Page 198 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

Addy glances at me, then says, “Mostly emergency muffin logistics and five-year-old flight theory.”

He laughs.

She doesn’t explain.

I nearly do.

Then decide against it.

Across the ballroom, the demo installation glows beneath carefully designed lighting. Large screens display Strong AeroTech branding, predictive flight models, and system schematics simplified for public consumption. The real system remains isolated behind layers of access and oversight.

Still, every time I look at it, I feel the patch beneath.

Jeffrey joins us near the edge of the reception area, glass in hand, expression too casual. “Everything stable?”

“For the moment.”

“That wasn’t reassuring. But Sara needs you in ten,” he tells me. “Board introductions before the presentation.”

“I know.”

“Of course you do. Lord forbid I provide useful information.”

“You’ve managed it before.”

“Once. 2018. Huge day for me.”

For nearly an hour, the evening holds.

Addy stays near me when appropriate and drifts when she wants to avoid another conversation about private aviation regulation. She finds Sophie’s influence useful, apparently, because at one point I hear her describe a venture capitalist as “a man who definitely says synergy to children,” and I have to look away to avoid smiling.

The atmosphere shifts before I even see the cause of it.

A shift near the entrance, a ripple of attention, andhimwalking in.

Bryce.

His girlfriend is with him, dressed in pale silver, her expression already uncertain. Bryce, however, looks entirely comfortable. Too comfortable.

My grip tightens around the glass in my hand.

Addy is at my side, speaking to someone from the board’s advisory committee. She sees my expression before she turns.

Then she sees him.

Her entire body stills.

The glass in her hand remains steady, but only because she forces it to.

I place my hand lightly on her lower back.

“Excuse us,” I say to the advisory member, without waiting for permission.

Addy doesn’t speak as I guide her a few steps away. “Did you know he was coming?”

“No.”

Truth be told, he sort of was invited before the disastrous dinner. Was that not enough to keep him away? I wouldn’t want to be somewhere I’m so unwelcome.