The Night Before Read online

  “I think social media warps human weakness, makes it worse because of that spotlight,” Ava argued.

  “Word.” Matthew nodded, shooting Elias a look. Elias knew he was impressed with Ava and Matthew smiled when he looked at her again. “And didn’t you say you work in social media?”

  “Well, not exactly, really… I’m a publicist for a women’s centered network,” Ava corrected.

  “But you deal with social media for the actors you represent, right?” Matthew cocked a brow at her and Ava lifted her shoulders.

  “I mean, yeah, some.”

  “And most of the things you have to clean up as a publicist is because of something dumb someone said on social media, right?”

  Ava scrunched her nose cutely, thinking.

  “I did just have to craft a statement right before we went on holiday. One of the reality stars-turned-actors said ‘Women should dress how they want to be addressed’ and got dragged by feminist Twitter for ‘purporting rape culture.’ Then he got into it with some feminist writer and called her a ‘bitch,’ which was about the stupidest thing he could’ve done. I had to write a statement from the network saying we ‘don’t embrace those views’.”

  “Gerrard Smith?” Jeremiah questioned.

  Ava nodded.

  Matthew rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “He’s a bum.”

  “It didn’t help that he had a domestic violence charge from back when he was eighteen—I don’t know who fished that out of the archives,” Ava admitted, casting a glance in Elias’ direction.

  “That was some stupid shit to say,” Jeremiah said.

  “It was overblown,” Matthew countered. “Dude is dumb for saying that silly shit out loud but they act like he actually sexually assaulted someone or something. Saying stupid shit can’t be treated the same way as actually doing it.”

  “They did kinda take it the next level,” Ava agreed. “So yeah,” she said, turning toward Matthew, grinning, “long story short, cleaning up after people on social is the worst. I get a little break because I don’t represent the talent directly. But the little bit I have to do with the network, and working with the talent’s personal publicists can be such a drag. I hate social media.”

  Ava sipped from her drink, furrowing her brow, reminding Elias of their earlier conversation when she said she wanted to switch gears professionally.

  “That’s why I detached,” Daniel spoke up. “I don’t even miss it.”

  “All it is, is a bunch of depressing headlines and people pretending like they know shit, then arguing over stupid shit, like whether sugar or salt is better on grits… like, are you serious right now?” Matthew questioned, as Elias laughed.

  “But I can’t front, I be on that shit… like all the time,” Matthew laughed. “Shit’s addictive,” he admitted.

  Matthew grinned, then perched next to Ava on the seat Jeremiah had just occupied.

  “Did E show you his film?” Matthew asked Ava, tossing Elias a look before fixing his attention on Ava again.

  “His film?” she repeated, eyes wide.

  “Yeah,” Matthew continued. “He co-wrote and directed a short film about exactly that. Social media’s impact on black middle school kids.”

  Ava whipped her head to look at him and Elias stared at Matthew, who returned his look without blinking. Elias’ boy Sean worked in Atlanta Public Schools and wanted Elias’ help in putting together a short film to present to the district about effects of social media on young people. It was Sean’s project, Elias only had the resources to help make it happen. But the more involved he got with the project, the more fascinated he became, on more than just an artistic level.

  Ava was still staring at him with round eyes and Elias shook his head, taking another healthy swig of his bourbon and eggnog. Matthew whipped out his phone, leaning in close so Ava, who peered at it, could see the screen.

  “This is just the trailer,” Matthew explained before he started it.

  “I can’t believe you’re a filmmaker,” she said, turning to look at him again.

  “I’m not a filmmaker.”

  “But you made a film,” Ava challenged, cocking her head to the side, daring him not to grin at her. He failed.

  “I had the downtime and the resources, and I helped put together a little project for my boy,” he corrected.

  “That kinda sounds like complete crap, Elias. You made a film, and you are therefore a filmmaker.”

  She looked at him pointedly, then made a show of staring at Matthew’s phone. Elias chuckled and took another swig of his drink, ignoring Jeremiah’s knowing smirk from across the room when he glanced up at him.

