“Hey Sar-Bear.” Liam grinned at me from across the kitchen and then his gaze shifted to Cade’s arm, his dark eyes turning to ice. “Blackthorn, you have three seconds flat to get your filthy paws off my sister.”
Towering over me, Cade pulled me closer intohis muscled side with a grin. “Wow, I get an extra second this time?!” His jet black hair flopped over his tanned forehead as he tilted his head counting, “Two. Three. Ahh.” Liam had already picked up a butter knife, and was rounding the kitchen island when Cade finally lifted his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. Take it easy.” Liam shot him a lethal look while Cade coughed behind his hand. “Hell’s kitchen over here. Am I right?” Cade winked at me, blue eyes twinkling, as he shoved his ear-length hair back, and I just rolled my eyes.Typical Cade.
“I heard that.” Liam grumbled, not bothering to look up from the massive dessert he was piping perfect little shapes onto with his steady hands.
“Hey lady.” Gina, my brother’s longtime girlfriend, pressed a long-stemmed wineglass into my hand, and her shelf of thick blonde hair fell over me as she pulled me in for a warm hug. “We missed you.”
I shook my head with a laugh. “What’s everybody doing up so late?”
“Waiting for you, of course.” My best friend Sloane answered, her baby blue eyes twinkling as she scrunched her nose and patted the kitchen stool between her and Ariana.
Meanwhile, Gina hopped up onto the counter next to Liam, and stuck her finger out in request. He smirked and paused working on the dessert to pipe a little heart onto her finger.
After she’d sucked her finger clean, Liam murmured, “You going to give me a taste?”
“Only if you come and get it.” Gina giggled, sinking her fingers into his dark wavy hair.
Liam parted her legs and stepped between them, grinning as he hauled her to the edge of the counter and against his broad frame. He gripped her chin and bent to murmur something against her ear that had her squirming before he chuckled low and deep, and gave her a long, slow kiss. The second they started making out, I rolled my eyes, because if there was one thing you needed to know about Liam and Gina—it didn’t matter the placeor time, they were always all over each other,no matter who was watching.
“How was the drive?” Ariana asked, tucking a strand of her bouncy, strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.
“Long but uneventful.” I sighed, settling into the chair between the blonde duo of my best friends. “Glad to be home.”An understatement.
“Sar, it’s way too late for you to be driving by yourself.” Liam bristled, going all protective. “You should have just let the driver pick you up.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “But I’m fine, really. I’m here safe and sound, aren’t I?”
Liam returned to his dessert and started placing edible flowers all over it with a pair of culinary tweezers, not looking very convinced, but he knewI’dnever give up driving for the same reasonhewouldn’t. Besides, driving myself meant I could blend in on campus a little easier, andtryto enjoy a more normal college experience. Driving was the last thing I had left, because everything else had basically gone to shit. It was pathetic, but it was mine, and I wasn’t giving it up. Liam, of course, had no idea what had happened during my freshman year.Nobodyin this room knew becauseif they did—I’d be stuck with some stuffy bodyguard glued to my hip, and that wasnotnormal. I found Liam watching me, and I gave him a big smile and then gulped down a heavy sip of wine, avoiding his discerning gaze.
“How is your women’s charity going?” I asked Ariana, “I heard that you opened up another shelter last week? That’s so great!”
“We’re doing really amazing.” Ariana grinned, “We were actually able to get another investor on board a couple of months ago, and we’ll be opening up several more shelters next year.” Ariana was one of the Vandenbergh Hotel heiresses, and her latest passion was helping women find housing while they were getting back on their feet. She was incredibly business savvy and driven, and she’d very successfully managed to step out of the role ofsocialite and into the role of an activist—something her father wasn’t incredibly thrilled with, unfortunately.
“Ariana, that’s so great.” Sloane exclaimed.
“I know, I’m really excited. I feel like we’re finally starting to get some momentum.” Ariana beamed proudly. “And once we?—”
“There you are.” Theo, another one of Liam’s friends, strolled into the kitchen looking grumpy as shit as his dark eyes locked in on Ariana. “I’ve been calling you for an hour, why the hell didn’t you answer?”
“My phone isdead.” Ariana’s eyes instantly narrowed. “And don’t you have anything better to do than continually ruin my social life?”
“Your father is looking for you.” Theo muttered, “Let’s go.”
“Now?” she complained.
“Yes, now. You’re not walking home alone in the dark, and I’ve got shit to do, so let’s go.”
“I think it’s past somebody’s bedtime.” Ariana muttered under her breath to me and Sloane, curling her lip with a face that Theo definitely saw, but pretended to ignore. “Sorry, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Ariana sighed, and her shoulders sagged as she threw her arms around me, giving me a hug. “I’m glad you’re home, Sara. We’ve all missed you.”
Bye, everyone chimed, and Ariana’s high heels clicked in defiance as she stalked past Theo, not even bothering to acknowledge him.
Theo’s hands curled and uncurled at his sides as he lumbered behind her, and Cade just rolled his eyes at Liam, who shook his head with a knowing look.
“So.” I grinned, kicking my feet up into Sloane’s lap. “How was Paris?! I saw the photos, and you lookedamazing.”
Sloane tossed her silky blonde hair to the other side and shook her head with a crazed look in her eye. “It was insane, you would not believe what happened.”
An hour later, several more people had shown up, and everyone was still going strong, but I was delirious and in desperate need of some shut-eye, so I dragged myself upstairs and headed down mine and Liam’s wing of the house.
