By 7pm, the party was in full swing. EJ had been making the rounds, playing host with his parents, greeting every long lost Caswell cousin that had come into town for the wedding the next day. He tried to keep an eye on Big Red, make sure he had something to eat and jumping in when his eyes glazed over in terror at ANOTHER introduction. Ashlyn gave him a look and mouthed "thank you!" when he got him away from their overbearing great aunt. He walked over to where Ricky was shoving food in his face, and handed off Big Red.
"Yo, best man. Stay with the groom for a bit, huh? And don't let him talk to any more of my relatives, he's fast approaching his Caswell cap for the night. He needs a break."
"Sure thing, man," Ricky mumbled around a mouthful of chicken satay.
With Ricky sort of on that, he turned around to scan the party for Gina. They'd kept getting separated all night, with this person wanting to meet the maid of honor they'd heard Ashlyn talk SO much about, and that person just dying to hear the play by play of the last two years of EJ's life. It didn't take him long to spot her. She was, to him, the most radiant thing in the area. Standing over by the bar, she was trapped in a conversation with his cousin Max, who was WAY to close to her for EJ's comfort. He wasn't really the jealous type, except when he was. Like right now.
He wove through the crowd, came up behind Gina and slid his arm around her.
"Hey, babe," he said playfully, calling back to their previous fake dating days.
"Oh, hey babe. Max was just telling me a fascinating story about futures trading. He's a commodities broker."
"Yes, I know. Hey Max, good to see you again."
Max was eyeing the two of them, trying to take stock of the situation.
"Hey, EJ. Long time, bro. How's Google?"
"Oh, I actually just wrapped up my time there. I'm moving to Boston next month, decided to make the jump to healthcare informatics."
"Good for you, man. Hard to believe you'd leave Google, isn't that like, techie paradise?"
"It was a good gig, but I'm ready for a real challenge, you know? That, and this one's headed to Boston, too, so…oh, I'm sorry, you were already chatting so I didn't think to make a formal introduction. Max, this is my girlfriend, Gina."
"Girlfriend? Mom told me you were solo last night, until you got into a drunken fight with some girl and Ashlyn kicked you out."
Nice to see the Caswell rumor mill is humming along at top speed, he thought.
"Oh, that was just a little lover's quarrel," he said, putting an outsize emphasis on the word "lover." He wrapped both arms around her waist and leaned in to nuzzle her neck. "Gina and I can get very… Passionate…" Gina giggled, listening to him be about as subtle as a tree branch to the face.
"Well, glad to you two seem to have patched it up. If you'll excuse me…" Max made a hasty exit.
Gina burst out laughing, turning in his arms to face him. "What was that, exactly?"
"Sorry, that's my idiot cousin Max, who fancies himself some kind of hot shot. He's always been so competitive with me. Not sure why, he never wins."
"EJ Caswell, I am not a prize to be won."
"That's not what…"
"Ah ah, let me finish. And I do not need you to fight my battles for me. I am perfectly capable of fending off unwanted suitors on my own. But…" she stopped, biting her lip.
"But what?"
He felt her tugging his tie, inching their faces closer together. "You're kinda hot when you're jealous.'
He laughed. "Well conveniently you're VERY hot, all of the time," dipping his head down to kiss the hollow of her neck.
"Get a room!" EJ heard Carlos's familiar voice holler from behind him.
"Too late, that was last night," Ashlyn smirked as she walked up to hand Gina a glass of wine.
"Thanks, Ash, Glad I told you that IN CONFIDENCE," Gina groaned.
"If you didn't think that info hit a group text the minute I left your room, you don't know us very well."
"No," said EJ, "we were pretty sure that was exactly what was going to happen."
"You can't expect tea that scalding to stay unspilled, kids. PORTWELL LIVES!"
"Carlos, could you say that a little louder?" Gina said, with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know if Colorado heard you."
"Listen, hennies, you know how I do"
"Right, right," EJ said with a wave of his hand. "Gay and Mexican, we get it."
Big Red joined them, planting a kiss on Ashlyn's cheek "Oh good, we're talking about EJ and Gina, right? Because I really, really want to stop talking about me for a minute."
Ashlyn sympathetically laid her head on his shoulder. "I know, babe. We're almost there."
"Speaking of 'almost there," said EJ, "gang's not quite all here yet, right? Hey Kourt!" he called over to where she was a few feet away. "No Nini yet?"
"No," said Kourtney, pulling out her phone to check her texts. "She's in… LA still, she's got a guest appearance at someone's Staples Center show. She'll be here first thing in the morning, I think."
"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that my ex is a superstar," mused EJ.
"Excuse me?" Gina laughed. "You got yourself a superstar right here, my dude."
