list, but I had done my best to mitigate them.
And the best was all I could do, really.
Things started to pick up once the DJ and caterer arrived, making me that much more cognizant of how much time was passing by, and I was relieved when I heard one of the side doors open and a familiar, booming voice echoed down the hall from the kitchen.
“If you just want to park me somewhere out of the way, my good friend,” Iko said at his typical volume. “I’ll keep myself occupied. I brought that book your darling gave me for my birthday.”
I blushed slightly at that. I had gone on enough outings with him and Rowan to know I liked the guy, but it would behoove me to bring along earplugs for especially long interactions.
Naturally, I’d been quite flattered when the cyclops had invited me to his birthday a couple months back, and I’d done a whole lot of searching online to get him the entirety of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books in braille, as he’d mentioned liking the author, even if he knew her works had been heavily edited by her daughter. I’d been bemused at that, remembering reading about the little cabin tucked deep into the big woods myself, but that bemusement had turned into me genuinely being touched when Iko started carrying around at least one of those books with him “just in case he had time to read a lick.” He was a sweetheart, sweater vest and all.
“Rowan’s here!” I said, turning to Carolina as she got tape out of a cabinet, so we could secure the corners of the tablecloths to the serving tables. Although it was the dead of winter, some magical folks needed it colder than others, so we had a cooler part of the room with fans and a warmer part with heaters. It was creating just enough airflow to make the table coverings flap around, and irritating the shit out of me.
“Let’s go say hi,” Carolina said, all smiles even though I could tell she was definitely getting tired. Hopefully, she would take a nap in our quiet room if she needed it. Her weighted blanket was in my trunk for when she needed it.
“You sure? You don’t have to. If you want, you can stay here and kind of just… be for a little bit.”
She shook her head. “Nah. Rowan put just as much work into this as you or I did, so he’s part of our team. Let’s go greet your man and give him all the updates.”
I took her hand. “Thank you,” I murmured, hoping she could tell that I was expressing gratitude forallof her. For being who she was. And for being my friend. I was so proud of her for how far she’d come.
“Of course, girlie. Come on.”
We hurried out of the kitchen to what I called the landing zone. Although the main entrance was in front, this was a quieter one in the back with less lights for those who needed it. It had a rather austere sofa, several chairs, and a couple of coffee tables in case people wanted to sit and talk in smaller groups away from the crowd but not necessarily be in the isolation of the quiet room.
Ifwe had a crowd, of course. That remained to be seen.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Rowan said as soon as we were in view, grin spreading across his handsome features. I swallowed hard, struck speechless by just howgoodhe looked.
His normally mussed, white hair was brushed back, making his features more prominent and severe. It made him look more like an elf from a fantasy novel than a creature of the night. He was dressed in a vintage waistcoat, vest, and breeches, complete with the pocket watch I’d gotten him for Christmas.
“I missed you,” I said as I stepped into his arms. His embrace was cool—there hadn’t been time for him to take a sip from me in a while—but I appreciated the colder temperature since the kitchen had been so warm.
“I missed you too,” he said, kissing the top of my head before taking a step back so he could spin me in a circle. “But you are most certainly worth the wait, because you lookgorgeous.”
“Oh, stop that,” I giggled, blushing a bit and most definitely not wanting him to stop.
“I will as soon as you stop being so delectable.”
