I return her enthusiastic embrace. “Goddamn, you smell good,” I say, sniffing her like a creep.
“I missed you, Fi.”
“I missed you too. So much.”
We pull apart, and Charlie looks around me at Brantley, who’s still lounging on the bed, and sticks out her tongue at him.
“It’s nice to see you, Bennett,” he says with a wide smile. “Is that the worst I get? Pretty sure Lincoln is plotting my murder.”
“Well, if Fi has forgiven you, then I have.” She looks at me with her eyebrows raised in question, and I nod.
“Can you tell your stubborn boyfriends to forgive me too?” B asks hopefully.
She winks at him. “I’ll see what I can do.” Then, her eyes meet mine. “Trey said you’re staying with us for a while.”
“Yeah, just until this shit with Dennis blows over.”
Charlie frowns. “You should’ve told me. I mean, I understand why you didn’t, but all the same.”
“I had to keep you safe, babe,” I say with a gentle smile, which she returns.
“I want to know everything that’s been going on,” Charlie says. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth and looks between the three of us. “But we sort of have this get-together tonight at our place. I want you guys to come. You were actually supposed to be invited in the first place—it’s kind of a sendoff before I go to Italy with the guys—but then I couldn’t get a hold of you.” She scrunches her nose in frustration. “And Lincoln and Marcus refused to tell me where exactly you guys were.”
Excitement for Charlie floods my stomach. “You’re going toItaly? You’ve always wanted to go! Are you visiting Volterra?” I ask with a sly wink.
Charlie laughs. “Of course! I’ll be looking for vampires.” She gives me an impish grin. “And I made Link and Trey also promise to go to Verona so I can picture Leonardo DiCaprio lurking broodily around every corner.”
I snicker. “Those guys will do anything for you.”
“Well, it’s not without a price.” Charlie rolls her eyes. “I was told there’s a bunch of places from theAssassin’s Creedvideo games that they want to visit, so we’re all nerding out.”
“Well, it sounds amazing.” I glance down at my clothes. “Do we need to change or anything before we go? I don’t have any cocktail dresses with me.”
Charlie gives me a tolerant look. “This ismyparty. Do you think I’d require a dress code?”
“Absolutely not,” I say with a laugh. Charlie looks between me and the guys. “But Link thinks we should take the Volvo to our place because it has tinted windows, and it may or may not be bulletproof.”
“Jesus, it’s like you’re Bella Swan in this scenario,” I snark. “But I really don’t need an escort to?—”
“I agree,” Seb cuts in, and B nods firmly in agreement.
I sigh and don’t bother to argue. I’ve gone from two overprotective guys to four, so it’s a losing battle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SEBASTIAN
The drive to Charlie, Link, and Trey’s place doesn’t take long. Charlie works remotely so the trio bought a ridiculously overpriced house about five minutes outside of Lakeside, which has a stunning view of Mount Baker when it’s not foggy or overcast.
Charlie mentioned that Marcus will be here, which surprises me. Not because I don’t think our brother would want to come, but he’s such a workaholic that it’s hard to pull him away for anything that resembles fun. Even more curious, I was told he’s bringing someone, though whether that person is a date or a friend, I have no idea. Knowing Marcus, it’s probably our Seattle admin so he can work when he should be socializing. When I questioned Charlie about who it was, she just shrugged and said she hadn’t asked.
We pull up the long gravel driveway, and a cute little craftsman-style home comes into view. It’s not a mansion by any means, but the five acres of land is probably what upped the price tag.
I’m sitting in the middle row of this beast of a car between Fi and Charlie. Michaels tried to sit with us, but Lincoln banishedhim to the second row like a toddler, so now he’s sulking like, well, a toddler. I glance back at him and smile at the way he’s pouting while he stares out the window.
All jokes aside, I understand why Lincoln is so angry, but I also intimately understand Michaels’s need to be a people pleaser, so Link’s ire is rough on him. I slide one hand back between the door and the seat and squeeze his knee. He gives me a half-hearted smile.
When the vehicle comes to a stop, we all pile out and walk to the house.
