“It’s like a ring pop,” Archer said.
“She was there and picked it out,” I told them.
“My opinion of her is even lower than it was originally,” Garrett said. “If that doesn’t scream gold digger, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
“We will have her sign an ironclad prenup,” Hunter said. “I suggest you inform her that we will be paying for a lawyer for her. When you two inevitably divorce, I don’t want the judge finding any reason to throw out the prenuptial agreement.”
Considering how concerned Avery was about not losing the house, I didn’t think she would have a problem with signing anything.
“It should be fine.”
“Should be?” Greg pounced. “You mean you haven’t discussed this with her?”
“No?”
“He hasn’t done anything with her except exchange bodily fluids in his office.”
“You have to talk with your partner,” Mace said. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait to get married? Everyone else is waiting.”
“I don’t want to wait.”
“You haven’t even lived together,” Parker reminded me.
“She’s moving in with me,” I said automatically.
Greg raised an eyebrow. “She is?”
“I don’t trust her,” Garrett said. “I pulled her background. Her mother slept with a married man, got pregnant, and then proceeded to neglect and abuse her daughter, spend child support money on drugs, and attack a police officer. She is now in jail. Avery will not make a good spouse; she will not make a good mother.”
“By those metrics, neither will I,” I retorted. “Neither will any of us. Our father is a monster. Our mothers were abusive and neglectful. You can’t judge someone by the circumstances of their upbringing.”
“Yes,” Garrett insisted, “but we overcame those. Avery hasn’t.”
“You don’t know anything about her.”
“Neither do you.”
“I know that you need to mind your own business. Maybe if you spent more time on rescuing our sisters than harassing me and Avery, they would be out.” We were inches from each other’s faces. Our sisters were a sore point for everyone.
“I’m not the only person who has any capacity to do anything,” Garrett hissed. “Maybe if you weren’t so concerned with acting like our father—and yes, I went there, because this little surprise rush job of a wedding is aclassicLeif Svensson move—you could have helped me rescue them already.”
Garret turned and wordlessly left the room.
“It will be fine,” Weston said, patting my shoulder. “It’s just Garrett being Garrett. We’ll have a fun wedding for you and Avery.”
There was that guilt again. This fake relationship was getting out of control, especially now that I needed to find a way to ask Avery to move in with me...and sleep in my bed.
17
Avery
When I had first been hired as Blade’s assistant, the first thing I had done after decorating my own desk was to decorate his office. A few months before, it had been bland and utilitarian, with bluish-tinted lighting and a box of seltzer water in the corner. I had changed out the light fixtures, added posters of the nicest-looking graphics ThinkX had done for various projects, installed a little fridge, and, most importantly, added plants. I loved plants, but of course my apartment was too dark to grow them.
I was busy watering the plants and thinking about my wedding when my phone dinged. I fumbled for it and dropped it on the floor, where it bounced under Blade’s desk. I got down on my hands and knees, grabbed for the phone, and cursed. It was Nathan. Every time I blocked his number, he just used a new one. He wanted me to go on a date with him to rekindle our romance.
“Seriously, that is the number-one rule,” I grumbled as I blocked the latest number. “Do not fall in love with your fake girlfriend. Ow!” I yelped as I sat up, banging my head on the underside of Blade’s desk.
“What are you doing down there?”
