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“She missed you for a long time after. She’d ask me sometimes and tell me not to tell Tobias. Want to know if I’d talked with you or if you’d reached out. Broke my heart to tell her that we hadn’t spoken and to see the way she looked.”
I take a deep breath and nod. “I fucked up. I know. It’ll take a lifetime to fix.”
“As long as you’re committed to fixing it. For what it’s worth, I’m rooting for you two. I think you guys balance each other out.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to hear that from you. I’ve fucking missed you and Tobias.”
“We missed you too. Fucking hard thinking back on college without thinking about all three of us. I can’t promise I won’t still sack your ass when we play, but I’ll try to hit you a little less hard.” He laughs.
I laugh along with him, and I feel like my life might finally be on the right track again.
“Fair enough.Fair enough…” I grin.
34
Madison
The party’sstill going strong a few hours later, and I finally get a chance to catch up with Bea who is playing hostess and keeping trays stocked as guests make their way through her brother’s house.
“I know Harper’s super grateful you’re giving her the night off.” I smile at my friend as I follow her into the pantry to grab some of the food the caterer left behind when they closed up for the evening.
“Well, the caterers did most of the work. I just have to be back up for some of the extras. Also, I definitely don’t think they planned for everyone to be here this late.” Bea makes a face at the pantry door. We were hoping the party would be smaller by the end of the night, and we could all spend some time catching up with our Seattle friends, but so far very few people have left.
“They throw a good party though.” I smirk, lifting my champagne glass and swallowing the last of it before I set it on the shelf to help her with the cookies.
“At least my parents left early.” Bea flashes me a look. She doesn’t have nearly the strain on her relationship with them as I do with mine, but Senator and Mrs. Xavier were still demanding in their own right.
“How’s that going?”
“My mom wants me to come stay at the house for a couple of days, and I am not remotely interested. I’m trying to use Cooper as an excuse, but she’s not having it.”
“Speaking of Cooper…” I raise my brow in question because Cooper came with Bea to Seattle.
“He’s just here as a deterrent. She badly wants to play matchmaker with one of her friend’s sons who’s in town, and I amsonot interested. We went to the same prep school, and he was an asshole then and I can’t imagine anything’s changed.”
“And Cooper just volunteered for that job?” I grin in amusement.
“He’s a good friend, Mads. You remember that I was all but engaged to his brother?”
“Oh, I remember.” Bea’s ex had started out promising and turned into a jerk of epic proportions by the time they called things off.
“Besides, don’t you have enough on your plate with the boyfriends you have?” It’s her turn to taunt me and I frown.
“Fine. Fine. Point taken…” I mutter as we make our way out to the table and start plating the cookies. No sooner than Bea is out of the pantry though, someone is summoning her across the room. “Go. I got it.” I shoo her off and she mouths “Thank you” before disappearing into the crowded room again.
As I watch her go, I see a group of people talking. I start to look away until one of them steps to the side. I see a woman pressed up closely to Quentin, her hand on his forearm as shelaughs at whatever story he’s telling her. She’s clearly enamored with him and I feel a little spark of jealousy light under my skin.
“Oh, I think you might be in danger of losing your man to Nora. Or one of these other women. They’ve all been chattering about him tonight. I know I always needed a pick-me-up, fuck-me-down situation after going to engagement parties like these. Thank God, I have one built in now.” Joss’s voice startles me out of the people-watching I was doing. Person-watching really.
“Nora?” I ask now that I have the name of the woman who can’t stop flirting with Quentin.
“She’s Violet’s sister-in-law. Violet, Ben’s wife? You’ve met her.”
“Oh yes. I remember Violet. Just not Nora.” Violet is best friends with Joss and Harper and is married to Ben, one of the wide receivers for the Seattle Phantom and a close friend of both my brothers.
“Nora is new around here. Well not really. She’s Violet’s other best friend. That’s how she and Ben ended up together in the first place. But she’s newly divorced now, so she’s been spending more time out here with them.”
“I see. Also, Quentin’s not my man. I just have a vested interest in who he goes home with. Don’t need any scandals.” I try to sound disinterested but when I look back at Joss, the bemused look on her face tells me I’m a terrible liar.
