Abby wandered out of the bathroom and into the room with the bar. The bar. With the Fireball. Whew. That was some dangerous stuff. She’d been expecting Goldschlager cinnamon taste, but the whiskey had been smooth and surprisingly tasty. Angela had been able to talk her into more than a few shots.
Angela was fun. And Abby was having fun. Which kind of surprised her. She hadn’t been to a party where people just had fun in so long, she’d forgotten what it was like. No one to schmooze. No one to impress, or make sure they were introduced to someone else, or get them to make a big donation to the school. Just hanging out with friends and having fun. She might be at her limit though. Of alcohol, not fun. The room was a little wonky.
Lindsey was in the front room standing really close to a tall, good-looking guy in a short-sleeved button-down. She was doing that thing with her hair where she played with the ends of it. She said it made guys think about twisting it in their hands.
Abby wrinkled her nose. The guy reminded her of Tony. So clean-cut and put together. Not a hair out of place. Not like the guy from earlier with the tight black T-shirt and tattoos and hair that looked like it’d never seen the inside of a gel bottle. She’d caught glimpses of him throughout the night, and he’d gotten more attractive each time she saw him, and it wasn’t because of whiskey goggles. Even when he was scowl-y and broody. Which was every time she’d seen him. Probably brooding about his lover’s quarrel.
Had a guy ever brooded over her? She sighed and made a conscious effort to swerve away from Melancholy Town. She didn’t want to be that girl at the party who drunk cried. She spied the armor in the foyer and glanced around.
But she could be that girl at the party who took a closer look at the suit of armor.
Tink gritted his teeth. He still couldn’t believe Becky had shown up at the house. How had she even known about the party? She must have heard someone from VACA talking about it because they didn’t mingle socially with their clients, but she wouldn’t say how she found out.
She’d been there to find him. He would’ve blown her off and ignored her, but she’d thrown him a guilt trip about how Melanie needed a strong, dependable father figure and if he’d only give Becky a chance, she knew they’d make a great couple. It was complete bullshit, and it pissed him off that she was using her daughter to troll for men.
He was antsy and couldn’t stay still. Couldn’t hold a decent conversation. Couldn’t even finish a bottle of beer. He’d tried playing pool, but there was too much downtime between turns to brood and imagine all the shitty relationships Becky would continue to find herself in and, more importantly, continue to put Melanie in.
The party wasn’t providing the distraction he wanted—he needed to leave. Go for a ride to clear his head. He found Dani in the back room talking to a couple of the club members.
He caught her attention. “Hey, I’m gonna take off.”
She frowned. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a lot of shit in my head. Gonna go for a ride.”
“Where to?”
“Edisto.”
“Be careful. Text me when you make it back.”
“Yes, Mom.” He kissed her on the cheek.
“You around on Sunday?” she asked.
“Should be, why?”
“I need a sparring partner.”
Which meant she was probably going to kick his ass for the mom comment. “Where’s Eddie?”
“Got his wisdom teeth yanked today. Doesn’t want me punching him for some reason.”
“Yeah, sure.” Eddie was probably getting the better end of the deal.
He headed down the hall to the front door, waving to a couple of people as he passed. A woman was standing in front of Ned the Knight, staring intently at it.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “Is there something I can help you with?”
She turned her head and looked at him, her light brown eyes framed by thick dark lashes. “Do you know the origins of this?”
“Ned?”
“Who’s Ned?”
She was a little unsteady on her feet, but she wasn’t slurring.
“The suit of armor. Ned the Knight,” he said.
