Fletcher points a finger across the table at me. “Careful what you say about my fiancée, buddy. You may be one of my best friends, and I know she’s your sister, but I’m about to marry her, so I'm obligated to agree with and support everything she does.”
I tilt my head and then glance over at Elliot. “And I’m the one who’s been hypnotized by a woman?”
Elliot shakes his head, shrugging. “Dude, you’re on your own with this one. Fletcher and your sister being together isn’t something any of us could have predicted.”
“She’s the love of my life and your little sister, who just wants you to get out of your own way. You can’t fault her for that.”
“I can blame her for whatever I want. Perks of being related.”
Fletcher huffs out a laugh as he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms and smirking at me. “Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you where she is tonight.”
My pulse picks up. “What do you mean? They’re having girls’ night, right?”
Henley chuckles. “Oh, they’re having girls’ night all right, but at someplace new.”
Dread fills my stomach now. “And where exactly would that be?”
Fletcher’s grin slowly creeps up at the corners as he says, “Vienna’s house.”
Motherfucker.
Chapter 17
Vienna
Girls’ Night & Scheming
“Vienna!” Laney greets me a little too enthusiastically as I open the front door to my house. But the other two women standing behind her shock me even more.
“Oh, uh…hi there.”
Laney glances behind her and then back to me. “I brought Dilynne and Elodie with me. I hope that’s okay.”
Shaking off my shock, I open the door wider and usher the three of them into my house. “Yeah, of course that’s fine. I’m just surprised is all.”
Dilynne lifts her chin in my direction as she walks past me. “Moving forward, you should just know that Laney and I are a package deal, and now that Elodie is shacking up with my brother, she’s included in that package.” Wrapping her arm around Elodie’s shoulders, she pulls her toward the kitchen. “And we always bring food and wine, so there is a silver lining to getting more guests than you expected.”
When Laney called me yesterday and asked if I’d be open to hanging out this evening, I thought she meant just her and me. Truth be told, I was nervous given the state of things with her brother right now, but I figured I could maybe get some help from her in that department and enjoy some female company.
Now, I guess my female company has multiplied. At least they brought food and alcohol.
Laughing, I follow them into my small kitchen, watching Laney begin to unpack styrofoam containers from Blossom Brews and bottles of wine from her family’s winery. The smell of greasy food hits my nostrils as I inhale deeply. “Please tell me you at least brought onion rings.”
Dilynne chimes in. “Ha. I would have divorced her if she hadn’t.” Popping the top on the correct container, she extracts one of the perfectly fried rings and pushes it into her mouth.
Nodding, I reach for one myself. “Yup. Laney, you’re forgiven. These have become my new obsession since moving here.” I’m not proud of how many nights I pick up food from Blossom Brews now.
Laney watches as Dilynne and I begin to inhale the onion rings, moaning out loud between bites.
Elodie clears her throat and leans closer to Laney. “Should we let them be alone?”
Laney laughs. “No, and if they don’t save me at least three of them, I’m keeping all of the wine for myself.”
I freeze but Dilynne just shrugs. “You can keep your booze. I’d rather slip into an onion ring coma tonight. My fucking period will be here in two days, so I need all the grease.”
Elodie groans. “God, me too. We must have started to sync up our cycles.”
“The ESP of our uteri is real,” Dilynne mumbles around a mouthful of food.
