Her mouth opens like she’s about to say something, then she pauses. “Evie,” she says, a grin blooming across her face. “Are you going commando?”
“No.”
She raises her eyebrows.
“Panty lines,” I explain.
She nods. “You aresotrying to get some tonight.”
“I am not!”Fuck yes I am.
She claps, rocking onto the balls of her feet. “Oh my god, you love him too! Oh, I feel so honored to have stumbled right into the middle of your love story. He nurses you when you’re sick and you do a sexy little no-underwear thing for him. I love this for you,” she says, pulling my hair back over my shoulders as I wash my hands. “But like I said, at least enjoy the party first.”
“Oh, I’m enjoying it,” I say, giving her a flat smile becausesomeone get me out of here already.
“You get one night a year. It’syournight,” she reminds me.
“I know, Izzy. Thank you for pulling it all together,” I say, wiping my hands and pulling her in for a quick hug. “Seriously. I’m really happy I have you to pull me out of bed each year. I’m really thankful for you.”
She hugs me tight. “Oh, is this the commencement of the drunk crying portion of the night? I really could have used the rest of that drink Ryder’s guarding.”
I snicker into her shoulder. “Quick cry, then we’re back.”
“Okay,” she agrees, giving me one last big squeeze before letting me go.
I wipe a tear from underneath her eye, struggling to hold back my laughter. “Girl, you aresodrunk already. You don’t need that drink that Ryder’s guarding.”
She nods. “Maybe I should drink a little water and then I can go back to beer.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. You want sparkling water with a little lemon?” Izzy’s favorite non-alcoholic drink.
She nods enthusiastically. “Yes, I want that.”
“Okay, come on,” I say, grabbing her hand and dragging her back downstairs.
When we reach the first floor, Ryder holds her drink up, but I give him a subtle head shake and redirect for the fridge, which now sports a variety of mildly suggestive phrases strung together with the word magnets that have been there since I was a kid. Izzy grabs a red solo cup from the kitchen counter, and I pour her a bottle of the sparkly stuff, squeezing a lemon wedge over top and dropping it in for her.
She hums as she takes a sip. “Ohmygodit’s so good.”
I nod. “Now why don’t you go find Rory and Tabby and tell them all about the rich man you’re requesting from the universe.”
She grins, turning to Ryder. “You have rich friends, yes? They don’t need to be super rich. Just like, enough that I can continue painting until I’m a little old lady and they look at me with stars in their eyes like you look at Evie and sigh wistfully that they’ve never seen such a beautiful sunflower or such a beautiful woman.”
He laughs, his eyes finding mine for a moment when she mentions me. “Something tells me all of that is in your future.”
She narrows her eyes for a moment, then turns to me. “I like his confidence. EvenIalmost believed that.”
“Izzy!” I scold.
She waves me off, turning on her heel and brushing out through the backdoor. “I better not catch you in bed!” she shouts, the door slamming shut behind her before either of us can say anything else.
Ryder grabs my hand, pulling me in close and wrappinghis arms around my waist. I lean into him, leaving a kiss on his jaw.
“I like Izzy,” he says.
“If you tell me you’re abandoning Camp Evie, I’ll kill you.”
“Wow, so all it takes is a couple orgasms and she turns into Possessive Evie. Good to know.”
