Page 54 of On the Plus Side
“You chose this one because I’m so sweet, right?” She did her best to sound sarcastic. Edgy. Hard. But with the amount of liquor already in her system, she could tell it came across more flirty than anything else.
His expression didn’t change, but the bar’s twinkle lights winked off the amused glint in his eyes. “Oh. Absolutely. Sweet as a lemon.”
Turns out, three drinks was all it took before the world got soft at the corners.
Everly had expected James to go back to his friends after saying hello, but he’d stuck around, joking with Jazzy and Stanton and trying to whisper in Everly’s ear something that she could never hear because the music was too loud or Stanton kept interrupting or Logan rearranged everyone for a better shot.
The band was taking the stage for their second set when Everly and James first found themselves alone. The hosts were greeting some fans, and Logan had wandered off to get some establishing shots, leaving the two of them awkwardly idling together. Nerves began to itch beneath Everly’s skin, but her buzz dulled them enough that she was able to offer him a smile. Without a work project to guide their conversation, she had no idea what to say.
He leaned down, his mouth so close that the heat of his breath warmed the shell of her ear. Chills jumped down her back, and she had to fight off a shiver. Her mind might have decided it was time to call it quits on this whole James thing, but clearly no one had informed her body.
“Are you having fun?” he asked.
She nodded. “Are you?” Someone bumped into her, and she stumbled against James’s chest. He hooked an arm around her waist to keep her steady.
Her blood screamed in her veins at his proximity, even as her mind demanded that she back up.
“I’d be having more fun if we were dancing.”
Everly used to love to dance. At a party, a bar, in her room, in the car, anytime a good song came on, she had to shimmy it out. It was something else she’d let her fear take from her. Now moving her body that way felt too open, too visible. It begged for attention.
But after so much time onOn the Plus Side,and with enough booze in her system to obliterate her inhibitions, Everly was ready to let that go. She could dance with James. There was no harm in it. Friends danced together all the time.
Nodding, she let him take her hand, their fingers slotting together. He lifted their arms in the air and picked his way across the bar. Like a knife through butter, they sliced through the crowd, moving in tandem, each of their steps in sync.
The band was playing “Sweet Home Alabama,” and the dance floor was packed with people, forcing the two of them close.
Everly didn’t know the rules for platonic dancing. How should they touch? Was it okay that their stomachs were pressed together? That their hips swayed in unison? That his hand trailed up and down the small of her back?
She finally forced her eyes to his face, and James smiled, friendly and open as always. It helped to ease her nerves.
This is fine,she told herself. They were two people hanging out. Dancing to a decent band at a dive bar in a tiny Cape Cod town. With the three shots sloshing through her veins and the crowd thickening around them, it was easy to feel a hundred miles away from Logan, hiscamera, andOn the Plus Side.Here, in this bubble, for this one moment, there was no pressure for them to be anything more than they were. No pressure for Everly to have anything figured out.
Despite the lack of space, James twirled her like they were doing a two-step, both of them laughing. The song swept into the chorus, and they rocked side to side, singing loudly. At some point, part of his hand had slipped under the loose fabric of her shirt, the pads of his fingers grazing the skin above her belt. Their legs were tangled together, and they hugged each other close. The heat of his body invaded hers, leaving Everly feverish and a little dizzy. The moment felt charged. Heady. Like whatever happened next would change everything.
She lifted her head to look into James’s face, and their eyes locked. Neither of them looked away. Or blinked.
His stare was soft and welcoming, and so was the smile on his face.
The way he held her, how he looked at her, summoned something bold in her. She felt loose. Certain. Ready.
For the first time in almost four years, she did something the old Everly would have done.
She eased up on her toes and lifted her face to James’s.
HOLLYWOOD SCOOPS,OCTOBER EDITION
“ON THE PLUS SIDEBREAKS THE FOURTH WALL, BUT CAPTURES OUR HEARTS”
Sonia Schwartz, Weekend Editor
New Mood Media’s reality makeover show,On the Plus Side,has always been one for challenging the status quo, not just with its refreshing approach to fat representation, but also with its format. VuNu’s most popular original series broke onto the reality TV scene two years ago with a documentary-style format that gave viewers extended screen time with each of the show’s four guests. Allowing its audience so much time to get attached to the guests and the show’s delightful hosts created a rabidly dedicated fan base.
Now, with its third season just underway,On the Plus Sideis at it again, this time creating engaging narratives by breaking the fourth wall. In the show’s premiere episode, viewers heardthe voice of Logan Samuel, the show’s cameraman and assistant producer, as he reacted to Everly Winters’s heartbreaking story about her grandmother. Fans went wild for the episode, speculating all over the internet about who Logan is and why they left his words in the final edit. Was it an error caused by the exhaustive schedule, which requires episodes to be edited on the fly for almost-real-time consumption? Was it simply a good moment of TV that savvy showrunner Sady Sanders didn’t want to squander? Or, perhaps, is the show teasing us of something more to come?
That certainly seems to be the case after watching episode two, where Everly and the gang spend the day at King Henry’s Feast. The entire last segment of the episode included not just Logan’s voice, but the broody, bearded cameraman (dressed on theme in a kilt!) himself on-screen, having a sweet heart-to-heart with Everly. By now, fans are setting their ships a-sail, and we can only assume that’s New Mood’s whole plan…
CHAPTER 17
