My shame goes out the window as I glance at the biceps straining Trevor’s sleeves. He’s tall, which isn’t a hard thing to be next to me, and his hazel eyes have lingered on me several times in the last ten minutes. A small scar cuts across his right eyebrow, adding a rugged touch to his otherwise polished persona. Combined with his warm sepia skin tone and auburn buzz cut, it makes for one fine-ass man. I’ll admit, it’s been tough looking away from him myself.
Not the time.
“They really are. I can’t believe they’re finally locking each other down,” I say.
“So, do you get up to San Francisco very often?”
I tilt my head, completely amused by the smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. “Are you hitting on me at an engagement party?”
“I guess that depends on whether it’s working or not,” he responds with a smile.
He’s cute and looks like he could sling me over his shoulder with ease, but I just got dumped last week. Considering my track record, I don’t know that jumping into something else this soon would be in my best interest. Smiling back, I shake my head.
“I don’t make it up there often, no.” Hopefully, he takes the hint for what it is. He seems nice, and making a scene at this party wouldn’t be a good look for me.
Giving a little chuckle, he nods. “Welp, at least you turned me down gently. It was nice talking to you, Ashlie.” With one last smile, he walks to a seat next to some of the other EdTechU employees.
The happy couple joins their parents at a table across the room. They look so blissful. Wanting to give them space to celebrate with their families, I stroll toward Hunter to collect my winnings instead. The sleeves of his slate button-down are rolled up a few inches, displaying the rich sienna forearm he has slung around some scrunch-faced woman who clearly wants to be somewhere else. I’ve never seen her before, which isn’t unusual. You could look up the wordplayerin the dictionary and find a picture of Hunter just how he is now, with a random brunette under his arm.
I slide into the chair across from him. “Pay up, Hunt.”
Annoyance flashes in his light green eyes as he leans to the side and digs out his wallet. Short, dark curls sway slightly when he shakes his head, clearly annoyed at losing his own bet. “I thought she’d figure it out, for sure.”
He hands me a twenty, and I tuck it into the cream-colored clutch I matched with my strapless dress. “Your sister’s smart, but this plan was foolproof.”
“Sister?” the brunette asks, looking between us. “I thought this was your best friend’s engagement.”
“It is. Chase is my best friend, and Kayla’s my sister.”
She squints. “I thought your sister was in high school…”
“It’s a little complicated.” I smile to ease the confusion on her face.
“And who areyou?” She turns a steely gaze to me, a one-sided challenge I have no interest in accepting. I’m the furthest thing from competition for her. She can miss me with the attitude, though.
“I’m his best friend.” I throw my sass behind a smile, knowing it will only add to the confusion. Since she can be rude for no reason, I can add a little snark of my own. Hunter laughs while I keep the sweet-looking grin on my face, staring her down until she looks away.
“This is my other best friend, Ashlie. Ash, this is Ava.” Hunter’s introduction does nothing to ease the intensity of Ava’s glare as she flicks her eyes back to me. It’s sad, really. She doesn’t seem to know she won’t be around next week. “Chase is my best friend, Kayla’s my sister, Ashlie is Kayla’s best friend. Everyone is friends here. We good?” He takes a sip of his drink, widening his eyes at the ensuing drama.
Ava slowly turns back to him and gives a curt nod. “It’s pronounced Awe-vuh, with anawesound.”
“Like avocado?” I ask with a straight face. Hunter chokes on his drink, and I bite my cheek to keep from laughing. If looks could kill, I’d be dead. But they don’t, so I flash Ava another grin. “Anyway, I’m gonna go check on my sister. Nice meeting you, Ava!”
“It’sAwe?—”
“We still on for Wednesday?” Hunter asks, becoming the newest target of the daggers shooting from Ava’s glare.Always stirring the damn pot.
We’ve met for lunch every Wednesday for almost a year now. He already knows the routine. My eyes widen, sending a quiet message.Why would you ask me that?Your date’s about to lose it.
But he ignores itandthe glower on Ava’s face, staring at me until I purse my lips and nod. When I walk away, I hear the loud “hmph” she snorts in my wake. All I can do is shake my head.He’s always with dramatic-ass women.
“Hey, Wills.” I knock into Willa’s shoulder as I slide into the chair next to her. She gives a quick scowl before her face softens, and I bump her shoulder again just to annoy her. The late afternoon sun filters over her through the skylights, her yellow sundress augmenting her rich amber skin with a radiance I haven’t seen from her in a while. She smiles and lifts her DSLR camera around her neck, snapping a candid photo of me before taking another of the partygoers over my shoulder. After a few more shots, she pulls her Senegalese twists from under the camera strap and cradles the lens in her hands.
Willa is three years older than me, and from height to hair, we couldn’t be more different. My energetic personality has always disrupted her peace and quiet, but we’ve started getting along in the last few years. It’s nice, if not a little awkward sometimes.
“This is fancy,” she says, looking around the room. “Kayla planned all of this?”
“She thinks she did. And I guess she technically picked all the details, but Chase is the one who orchestrated everything.”
