Page 48 of Sweet Spot

Of course that smile was finally wavering now, thanks to the shock of Ritchie’s message. We hadn’t spoken in so long. The last words he’d said to me were cruel and bitter. He’d gone as far as to mention that our old friends wished me the worst for what I did to him. He’d said so many terrible things that stuck with me for years and still did.

So why the hell was I considering going back to that house?

“Miss, please follow me.”

The host I’d given my name to grabbed one of the matte white menus and ushered me through the sexy lounge area, to the back and through French doors that led to the garden patio. It was a sprawling area with ivy walls separating each table and the most breathtakingly up-close view of the Empire State Building I’d ever seen.

Damn.

I was going through a distinct I made it moment as I strode across the roof and followed the host up a short flight of steps to what seemed like some VIP area.

“Here you are, miss. Your party’s right here.

“Oh. Thank you.”

I was surprised when he left me standing there in front of a long table of beautiful people, half of them women – most of those women beaming brightly as they talked to Lukas, who smiled politely despite multiple glances at his watch.

When he spotted me, he practically jumped from the table.

“Thank God,” he breathed out when he came to me. “I was getting ready to get out of here and find you.”

“What’s going on?” I asked. But before he could answer the question, I spotted Emmett coming back from presumably the bar because he had a tray of drinks with him. Trailing at ease behind him was Julian.

“Oh! Hey! I thought you stood my boy up so I made it a party,” he said brightly, spilling several shots as he switched his tray to one hand and held out the other. “Heard all about you, Lia. I’m Emmett, by the way. This is my brother, Julian.”

Julian and I laughed upon looking at each other.

“Yes, of course. Nice to meet you, Julian,” I said as Lukas slipped his arm around my waist. “You know, I never got to thank you for that time you eavesdropped on my very personal conversation and relayed every detail to Lukas. So, thank you.”

Julian smirked. “Hey. It sped up the process of – ” He gestured vaguely at us. “Whatever this is. So you’re certainly welcome.”

I snorted. Whatever this is. It was a vaguely rude but strangely apt description so I took no offense. Lukas, however, was amusingly wary of my feelings as we approached the table.

“For your information, I’m an asshole but Julian puts me to shame on a daily basis,” he said, holding me closer to his side. “Nothing you can’t handle but feel free to ignore anything he ever says.”

“Got it,” I giggled as everyone at the table adjusted themselves to face Emmett, who gestured grandly at us.

“Everyone, most of you know my brother, Julian. I’ve also got here my brother from another mother, Lukas, and his girl, Lia. Everybody say hi.”

I blushed as everyone turned and gave the loudest, cheeriest “hiiii” complete with two-handed waves. But it wasn’t their attention that burned my cheeks – it was the fact that Lukas stiffened when Emmett introduced me as his “girl.”

Damn it, Emmett, I cursed him inwardly while smiling outwardly in thanks for the seat he pulled out for me. I eyed Lukas as he sat down but instead of the awkward expression I expected, he was already grinning and greeting the suited guy sitting across from him. His name was Bryce and judging from the conversation, he worked with Julian for the Empires’ front office and was someone Lukas sold a home to this year.

“Your man’s a horrible person, by the way,” Bryce said to me, grinning at whatever look Lukas flashed him. “He convinced me to buy a place so fucking out of the budget that now, Jess and I have to put off having kids for at least a couple years. And I might have to work part-time as a groundskeeper for the arena.”

Everyone burst out laughing as Lukas grinned and shook his head. “Don’t listen to him. He’s lying – that house was barely out of his budget and he doesn’t want kids, anyway.”

“Hey. I didn’t when Jess and I first met, asshole. But now I’m married, so it’s different,” Bryce said.

“What, did she threaten divorce if you didn’t want kids?” Emmett snorted.

“Abso-fucking-lutely she did!” Bryce boomed to more laughter. “And I’m pretty much dependent on that woman, so she ain’t going anywhere. Also, I’m soft as fuck now and anything that puts a smile on her face, I’m gonna give it to her.”

“Jesus Christ. You’re making me nauseous,” Julian said across the table.

“Hey, don’t be mad that you can’t get hard for anything but your job. Hell, even Lukas has found someone – when are you gonna settle down?”

I thanked God that the entire table was looking at Julian because I was red from my cheeks to my collarbones over the continued assumption that Lukas and I were in some kind of official relationship. I was so uncomfortable I didn’t even dare look at Lukas anymore. His hand was no longer on my back or anywhere near me, and as potentially irrational as it was, I interpreted that as his need to put a distance between us – just in case I was getting too excited about his friends giving me the girlfriend treatment.