“Thanks.” Livvy shoved back from the table and draped her jacket around her shoulders.
She found Eve walking rapidly into the parking lot. Livvy zipped up her jacket, the autumn wind biting through her tights. The air smelled like apples and... home.
Not home. Old home. Temporary home. “Hey,” she called out to Eve’s back.
“What do you want?” Eve asked coldly, not turning around.
“Making sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
Livvy followed the girl. “Do you need me to call a cab or anything?”
“No.”
Livvy sighed. “Look, kid—”
Eve spun around. Her cheeks were flushed. Whether it was from the alcohol or her emotions, Livvy wasn’t sure. “Stop calling me that. I’m not thirteen anymore.”
Livvy stuffed her hands in her pockets. “If you don’t want to be treated like a child, you might want to stop lashing out like one.”
“I never lash out. I—”
“You hate me for who my father was. If that’s not lashing out, I don’t know what is.”
“I—I don’t hate you. I just... I was just—”
“Just what?”
Eve straightened. “I don’t know.”
“Look...” Livvy ran her fingers through her hair. “You shouldn’t drive home if you’re drunk.”
Eve gave Livvy an icy, withering look. “I’m not drunk.”
“You sure about that?”
Eve opened her mouth, then closed it again. “I might be a bit tipsy.”
It would be so easy to wash her hands of this by calling a ride for the girl, but something made Livvy hesitate. Maybe it was how young Eve suddenly appeared, too much like the child she’d once loved. Paul and Jackson had mostly ignored the youngest Chandler—a decade and seven years, respectively, was a large age gap to overcome. But Livvy, starved for girl companionship in her houseful of men, had been entranced with Eve since she’d come home from the hospital.
Plus, at one point, she’d assumed Eve would be her sister-in-law, occupying the same circle of family as Sadia. Another relationship that had been a casualty to the feud.
“I’ll drive you home.” She’d taken a cab here, and had planned on either driving home with Sadia or getting a ride. It would make no difference if she called for a car at Eve’s place or here.
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“I have no doubt you’re over the legal limit. Do you want to risk it?” She made her tone firm, expecting Eve to argue. The girl’s chin lifted, and she looked away, her nostrils flaring. Then she held out her keys.
Livvy took them with a fatalistic air. Quietly, deep in her soul, she gave fate the middle finger. She couldn’t avoid the Chandlers even when she tried.
Chapter 6
NICHOLAS TRACEDthe tattoo on her shoulder with his tongue, following the curve of the vine, the prickled point of each leaf, the round delicate flowers. She shivered under his mouth, her biceps contracting as he followed the ink and scraped his teeth over her arm.
His fingers wandered over her soft stomach, dipping into her belly button for a second before drifting lower, into the wet heat between her thighs. Her legs shifted, making room for him without his needing to ask.
One finger, two... he pressed them inside her, widening them gently, getting her ready for his cock. His thumb rubbed over the bud of her clitoris, and he was rewarded with a low moan.