  “Wow,” Ava breathed, after a few seconds of staring at Matthew’s screen.

  “Elias.” Her eyes went round again. “I can’t believe you. Where’d you even get the idea for this?”

  “My friend Sean teaches eighth grade English. He wanted to document the physical and emotional effects of social media on them. I had the time and the resources, and I helped him out.”

  “But you co-wrote and directed it?”

  “Turned out to be more interesting than I thought,” he shrugged.

  Ava was staring at him in wide-eyed disbelief. Elias downed the last of his drink before pouring himself another, this one bourbon without the eggnog.

  “Well, the trailer is incredible. Have you shown the film to anyone entered any short film festivals or…?”

  “We weren’t even thinking like that, to be real. It was a project for his work—that’s it.”

  “I could help you, you know. I can help you figure it out if you’re interested in getting it out there. This is my lane.”

  She met his eyes directly, arching a brow, daring him to deny her as if that were something he actually wanted to do.

  “We’ll see what’s up,” he acquiesced, earning him a small satisfied smile.

  “How was the Christmas party?” Matthew asked, looking at Elias.

  “It was aight,” he grinned a little when he met Ava’s eyes. “You shoulda came.”

  “Nah, I was cool on that.”

  Elias shook his head and Daniel rolled his eyes, exchanging a glance with Jeremiah. Matthew and their cousin Kendrick stayed into it. Elias couldn’t even remember what they were beefin’ about this go around.

  Matthew’s phone buzzed in his hand and he frowned, muttering a low curse.

  “What’s up with you?” Jeremiah asked, looking up from the pool table.

  “Zoe.”

  Matthew said it almost like a curse, and Elias exchanged a glance with Jeremiah, who’d stuffed his hands in his pockets, watching their baby brother as he slid off the stool and paced in front of the couch, which was pushed against the far wall, opposite of the pool table. Daniel looked up at him too, and rolled his eyes before fixing his attention on the pool table once more, taking careful aim for his next shot.

  “You know I’m supposed to have the girls tomorrow, but she started tripping at the last minute.” Matthew shook his head, pulling at his skull cap. “Zoe thinks she’s hurting me by doing this kind of shit, but she’s hurting them.”

  Matthew and the mother of his children, Zoe, had been off and on for almost eight years, since Matthew was nineteen, and his first daughter, Noelle was born. And in all that time—even after having another baby, an adorable little girl, Brielle, who was now two— they hadn’t been able to get it together.

  “How is she keepin’ them from you? Ain’t they already at her mom’s?” Daniel asked, watching as Matthew continued pacing. Zoe’s parents lived a few blocks away.

  Matthew nodded tightly, still scowling. “She says she’s coming over here with them tomorrow. Like she’s suddenly worried about me keeping my own damn kids.”

  “More like she’s worried about Meghan being here,” Elias offered dryly, eyeing his brother.

  Matthew shot him a look and shook his head. Meghan was Matthew’s on-and-off again girlfriend. He brought her around occasionally, using
the girl as a pawn because, really, everyone knew he wanted Zoe. And their back and forth tug-of-war wasn’t about the girls but them. Matthew was spoiled and temperamental, and so was Zoe. The result of those two personalities clashing was often disastrous, even reckless, considering they had two other little people they’d created to think about now.

  “Man, let all that go for the night,” Daniel said, leaning against the stable while Jeremiah took his shot. “Enjoy your babies on Christmas and chill on all that drama you and Zoe constantly got goin’ on for once.”

  Matthew rolled his eyes, hitting a button on his phone.

  “Zoe, why you do this shit?” he answered. He glanced up and threw two fingers in the air.

  “Good night,” he said, ambling out of the room, talking to Zoe in low tones.

  “Merry Christmas, Zo-Zo,” Jeremiah called out, chuckling, exchanging a look with Daniel.

  “I thought they had the custody stuff worked out,” Daniel said, turning to look at Elias.

  Elias shrugged. “They’re at the house all the time. Things seemed cool.”

