She snorted. “I’m your only sister-in-law.”
“Careful, baby.” Spencer jutted a chin at Charlotte. “You’ve got competition closing in.”
“My point exactly.” Avery clawed at the noose of golden silk around his neck, loosened it, and freed the top button of his shirt. He gestured toward Charlotte with his glass. “At least, that one gets me.”
Melody tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder. “In case you haven’t noticed,that onehas changed. She won’t be siding with you anymore.”
He swiveled a glance at the smiling couple surrounded by well-wishers. Tucked tightly against Marcus’ side, Charlotte looked the same as she always had—sleek, polished, beautiful. But Melody was right. Charlotte seemed less guarded tonight, less skeptical, her eyes less jaded.
Instead, those baby blues were softer, more serene. Her laugh floated across the room. And, admittedly, Marcus had been a lot happier since he and Charlotte stopped lying to themselves.
“Don’t you want that?” Melody sipped from a fluted glass of champagne, dark eyes narrowing over the rim. He could see the wheels turning. She’d been instrumental in organizing Marcus’ downfall, and Avery sure as fuck didn’t need her turning her matchmaking sights on him.
“No.” He rubbed his hands together. “Variety is the spice of life, and I’m still taste testing my way through a vast menu. Barely on the first of five courses.”
“Ugh.” Throwing up her hands, she pushed back her chair, dislodging Spencer’s arm across the back, and rose gracefully. “I give up. I know a lost cause when I see one.”
Avery relaxed into his chair. “Now if Mom would just back off…”
“Good luck with that.” She bent to kiss Spencer’s cheek. “I’m going to talk to the caterer. Looks like we’re running low on desserts.”
Avery sighed, bored with the conversation, bored with the whole night. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in love or marriage. His parents were a perfect example of both. He just wasn’t ready for forever.
He checked his watch. Nine fucking thirty. So much for winding down. He’d hoped to bounce half an hour ago. If he left now, he could catch up with Dane and Linc at Pulse, where they had to be having a better time than he was.
But he couldn’t leave, or there’d be hell to pay.
Thump-thump-thump-thump…thump-thump-thump-thump.
The hot blonde with tits spilling over a low-cut red dress was checking him out again. She’d been eye fucking him all night when her date wasn’t looking. But Tits had arrived on the arm of Marcus’ new marketing intern.
Does that put her in the employee category?
Eh, she’d been alone most of the night while her date sucked up to Marcus, so fuck it.
Avery locked in on her.
Hmm, she looks familiar. Maybe from Pulse.
Her gaze shifted, lifting to meet his. A smile pulled at her pouty lips, and a spark of invitation lit her eyes. He was just about to accept, but Legs intersected his line of sight. Just like that, his focus was diverted.
Legs swerved toward him. His gaze made it to her tits this time before it stalled.
Nice rack.
At least, from what he could make out under the crisp white button-down. The shadow of a nude—not white, experience told him the difference—lace bra cupped generous mounds, and his fingers itched to tug the skinny black tie at the base of her slender throat. One by one, he’d release the pearl buttons of her shirt to reveal the creamy swells.
“If you want Mom to leave you alone,” Spencer said, intruding on the only action he'd had all night, real or otherwise, “you should stop flying solo at these functions.”
Avery waited until Legs faded from view again before lifting his glass to down the remnants of smooth, liquid-gold. “I thought we’d established that I’m trying to avoid a girlfriend.”
“Not a girlfriend. A girl who’s a friend.”
A bark of laughter burst from him. “We both know that’s not possible.”
The empty chair to his left screeched as Nick sank into it. He sat angled to face Avery, his arm resting on the table, awhiskey glass in hand, and the perpetual scowl on his face more pronounced than usual.
An ally, at last.
