“Let’s head inside,” he says gruffly, cutting me off. His palm hovers over the small of my back. “It’s cold and you’re not dressed very warmly.”
“I’m fine.” I try not to shiver.
“Just humor me, Mira. For once, don’t fight me on every little thing.”
That makes my hackles rise. “I don’t fight you on every little thing.”
Griffin cocks one eyebrow.
Okay.Maybe I’ve been fighting him on every little thing since Vegas, but can he really blame me? He has backed me into a corner, turned my life upside down, and I feel like I have a bad case of emotional vertigo.
“Whatever,” I mumble, letting him lead me into the restaurant. He tells the hostess who we’re meeting, and I’m hyper aware of his palm against my spine. At least, until the hostess ushers us into a private room where we see Isla, Lexi, and the guys, and then Griffin drops his hand.
It’s what I want. I’ve asked him to keep thisagreementbetween us a secret, but my insides still lurch when he takes a step away from me.
Get your shit together, Mira.
Luckily, I don’t have long to dwell on my roller-coaster emotions, because we’re soon enveloped in hugs and easy conversation. Isla’s best friends, Jess and Nevaeh, join us a few minutes later, and our server produces several bottles of expensive champagne.
When we’re all halfway through the appetizers and everyone is on their second glass of bubbly, Isla’s best friends are regaling everyone with the story of how they bid on my brother at the Rogues’ online date auction. I crack up when Isla describes the truly awful dinner she shared with Maddox and scold my brother for almost running off my future sister-in-law.
I love hearing their stories. I wish I’d been around for more of them, but I’m here now. No more missing important moments in my big brother’s life. I’m back in the Twin Cities, I’ve made amazing new friends, and a year from now, when we’re all sitting around reminiscing, I’ll have been present for all of those stories.
“Oh my god,” Jess says, grabbing Isla’s wrist with wide, amused eyes. “Do you remember at the silent auction dinner when that girl was telling Griffin about all the kinky shit she was into?”
My back stiffens, my heart lurches, and Griffin’s attention swings to me.
“Ew.” Isla’s freckle-covered nose crinkles. “I do. What was her name? Some weird food.”
Griffin shifts uncomfortably in his seat beside me. “We don’t need to talk about thi?—”
“Quinoa,” Nevaeh nearly shouts. She shakes her dark curls. “I’ll never forget that name. Who the hell names their kid after a grain?”
Everyone at the table laughs. Everyone except for Griffin and me.
Isla’s blue eyes glitter with amusement. “That’s right. As I recall, she went into great detail about her favorite butt plug.” She turns her attention to Griffin. “You were so bummed that she left without giving you her number. You two hadplans.”
Isla’s laughter sounds muddy and far away as something ugly and uncomfortable bubbles up inside of me and my ears ring.
Griffin clears his throat. “I was drunk. I don’t remember anything about that. Can we please change the subject?”
“Oh, come on,” Jess teases. “You looked like someone kicked your puppy. I wonder what would have happened if you’d gotten her number. Maybe she was your soulmate. You could have been celebrating your own engagement tonight and picking your future baby names. There’d be little Barley and baby Farro…”
Jess trails off in a fit of giggles and everyone else joins in. Griffin shifts in his seat. He’s got a fake smile plastered on his face and he won’t meet my eyes.
“Ha-ha,” he forces out. “But like I said, I don’t remember her, and she certainly wasn’t my soulmate. Let’s talk about something else.”
Sebastian eyes Griffin thoughtfully for a moment before changing the subject.
Thank god.
“Have you two made any wedding plans yet?” Sebastian asks Isla and Maddox, glancing back at Griffin and frowning when he sees his friend glaring at the table in front of him.
Despite the acidic taste of bile in my mouth from Jess’s story about Griffin and the confusing cocktail of jealousy, disgust, and the knowledge that I shouldn’t actually care, because Griffin is my husband in name only, I still want to reach over and grab his hand. And if we were alone, I would. But there are too many sets of eyes at this table, including my brother’s, who’s regarding his best friend with a frown.
So I do the next best thing. I press the side of my foot against Griffin’s beneath the table.
He sucks in a breath and peeks at me cautiously, pressing his full lips into a thin line as pink stains his cheeks. Under any other circumstances, I’d find it adorable, but this isn’t the flush of happiness or pleasure. This is embarrassment. And despite my annoyance with Griffin Wright and his half-baked plan to get me to stay married to him, he’s still become one of my best friends in the months I’ve lived with him, and I hate seeing him embarrassed. I’m about to ask him if he’s okay when Isla answers Sebastian’s question about their wedding plans.
