“Is that Elena?” Lavinia calls from the bedroom. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“It’s me, and it’s all good,” Elena says. She situates herself in a corner of the kitchen from where she can monitor the whole living space. She reminds me a little of my cats because that’s also their favorite spot, and no matter how many times I tell them not to get on the counter, I always find them there.
The rest of the guys file in and I’m in the middle of introducing Elena to Kai and Ford when Lavinia walks into the kitchen. My train of thought collides with a fucking wall.
She’s wearing a slinky pink short dress that shimmers when she moves, her red curls have been pulled into a high ponytail that makes her hair look voluminous, and she’s paired it all with silver stilettos that look painful and painfully sexy.
Jesus Fucking Christ, I’m probably going to jail for killing someone.
“Okay, I’m ready. Jules and Sage are on their way, ETA five minutes. Do you want something to drink before then?” Laviniaopens the fridge, completely unaware that everyone’s stopped to stare at her. When she turns, I notice the low swoop on the back of the dress.
“You do realize it’s thirty degrees outside?” Drew asks, staring at his sister with his jaw set. Lavinia removes two bottles of water from the fridge, passing one to Elena.
“It is?! Damn, I wish I knew how to check a weather app,” Lavinia replies cheekily.
“You literally had the flu, a week ago,” Drew grinds out.
“Yes, and now I’m all better. I’m not going out like this, I have a coat. I’m going to be outside for a maximum of ten minutes.”
Before Drew can reply, there’s a gentle knock on the door before it swings open again and Jules and Sage enter. They’re also dressed in variations of pink, Sage in a long pink dress and Jules in one as short as Lavinia’s.
“Shit,” Lavinia whispers, her eyes swinging to Elena. “This was so not planned, El. I have a pink scarf you can borrow.”
Elena straightens, smoothing down her black dress. “Vin, I love you like a woman loves a woman, but there’s absolutely no way I’m wearing pink. Those days are behind me.”
“I have a black dress. It’ll take me two seconds to change.” Vin’s already turning when Elena grabs her hand and stops her.
“You’re sweet, but that’s not needed. I actually like being the odd one out for a change.” Elena’s completely unbothered by the color coordination. Vin still looks troubled about it and knowing my wife, this is going to bother her the whole evening even if Elena doesn’t think twice about it.
“I’ll still change, this dress might be too much,” Vin says. “The black dress is a lot more subdued.”
There’s a flicker of something in her eyes that I hate. Self-doubt. Like she’s worried she’s making a mistake. Like she needs to make herself smaller and disappear. I’m walking across the kitchen and cupping my hands around her face, bringing herattention to me. Her beautiful green eyes are troubled, and something twists inside my chest, hating this look in her eyes.
“Do you want to know what I thought when I saw you?” I whisper. I’m acutely aware that we’re not alone and that we’re definitely an object of curiosity.
Lavinia wraps her hand around my wrist, tilting her cheek into my palm, her eyes imploring me to continue.
“I thought I’m going to have to commit a lot of murders because I can’t fucking stand the thought of someone seeing you in that dress.” Lavinia huffs a laugh, and I continue. “You look absolutely beautiful, baby. And I can’t wait to rip this dress off you later.”
Lavinia winces, her mouth pushing out into a pout. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m staying with Jules tonight.”
“Lavinia,” her name is a growl as it leaves my mouth, “I’m not above carrying you back here if I need to. I’m the only one who's going to take this dress off you tonight before we go to sleep in our bed.”
“What are we going to do before we go to sleep?”
“A lot of inappropriate things we shouldn’t discuss in front of our friends.”
Her mouth tilts up into a blinding smile, hand squeezing my wrist. My heart thuds inside my chest and I know I’ll do anything to see that smile. Climb the highest mountain or crawl through a fucking desert.
“You admit they’re our friends.”
“Yeah, Blossom. You made me soft,” I say with a soft smile.
“That’s never been my aim.” Her eyes flick down to my crotch and yeah, I’m semi-hard because she looks gorgeous in this dress, her scent surrounding me and it’s a Pavlovian response.
“I’m about one second away from sending everyone home and dragging you back into the room,” I say.
Lavinia gives me a quick kiss before stepping out of my grasp. “We’re going to be late for the show!” I take her coat and help her into it.