"Believe me, I know it," he grinned, planting another kiss on her neck.
"You guys are literally the most, we love to see it," Carlos gushed. "Portwell forever!"
"Ok, I"m seriously embarrassed to know you. Why do I come back here?"
"Because you love us, Gigi! Don't pretend it's not true."
"ANYWAY, so Nini… are we just not going to talk about the weirdness this is going to bring with Ricky?"
"We've spent 3 years ignoring the weirdness between you and EJ, and that worked out fine," Ashlyn said, Big Red nodding in agreement.
"Except the weirdness with EJ and I didn't include paparazzi photos of her and a certain head of curls sneaking into her apartment in New York," Gina countered.
"Or HER sneaking out of what is definitely his building in Chicago," Kourtney added.
"Do you know what's going on there, Kourt?"
"Girl, THEY don't even know what's going on there. They get it on every time they're in the same city and then just pretend it didn't happen."
EJ glanced at Gina. Not that they'd know anything about that…
Big Red piped in "Yeah, it's not a healthy dynamic, but it's a hard thing for them to break."
Kourtney turned to him. "Well, well, well, I'm impressed, Dr, Phil. Does any of that message get through to Ricky?" Big Red just gave her a look. "Yeah, I thought not."
As if on cue, Ricky walked up, oblivious that they'd all been talking about him. "Hey guys, what's everyone talking about?"
"Carlos and Seb!" Kourtney helpfully supplied. And if looks could kill, Carlos would have been brought up on charges immediately.
"Where is Seb tonight, anyway?" EJ wondered out loud.
"Farm stuff. Emergency with… goats? I think? He's definitely coming tomorrow, though," Carlos said.
They all turned to stare at Carlos. That seemed to EJ like an awful lot of very specific info from someone who he supposedly wasn't in touch with.
"What? We still talk. We're not all deeply dysfunctional around here."
"That's… not what Seb said two days ago," EJ said.
"EJ!" Ashlyn hissed. "I don't think Seb expected that convo to go public."
"Listen, cuz, if our sex life has its own group chat, Seb's mixed company dramatics seem like fair game"
Ashlyn opened her mouth to protest, but in reality, he had a point. He gave her a self satisfied look and turned back to Carlos. "I'm obviously not one to talk, but if you really want to 'function' as friends, you've got to stop hooking up with him every time you come to town."
Carlos waved a hand. "Its different in gay culture, hookups are a very casual thing."
"Has anyone told Seb that?" Kourtney shot back.
"I've TRIED. But there's this whole big queer world out there and all he wants is to recreate a depressingly hetero monogamous dynamic, but with a dude. No offense, straights, especially the ones about to, you know, declare a lifelong depressingly hetero thing to each other tomorrow."
EJ just laughed and shook his head. "Gi, would you have thought it humanly possible two days ago that WE'D be the most solid couple in this crew after Mom and Dad over there?", motioning towards Ashlyn and Big Red with his glass.
"Stranger things have happened. With this group? A stranger thing will probably happen in about 15 minutes."
EJ looked pointedly at Ashlyn. "Because the Wildcats always make it weird."
Ashlyn laughed. "Weird I can work with. I'm just glad no one's fighting at the moment so I don't have to kick anyone's ass to get back in line."
"No bad behavior from here on out, I swear."
"Yeah, I highly doubt that with Gina and whiskey in the mix."
"OK, I make no promises on that front, other than that I'm actually very, very good," he said, tipping a wink at Gina as she turned about 15 shades of scarlett.
"AND we've officially crossed into TMI territory. Who needs a drink?" Ashlyn spun on her heel, taking Big Red's hand and walking towards the bar.
EJ turned to Gina. "Need a refill?"
"One more, then I'm cut off. I have duties to attend to in the morning." She handed over her glass. "Cabernet. That's what I had last night, too." He smiled, remembering their conversation.
"You're still full of surprises, Porter. I should have expected sophisticated taste, but I'd have you pegged a merlot girl."
"What I REALLY love is a super dark shiraz. But I'm good with cab, merlot in a pinch. I've never found a white I liked enough to drink twice, and miss me completely with that rose game."
"I don't know, Gi. An ice cold steel fermented California chardonnay on a hot day at the vineyard? Doesn't get much better than that."
"Sorry, dude, we haven't all had the postcard from wine country experience."
"I just spent 6 years a stone's throw from Napa, you don't think there was some serious wine drinking going on?"
"However are you going to survive in Boston? That's a beer town, from what I understand."
He knew she was just kidding around, but imagining a future there, with her, hit him right in the heart. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply.
"You'll be there, Gi. I can do anything with you."
