Free It's You by Tracy Tegan Page A

twirled her around.
    Trevor cleared his throat. “I don’t think there is a single man alive that would be able to resist you in that outfit.”
    Both Zoey and Kara laughed and then went on into the kitchen to meet with the caterers.
    The first guest to arrive was Evan, Kara’s older brother. His date for the evening was someone that truly surprised no one. He tended to date a certain type of girl and this one was right up his alley. She was a bleach blonde with overly large, inflated breasts and wore bright red lipstick that matched her tight, bright red dress which showed off more of her body than it covered. Looking at the girl closely, Zoey wondered if she was even old enough to drink.
    “I see you’ve outdone yourself,” Kara said , clearly annoyed with her brother, as she leaned in to give him a hug. “And who might this be?” Kara asked, looking towards his date.
    Evan’s date stuck out her hand, “Hi. I’m Ami. Ami with an I,” she giggled and actually bounced as she reached out to shake Kara’s hand.
    “Hello Ami with an I, I’m Kara, Evan’s sister.”
    Ami had a blank expression on her face, as if she had no clue who in the heck Evan was so Kara continued. “Evan Scott, your date.”
    “ Ooops,” Ami said giggling. “I forget things sometimes.”
    “That’s okay sweetie,” Zoey interjected. “I’m sure there are some things that Evan wished he could forget sometimes too.”
    “Oh no, Evan doesn’t forget things. He’s so smart. Did you know he went to college and actually graduated?”
    “You don’t say,” Kara responded, trying her best to stifle a laugh.
    Evan groaned and rolled his eyes and they all made their way into the living room to have a drink or two, or in Evan’s case, three or four.
    Shortly after Evan and his date arrived, the doorbell rang again. Zoey was nervous, she knew this time it would be Stefano. While Kara went to greet her neighbor, Zoey made her way over to Ami to talk.
    Ami was the last person she wanted to be speaking with but she didn’t want to appear too eager or anxious when Stefano walked into the room and saw her for the first time, plus she figured that Ami might give her something she could use to tease Evan with later on. As a child, Evan had tormented and taunted her, and now as adults, she took every chance she could to get her revenge and girls like Ami made it all too easy.
    “So Ami , how long have you known Evan?”
    Zoey expected some great story about how he picked her up in a bar the night before but no such luck. Ami, it seems, was distracted by the tall drink of water that had just walked in the front door.
    “Is that Stefano Nikos, grandson to Greek shipping magnate Spiro Nikos?” Ami asked excitedly.
    “I don’t know his family history. He’s Kara’s neighbor.”
    Zoey did her best to pretend to be engaged in a fascinating conversation with Ami but it wasn’t easy. While Ami rambled on about the Nikos family fortune, Zoey could hear Kara introducing Stefano to her brother.
    “Stefano, this is my brother, Evan Scott. He’s a litigation support director at Baker, Price and Associates. Evan, this is the wonderful neighbor I have been telling you about, Stefano Nikos.”
    “Well, well , this night just got interesting,” Ami said as she continued to look Stefano over.
    “I’m sure your date would agree,” Zoey said under her breath while looking towards Evan who, at that moment, was staring right at them. Zoey couldn’t believe it, but she suddenly found herself feeling sorry for Evan. He had himself a real winner this time.
    Zoey never understood why Evan dated the kind of women that he did. He was a great guy, good looking, smart, funny and successful. He was a real catch but he never, in all the years she had known him, seemed to have a real relationship or even date a girl that had any potential for something serious. It was always one stupid bimbo after another and over the years they seemed to be getting younger and