“You don’t think Gabe or your family will mind? This is a big moment for you.” I try again to get out of it. “I could take over the kids and Lisa could fill in.”
“Lisa doesn’t like to be the center of attention. She gets nervous being in front of people,” Sadie says. It sounds nothing like the woman I’ve met, but you never know what someone else’s hidden fears are, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be the cause of someone else’s panic attack or anything. That would only serve to make matters worse for everyone, especially Avery.
Ugh.I sigh internally. “Fine. Okay. If that’s really what you want, I’ll do it. But I’m changing out of this dress the moment the last photograph is taken. I will not be walking around in this dress with my lips getting chapped any longer than I have to.”
“As soon as Gabe figures out your lips are out in the cold, I’m sure he will see to it they are thoroughly warmed and cared for immediately,” Sadie teases.
“Y’all are bad. But I’m telling you. There’s nothing going on between us anymore. Gabe’s made that clear.”
“Everyone knows the best way for a man to apologize is on his knees,” Skyler says, smiling widely.
“With his face between your thighs!” Sadie, Avery, and Sky all say in unison and erupt into a fit of laughter. Everly looks mortified while Jayde wears an expression of uncertainty or maybe that’s longing. That’s odd. I’ll have to ask her about that later.
“Listen, ladies.” I start. Throwing my hands in the air to put an end to this conversation. “Gabe and I want different things in life. I thought we wanted the same, but we don’t share the same feelings for one another. He wants something simple. A friendship with benefits. I’m too old for that. I want someone to grow old with and live the rest of my life making memories with.”
“He told you he just wants a fuck buddy?” Sadie says, shocked. “That doesn’t sound like Gabe.”
“Not in so many words, no,” I reply.
“What do you think, Aves? Gabe talks to you about this stuff, right?”
“My dad’s a complicated person in that he’s not good at putting words to his feelings. But he’s a very simple person when it comes to what he wants out of life,” Avery says. “He’s always been about this club, his family, and living life to the fullest. Have you told him how you feel about him, Linzie? Maybe he’s just waiting for you to jump first.”
I drop my head, attempting to pull my plunging neckline together to show less cleavage. It’s a futile attempt. Everything about this dress is meant to draw a man’s attention to every asset on the wearer’s body.
“I did talk to him about it. He didn’t say what he thought or how he felt. As a matter of fact, he just stood there, which I guess was all the answer I needed. But anyway, this is your day, Avery. Let’s not spend it talking about me and your father.”
Avery and Sadie share a look, and Everly breaks the tension in the room by asking, “Where’s your mother’s necklace, Aves? Let’s get all your pieces put together. Your something borrowed. Something blue. You know what I’m looking for.”
Sadie comes up and places a bracelet on Avery’s wrist. Little daisies with sapphire stones in the center of each flower. “Something blue.”
“Something old,” Avery says, touching her mother’s necklace that’s around her neck with unshed tears in her eyes.
“Your dress serves as something new,” Jayde says, smiling through her own unshed tears.
“What’s your something borrowed?” Everly asks.
“I don’t know that I have something borrowed.” Avery’s brow furrows as she looks about the room. “Sadie, did we have something borrowed?”
“Here,” I take out my diamond earrings. “They’re a simple set of studs Michael gave me years ago for my birthday. You can use them today. They’ll bring you luck. I always believed they did for me.”
“You sure?”
“Of course. I don’t think my outfit needs any bling of any sort.” I gesture at my dress. “It draws enough attention without anything else to catch the eyes.”
The girls all laugh.
“Thank you,” Avery says. “And for the record, you look smoking hot in that dress. Violet was going to wear it with the sole intention of driving Declan absolutely insane all night until they got home.” She giggles.
“There’s something about making a man wait for it,” Sadie says. “Flaunting everything, knowing he can’t touch. It brings out their inner animal.”
“You make them sound like Pavlov’s dogs.” I laugh.
“They are exactly like the dogs in Pavlov’s experiments,” Sadie agrees. “These men know we belong to them. They also know none of us will allow them to do those magical things they do to our bodies until they get us alone, away from the crowd. It’s like putting everything out on a buffet and making him wait to take his food home before he can eat it. But when he gets home, he devours everything in sight.”
Sadie smiles that pot-stirring grin of hers, and I know I’m not going to like what she says next. “You, my friend, are tonight’s buffet and Gabe is going to be the salivating dog waiting to get his bone.” She wiggles her brows.
“Oh, I’m certain she’s going to get lucky tonight in that dress. The question is, will it be with Gabe?” Andi’s voice carries acrossthe room. I never heard her open the door. “Eli could be a close runner-up if Gabe doesn’t find the outfit sexy. Why only ride one biker when you can sample them all?”