From the look in her eyes, for once, he'd said the exact right thing. She caressed his cheek, about to lean back in when…
"No, seriously, get a room!" Carlos hollered again.
EJ reluctantly unwound himself from her. "Let me get you that drink."
As he waited in line, he kept sneaking glances back over at her, throwing her head back laughing at something Kourtney said, having Carlos do his best catwalk strut to show of his completely over the top jacket. He couldn't get over how comfortable this all felt, how this group could just fall back in like no time had passed. He had stopped performing once he got to Stanford… college theater was like a full time job, and he knew he wasn't good enough to make it worth the time investment. He walked onto varsity water polo and didn't look back, spending his time in the pool and not on the stage. But something about the work they'd done together, creating something alive just from words on a page, had forged an unbreakable bond in this group. For that, he was incredibly grateful. And that that group included Gina, well… It was Wildcats forever, for him.
Hours later, EJ's tie was hanging loose and his sleeves were rolled up, collecting the last of the things left out after the caterers had taken off. They had shooed Ashlyn and Big Red out to go rest up for the next day, but the rest of the East High crew had stuck around to help get things back in order.
He spotted Gina's abandoned high heels under one of the deck chairs. He looked around, wondering where she'd gone off to. He has encouraged Gi to leave with Ashlyn, but she insisted she stay and help, too. He quit drinking a couple hours ago to be able to drive Gina home, and figured it was about that time. He picked up her shoes and went off in search of her.
He found her at the grouping of tables near the pool house, singing and swaying to the music still being played over the outdoor speakers. He couldn't help but stop and stare. She may have given up professional training after her knee surgery, but she still was a dancer, deep in her bones. The way she moved was almost poetic. He just stood there, absolutely transfixed.
After he'd been watching her for a bit, she turned around and saw him staring. "Like what you see, Caswell?" she teased him.
"Love it, in fact. Love you, too, by the way, since you cut me off before I could tell you that last night."
She chuckled, closing the space between them. "You can't blame me for having a little fun with you, right? It was just too easy."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. "But I meant it, you know. And yeah, it's too soon and not at all chill, as T Swift suggests, but I've wasted so much time NOT telling you that, it wasn't worth it to hold back"
"And I mean it, too. I love you. I told you, I'm not sure I ever stopped. And now I never want to."
"I hope you never do."
EJ held her close to him with her head resting on his shoulder, marveling how their bodies still fit together perfectly, two halves of the same whole. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to move and break the moment. So he was both grateful and frustrated when she pulled back from him.
"I had a VERY interesting conversation with you dad earlier."
"My dad? Oh God, what did he say? That I was a fuck up so don't get involved? Or that getting involved would interfere with me becoming some kind of tech mogul by 30, so step off?"
"No, it wasn't like that. He was actually… nice."
EJ raised an eyebrow. "Nice how? That's never exactly been Cash Caswell's strong suit."
"He told me… he said I bring out the best in you. Something he didn't figure out how to do."
"Woah, that's… deep. Deeper than anything he and I have talked about in awhile."
"Look, Eej, I have no desire to push you and its probably not my place when we've been back together for literally less than a day, but…"
"Knew there was a but coming…"
"He SEES you. He may not be the best at showing it, at least in the way you'd like him to. But he loves you more, and knows you better, than you think."
"Good intent doesn't overcome a shitty impact."
"I know, and I'm not saying it'll be easy. Just like last night won't fix everything…"
"Even if it was amazing."
"Yeah, we're going to have a conversation about appropriate times to bring up how good you are in bed." She paused and pursed her lips. "Even if it's accurate." He laughed. "Anyway," she continued, "one conversation won't fix everything but it's a start. Talk to him before you fly out?"
"You and Mom, both, now," he said, shaking his head. "Fine, I will."
"Thank you."
"Now, if you don't mind, I would really like to talk about something other than my dad. Like, how incredible you look tonight."
He twirled her slowly, taking her in. Her satin skirt swirled around her legs, the low back of the dress showing off what seemed like miles of flawless skin. He couldn't help but keep touching her, his fingertips grazing her back softly as she paused, glancing over her shoulder at him. He pulled her back into his chest, leaning down to whisper into her ear.
"You know," he said. "I remember some good times in that pool house a few years back."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That maybe no one would miss us if we slipped away for just a…"
And he was interrupted by Gina's text tone going off, multiple times in a row.
He audibly groaned as she broke free from him, grabbing her bag and checking her phone.
"Bride emergency, Ash is having an existential crisis about her hair for tomorrow. Time to go do the maid of honor thing."
"Can't you stall, pretend you didn't get it right away?"
She held up her phone. "You know how text messages work, right, Mr. Hot Shot Tech Guy? She can already see I read it."
"Right," he sighed. "OK, let's get you back."