  “Matthew likes drama. So does Zoe,” Jeremiah offered, taking another swig of his beer.

  Daniel shook his head. “They’re gonna mess up the girls if they don’t get that shit together.”

  “Damn, I forgot their presents are still in the closet,” Elias suddenly remembered.

  He thought about just not wrapping the gifts, like last year, and just letting them pull the stuff out of the department store bags. But he didn’t feel like hearing his mom’s mouth about how he was messing up Christmas by being tacky, and the girls did seem to get super geeked about unwrapping things.

  “Hey,” Elias said, pulling lightly at the back of Ava’s fluffy red pajama shirt. The bar counter was still separating them, and she turned to look up at him. “I gotta go wrap presents. Wanna come with me? Let me put you to work?”

  Ava smiled, those midnight eyes of her mischievous. “You wanna put me to work?” She cocked her head a little, eyeing him.

  “You down?” he asked his voice low. “Or you too tired?”

  “I’m never too tired,” she countered, meeting his eyes.

  He chuckled. He was definitely caught up.

  7

  “Thinking about you. Heard it was bad out that way… how are you?”

  Ava blinked at her phone and re-read the message, just to make sure that it was Ty, sending a casual text message on Christmas Eve as if they yucked up all the time since he’d broken her heart and smeared his cheating-ass semen into another woman. Was he serious?

  She glared at the message for another second, heart pounding, before stuffing her phone into her oversized pajama pocket and taking a long sip of the egg nog and whiskey mix Elias made her before they left the den.

  Ty was crazy. And disrespectful. Wasn’t Trinity four months pregnant now? Shouldn’t he be tending to his fiancé with a gut full of baby instead of worrying about her? And why did he just assume that she was in Macon and not in Atlanta?

  Because he was supposed to be out here with you, dummy.

  Ava took a deep breath, upset with herself for being so affected by Ty’s stupid text, as Elias rounded the corner into the airy living room from the hallway with a huge department bag in his hand. He grinned at her when their gazes connected, and she smiled back automatically.

  She’d stopped trying to analyze why Elias affected her so thoroughly about an hour ago. It just was. The magnetic pull he had on her seemed natural, unforced. That was the difference between Elias and Ty. Elias was comfortable in his skin, in the way that only grown men were. Ty was confident but still reaching for outside validation in too many areas of his life.

  “You straight?” Elias asked as she hovered in front of the plush couch.

  “I’m good.” She smiled again and nodded, sipping her drink, which was delicious. When he told her he’d bartended for a few years, she wasn’t surprised. There didn’t seem to be much he hadn’t done.

  What had shocked her a little bit though, was how gorgeous his brothers were. Usually, there was only one, maybe two extremely good looking siblings in a family. Elias had one of those slots covered for sure. But every single one of his brothers looked like they could star in a television series.

  Her brain automatically ran through the scenarios for a drama starring the Young men. She couldn’t help it—working in television for the past five years kind of made it an automatic whenever she went anywhere or met anyone interesting.

  Matthew with his charming, free-spirited nature, toffee-colored eyes and curly hair that he didn’t care to comb would be the emotional draw, the Young brother women wanted to take care of while he figured himself out. All he’d have to do was smile and they’ve be won over. He was emo in a way that leaned more toward passionate instead of sensitive, with a bit of a rough edge that tempered his almost pretty boy looks.

  Jeremiah and Daniel were identical twins—which was really enough in and of itself. Jeremiah with his full beard, lithe football player build, and dark cocoa complexion would be the inadvertent playboy; the guy who didn’t mean to break women’s hearts because he’d be honest with them but would anyway because every woman he ever dated would want to make a life with him, in spite of his whimsical interests. Daniel was the most reserved of all of them, but had obviously been burned because his dark brown eyes differed from his twin’s in that they were cool and assessing when he looked at her, like he was always trying to figure out a person’s angle— especially if the person happened to have a vagina. He’d be the one women would want to fix and heal.

