The chair is testy with my weight when I sit opposite her, but it doesn’t immediately collapse beneath me. I release a breath and nod before grabbing my wooden fork.
“Take the win this time.”
“If it makes you feel better, I have three new shoots scheduled for next week, and I’ll take some of the money I get and replace the chairs.”
My brows jump. “Three?”
“Yep!” Her face lights up as she swirls her fork in the spaghetti. “Aubrey got me a shoot with one of her coworkers, and Brielle found me two new clients who both want boudoir photos.”
“That’s great, Evie.”
My mind instantly wanders to who exactly Brielle’s sent her way. Are they in the same industry as she is? Why didn’t she mention this to me?
I scowl down at my food, already knowing neither of those questions is one that I should expect answers to. Not when I’ve done nothing to make her mine, and sure as shit not when I still haven’t come clean about After Hours.
“Okay, your mouth is saying one thing, but your face is saying another.”
I instantly fix my expression. “I mean it, Evie. I’m happy for you. This is what you want, right?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
“Good. I want you to do and get everything you want in life. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“You’ve made that possible, you know?” she asks, voice growing soft.
“Hardly. You were already a headstrong, independent woman when you came to live with me. There are a thousand things I failed at and wish I’d known how to do better for you. What you accomplish now is because of whoyouare and have always been.”
My niece lowers her fork before reaching for my tattooed hand and rubbing her thumb across the back of it a single time.“You finished the job Mom started when you didn’t have to. That’s all that matters to me.”
I clear my throat when it tightens. Emotions I don’t enjoy feeling claw their way into my head and bring a stinging sensation to the backs of my eyes. Repeating the motion, I try to cough and nod before busying myself with my dinner.
The first bite tastes like sawdust. I force a second and a third. Evie doesn’t add anything else to the conversation, and I’m grateful for that. One more word is all it would take for me to burst into tears.
So, yeah, I’ll take the silence instead.
30
BRIELLE
My best friendstands at the edge of the high-top table and does a celebratory spin. Her thick, long black hair twirls around her face as she soaks in our cheers, blushing a deep shade of pink.
“To Aubrey, the only woman I know who can strike a man down with nothing more than a glare!” Beck cheers, already lifting his beer into the air.
The rest of our group shouts, “To Aubrey!”
I raise my glass into the air alongside hers while we cheers. She tips hers all the way back to finish it off before Finn’s pulling her back into his lap. Her grin is bright enough to rival the lights above us when he plants a sloppy kiss to her cheek.
It’s a blessing to be able to watch someone you care about fall so deeply and openly in love. Their journey from best friends to the couple they are now wasn’t entirely unexpected. From the moment Finn joined the Havoc family, Aubrey’s been right here with us. There has never been one without the other. Platonic soulmates are very real, but that wasn’t the case for them, even when they’d convinced themselves it was.
This right now is exactly what was meant to happen, and I couldn’t be happier for them.
Even if I wish that I could be sitting on someone’s lap alongside them instead of sipping a cocktail beside the one person here who knows exactly what I’m thinking.
Beck doesn’t say anything when I give his shoulder a shove and motion for him to scoot his chair in so I can pass, but his smug expression hides nothing. The knowing wiggle of his thick brows is more than enough to have me pulling on his ear when I pass. Aubrey’s glass is empty when I pick it up.
“I think you need another drink.”
Before she can reply, I’m heading to the bar.
