“You terrify me,” she says honestly.
“Feeling’s mutual. So, we’re even.”
“Always a competition with you.”
“Keeps things interesting, don’t you think?”
She smirks. Her shoulders are still tense, her grip on my hand still tight, but she lets me lead her over. Harlow’s eyebrows go up, and Griffin’s head swings toward me—though Dash and Sunshine take us in stride. Rose accepts a glass of wine with an uncertain smile, and Reign has just materialized at the edge of the group when Pearl’s voice cuts across the room and I feel Rose go rigid beside me.
“Hello everyone! I am so pleased you could make this weekend. Through a hurricane, no less!”
A polite laugh moves through the room. That’s when Roger and Johanna slip in through a side door and take their places beside Pearl.
Rose had gone looking for Pearl. She was supposed to be up there with them. I glance at her, then back at the front of the room, where Roger stands beside Johanna without a single glance toward the crowd—toward his other daughter. Rose’s smile doesn’t waver, but her hand squeezes tighter in mind.
“My father, Roger, and his stunning new bride, Johanna—Jo, to those lucky enough to be close to her—are so excited to share this magical week with you all.” Pearl’s eyes sweep the room. “As they prepare to take this step together, we’re here to celebrate their love, their—” She finds me. Finds my hand around Rose’s. Her words falter before she smooths them over. “Their happiness. Their future. Please raise a glass and welcome, on their last night as singles—Roger and Johanna!”
Everyone claps, and Rose lets go of my hand to do the same.
“Please find your seats and enjoy this marvelous dinner we’ve prepared for you this evening, featuring local chef Jorge Vasquez, whose menu showcases the very best of Georgian cuisine.”
“I didn’t realize she helped cooked,” Sunshine muses. Rose laughs, then Sunshine winks at her, then takes Dash’s hand and follows him through the restaurant.
I take Rose’s hand to do the same, but she stops me. “There’s no way we’re seated together.”
“Don’t care.”
She shakes her head. “Trust me, we aren’t.”
“Still don’t care.”
“Okay, except that’s not how seating charts work. If I take a chair that isn’t mine, I’m taking it from someone else.”
“Still don’t care.”
“This is fun,” she laughs, then shakes her head. “Let’s just find our seats. We can meet up after dinner.”
“I don’t think—”
“Please, Logan,” Rose says, a gentle plea in her tone. She doesn’t want to make waves.
“I don’t like it.”
“I know. It’s just dinner.” She leans up on her toes and kisses my cheek. I get my hand around her nape and kiss her properly, and she lets out a soft, pleased sigh against my mouth.
“Don’t leave without me. I mean it.”
“Enjoy dinner.”
It tastes like ash when I say, “You too. See you later.”
Rose moves through the tables, scanning for her name card, drifting toward the back edges of the room. Because that’s where they’d put her. Off to the side, out of the way, an afterthought in her own family.
And it pisses me the fuck off.
I find my friends and drop into my seat, unsurprised to see Pearl’s name card next to mine.
“What the hell was that about?” Griffin asks before I can even sit down. “You’re fucking baby sis?”