  And Elias would be the wild card. The ruggedly handsome Young brother women tried to figure out because he adapted so seamlessly to every situation and showed a different side of his personality, depending on the environment. He went from flirtatious and charming to thoughtful and vulnerable to chilled and observant without ever feeling like he was forcing anything. And Ava was feeling every single one of his slight demeanor shifts. She was feeling him.

  Elias walked barefoot across the spacious living room area with his bag of presents and slid down onto the floor in front the plush, eggshell leather couch where she was seated on the edge of the cushion. He’d changed into a pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt that showed off his strong forearms, and her gaze lingered there before dipping downward over his flat abs. Even the man’s feet were sexy. He caught her staring, awareness glinting in his dark brown eyes as he grinned slightly, and she felt her entire body heat.

  “You only have two nieces, right?” Ava asked, tearing her eyes away from him and staring at the enormous bag he’d sat next to her feet.

  “Yep, Matthew’s girls, Brielle and Noelle.”

  The bag seemed to be glowing beneath the vibrant white lights from the huge Christmas tree that loomed just a few feet away. Elias’ mom’s decorating skills extended to her Christmas décor, which was just breathtaking, even in its simplicity. The tree was no different though monstrous in size, it wasn’t off-putting, didn’t feel like they were smack dab in the Macy’s or something. It made the room feel cozy and warm.

  Or maybe that was the fireplace that was softly flickering, just to her left. Or maybe it was the liquor in the delicious eggnog drink she couldn’t seem to get enough of. Or maybe it was the way Elias was looking at her now. Like he wanted to find out how she tasted.

  “How old are they again?” Ava asked, mostly as a distraction from his penetrating gaze, sipping from her egg nog once more as she slid down onto the floor next to him. Ignoring him, and the connection that was dancing between them was a challenge at this point. One she wasn’t winning, especially with him so close and smelling so good, like laundry detergent and warmth and man.

  “They’re two and eight,” Elias said, watching as she finally broke his gaze to pull a doll dressed like a “rock star” out of the bag. She peered into again, and smiled, shaking her head.

  “What?” he asked, pulling out a pink and purple train set with g
litter on the wheels.

  “You’re like Father Christmas with all these toys.”

  “I’m Unc,” he said, grinning. “I’m supposed to spoil them.”

  “But they have two other uncles.”

  “And I’m their favorite. Gotta keep my status.”

  Ava laughed, her gaze dropping to Elias’ full lips as he grinned.

  “They’re cool girls though. Super smart with their own little personalities,” he said, taking a small hit of his whiskey. “So, that makes it easier to spoil them.”

  “Matthew lives with you right?”

  He nodded. “He’s been living with me for about year now. They’re over the house a lot.”

  Ava watched as he wrapped the doll, not taking care to line up the corners or make the bright red and gold paper even before he taped it down. Over the past hour, he’d been quieter than before, not quite distracted, but not fully present either. But when he looked at her, it was like he came back again, offering one of his half-grins, giving her that look that made it feel as if her heart was fluttering in her belly.

  Elias’ phone buzzed in his sweat pocket and he pulled it out, staring at it for a second before dropping it next to him. His expression didn’t change but she did notice, just barely, that he pushed out a breath before taking another healthy swallow of his whiskey. She took another sip of her own drink, enjoying the pleasant heaviness of the liquor, chastising herself internally for being worried about who was on his phone this late. She’d known the man for all of five hours.

  “There’s like, an entire environment happening in here,” she said, smiling as she nodded toward the fireplace then the stereo, which was playing a Christmas Eve soul set. Ron Isley was singing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”

  Elias chuckled, his baritone low. “An environment?”

  She smiled and he shook his head a little, refocusing on the gift he was wrapping. He fell silent again for a few long minutes.

  She glanced at him, literally biting her tongue to keep from asking Elias if he was alright. It was one of the things that bugged Ty, that she was always trying to get into his head, change his mood. “Just let me be sometimes, Ava,” he’d say, exasperated. “Stop trying to fix me.”