Page 118 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

Riley: I support you and know you will make the right choice.

It’s just what I needed to hear.

When Harrington returns, I tell him I need another day to review the structure.

He agrees. He’s pleased I didn’t shut the door.

I walk out into the late afternoon knowing I left with less than I walked in with, which is a new feeling for me.

Back at the suite, all three of them are waiting.

Liam stops pacing the second I step through. Andrew is in the chair by the window, still, but his eyes track me immediately. Riley is already standing.

I set my keys down. I tell them everything—the offer, the structure, what we give up by saying yes and what we give up by saying no. I don’t soften it.

No one speaks when I finish.

Riley’s voice is the first. “What are you going to do?”

I look at the three of them. I look at her.

“I need until morning,” I say. “One night.”

Nobody argues. That’s almost harder than if they had. Liam opens his mouth, closes it again. Andrew nods once. Riley crosses the room and takes my hand without saying anything, and I hold on to it and try to remember the last time I didn’t have a model for what came next.

Sitting here with all of them, I understand something I couldn’t have run a calculation on.

There isn’t an option where I don’t give something up.

Chapter forty-two

Chapter Forty-Two—Riley

The suite feels smaller with all four of us in it.

Nobody sits down. Ethan’s words—I need until morning—are still in the room with us. Liam has gone very still, which means the energy has nowhere to go. Andrew is watching Ethan. Ethan is watching the middle distance with his jaw set.

I step forward and take Ethan’s hand. Not fixing anything. Just because his fingers are cold and I’ve noticed that.

“Okay,” I say. “Morning.”

He looks at me. Something behind his eyes loosens one notch.

Liam makes it about four seconds before he moves. “If we’re waiting until morning, someone give me something to do.” He looks at me. “Are you hungry? Tell me you’re hungry. I need a purpose.”

“I’m always hungry.”

“Perfect.” He’s already at the phone. “Room service. Order everything. Don’t think about it.”

Andrew drops onto the couch and opens one arm without looking at me. I take it. I fit against his side and he settles his arm around me and that’s it—no speech, no check-in. Just him being there.

Ethan stands at the window for a while. Then he sits on the ottoman and pulls out his laptop, because that’s how he processes things—by doing something with his hands that looks like work. The set of his shoulders is still tight.

Liam orders enough food for nine people. When the cart arrives, Andrew stares at it.

“Liam.”

“You can’t solve a deal problem on an empty stomach. Basic science.”