“Of course she did, it wouldn’t be an annual Williams’ barbeque without Mom’s deviled eggs,” I replied dryly, grabbing two more beers.
The three of us made our way through the sliding door to the patio, and my eyes instantly went to Alaric, who was still keeping half an eye on the bouncy castle where Sawyer was still playing with the other kids.
He was dressed in a pair of beige cargo pants and a white t-shirt that clung to his muscular chest in a way that I—nor the rest of my little group—could ignore.
Alaric was single-handedly the hottest man in attendance, and I still couldn’t believe that less than forty-eight hours ago, his beautiful face was betweenmythighs.
Suddenly parched, I tipped the bottle back and took a heady sip.
“He looks lonely. Let’s go keep him company,” Ren suggested, tilting his head toward Alaric. He didn’t wait for me to reply before he and Brian were making their way over to him. I adjusted my hold on the two unopened beers in my other hand and sighed, trailing after them.
“Hey, I hope you’re not too bored,” I teased once we reached him, offering him a fresh beer. His head turned at the sound of my voice, and he gave me a small smile as took the bottle from me. His fingers brushed across mine again, and I drew in a breath, unsettled by how unnerving a simple, delicate touch from him was.
Noticing Ren and Brian, Alaric cleared his throat. “I’m not bored at all.”
“Sawyer’s still enjoying the bouncy castle?” I asked, hiding a grin.
“Remember that time we smoked a joint in there?” Ren cackled, and I shot him a withering look, hoping it would silence him, and glanced at Alaric with embarrassment. I expected to find him irritated, but the bemused smile on his face threw me off.
“We were seventeen,” I retorted defensively, bringing my gaze back to Ren to scowl at him. I didn’t need him sharing any high school horror stories with Alaric.
“Yes we were,” Ren teased, and I rolled my eyes, looking forward—at the bouncy castle in question. “You greened out so badly, you threw up all over the grass.”
“Yeah, well. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to smoke a joint, eat a bag of cookies, and jump around like an imbecile.” I responded dryly. I’d learned since then, thankfully. Alaric laughed, his eyes warming as they slipped over me. I gave him a hint of a smile before turning my attention back to Renly. “Watch it, Brewster. I’ve got stories to spare about you, too.”
“Touché.” Renly bowed, yielding. “How do you like dear old Port of Hope?” he asked, looking at Alaric expectantly.
“I like it,” Alaric responded, lifting his beer to his lips as his blue eyes slid to me. I averted my gaze, looking out toward the horseshoe pit. My brow furrowed when I noticed Grant standing beside my dad.
Catching sight of me too, Grant said something and my dad nodded, walking off to speak to some of the other associates while Grant started over. He came to a stop to my left, and I turned, forcing my smile in place.
“Gwen,” he said, by way of greeting. “I’ve been sent over here by Russell.”
“Ah, yes. He did mention he wanted you to meet Alaric,” I recovered. “Alaric, this is Grant Hernandez, one of our contracted engineering architects.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Grant said, smiling with ease.
Alaric huffed in response as they shook hands.
“Modest and hardworking,” I muttered, ignoring the curious look Grant sent me. I looked away abruptly, touching Ren’s arm. “Grant, you remember my friend Renly, right? This is his boyfriend, Brian.”
“Nice to meet you,” Grant said, shaking Brian’s hand and giving Ren one of those weird clap hand-shake things. “I’ve seen you on TV a couple of times now. Must be a pretty cool job.”
“It pays the bills,” Ren replied with an illustrious smile.
Catching Alaric’s questioning gaze, I explained, “Renly is an interior designer on the Home Renovation Channel’sBrightwood Interior.”
He nodded, the corner of his lip kicking up. I resisted the urge to fan myself like some shameless floozy.
“Is the drama real?” Grant added, leaning back with his hands in his pockets.
Ren tucked his chin in, smirking scandalously. “Every bit of it.”
I caught my lip between my teeth, trying to rein in my desire to take another peek at Alaric. I could sense his gaze on me, and it was making me feel all floaty.
Alaric
It was harder than I thought it would be to not reach out and touch her, the way I’d done a hundred times over the past week. Seeing her in the jumping castle with Sawyer had broken the last of the chains I’d wrapped around myself.
