“You’re lucky it’s me. Your brother is looking for you, Finley.”
Finley smooths her hair, finger-combing the tangled ends. “Thanks, Jennings.” She gives me a saucy smile, swaying her hips a little as she walks back to the kitchen.
Jennings shakes his head in obvious disappointment, hair flopping with the movement. “Did you learn nothing last night? You’re fucking taunting him at this point.”
With my head jumbled and my heart ripped open, I'd called him, needing to talk to someone who wouldn’t judge me. Except he did.
“I’m not. Seriously, dude, you’ll understand one day.”
Jennings has a couple years on me, but he’s never been seriously in love with someone if he doesn’t understand the difficulty of staying away from the person you need most.
“Fuck off,” he says but there’s no real heat in his words. “Wait for me, and we can go back together.”
A few minutes later, I settle in a seat next to Volk while Jennings takes the one on my other side. Everyone has a salad in front of them along with a piece of bread. I immediately biteinto mine, hungry for something other than the brownies Finley baked for me this afternoon.
“You two done jerking each other off?” Halo asks from the other side of the table.
“So what if we were?” Jennings fires back in a tone that’d surprise most people. “Would it be an issue for you?”
“Yeah, because we’ve all been waiting for you to start eating. Meanwhile, this jackass”—he gestures across the table to me with my mouth stuffed to the brim with bread—“sits and eats like it’s no big deal.”
I chew for another few seconds, then swallow. “That’s me, the jackass. At least I’m consistent. I’m surprised to see you here, Halo. Team-building isn’t your thing, is it?”
“Ooh, someone’s snappy today.” Halo leans back in his chair, running his hand over the scruff on his sharp jawline. He directs his gray-blue eyes and charming-ass smirk at Kennedy. “Volkov’s girl can be quite convincing.”
Volk’s jaw grinds. Kennedy’s hand dips under the table, heading for his knee—at least I hope that’s where it’s headed. These two like to get handsy with each other, which is fine, as long as it’s not beside me at the dinner table.
“I can be,” Kennedy replies. “There’s no limit to what I’ll do for Alexei.”
Halo drops his hands onto his chin. “Aw, ain’t that sweet?”
Volk’s fist unclenches because, once again, the Alexei Volkov-whisperer intervenes. My gaze drifts to where Finley sits with her family, thankful I have a relationship full of love and support now. As long as Finley allows me to choose her.
Matt catches me staring at his sister and motions to his eyes then points at me. I’mwatching you.
Volk leans toward me. “You fucked up, dude. I’ve never seen him this angry.”
Volk and Matt have known each other for nearly a decade. His comment spikes my anxiety; Finley and I have a bigger uphill battle than I thought.
“I called it from the beginning,” Kennedy jumps in, spearing some salad. “After I saw what she did the morning after his concussion.”
“Wait—what are you talking about?”
She straightens. “Oh. Right. Well, you remember when you were unconscious?”
“Yeah. I didn’t get hitthathard.”
The hit caused me to forget a full day, but since then, my memory has been golden.
She swallows her mouthful of salad before speaking again. “You got hit hard enough, Alexei had to defend your honor all over the ice.”
Halo snorts from across the table. “Can confirm.”
I flip him off. “Kennedy, what did you see?”
“Finley was in your room, checking on you.”
“Yeah, so? Gemma told her to.”
