No.
And yet, I couldn't look away.
“You should go work next to them,” Avery said. She bumped me in the side with her elbow, wearing the smirk of someone that was happily in love. Mateo and Levi loved her so fucking much. And she loved them. Seeing how the three of them hadsynced their lives had been like watching a beautiful tapestry come together.
I studied my friend for a second. The blue in her hair looked good, and so did the smile on her face.
My attention slid over to Evie—but she was looking at Austin.
Some days I wanted to shake that man. Austinwaslike an older brother to me. He’d been a pillar in my life. And while I understood now how complicated wanting a long-time friend could feel, I simply did not understand why he didn't notice Evie. Or maybe he did notice her, but was like me.
A coward.
Either way, he was missing out. Evie was a catch.
Was I biased? Absolutely. But that didn’t change the truth. Any man who ended up in her life would be one of the luckiest to ever live.
Evie finally looked away from Austin, and put her scissors down. She crossed her arms and scrutinized me. “Seriously,” she whispered. She tilted her head toward Madi and Dallas, and I shook my head quietly in response.
I was focusing. Right? Being a boss bitch who didn’t get distracted by her loins—okay, ew.I wrinkled my nose.
“Do it,” Avery whispered. “You know you want to.”
I narrowed my eyes. Okay, now they were both being bitches. I glanced back up at Dallas and Madi, before feeling the weight of another set of eyes on me.
My niece.
My niece, whom I loved with every fiber of my being and wanted to strangle for making the comment about me wanting to kiss Madi and Dallas in front ofeveryone.
Laura smirked knowingly. She was far too intuitive for her own good. She lorded over us like a smug cat, eating pizza, and trying to beat an old game I’d dug out of my closet to keep her busy.
“You’re a menace,” I sighed as she bit into her third slice.
“Mateo, do you think I’m a menace?” she called.
Mateo snorted as he folded and taped another box. “Absolutely,sobrina.”
“Levi?” she pleaded hopefully.
He winced as he packaged a mum. “Sorry, darling, I have to agree. The first time we met last year, you told me I smelled like cheese.”
Laura cackled joyously. “You did!”
“It was the volunteer firefighter uniform’s fault,” Levi protested, shooting Mateo a dark look. “Someone told me it had been cleaned.”
“It had been,” Mateo sighed dramatically. He leaned against Levi, resting his chin on his shoulder with a flirty smile. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad about that,darling.”
Levi mumbled under his breath. It was unbearably cute when Mateo or Avery made the buff ex-hockey player blush.
Laura took another bite of pizza. “Smelled like cheese. Austin?”
Austin raised a brow as he gathered a full trash bag from a bin and tied it off. “Laura, I distinctly recall you coming up to me a couple weeks ago and using some choice language to convey there was water on the floor at the hotel. So yep. You’re definitely a menace.” He cracked a broad grin as he opened the back door and tossed the trash bag onto the step out of the rain. “You’re the most menacing of all of us, except for Dallas when you interrupt him while he’s reading a book.”
“Hey,” he quipped from the other side of the room. “It’s rude to interrupt someone while they’re reading.”
Mateo, Levi,andAustin all laughed. Without a doubt, they’d been on the receiving end of Dallas’s wrath while he was busy being a bookworm. Their friendship was much like mine with Avery and Evie, and ever since the tension from Austin’soverprotective big-brother phase had faded, everything between us had been golden.
“Madi?” Laura asked. “What about you? Am I a menace?”
