Page 12 of The Best Shot

Grant shook his head. “You really thought you was gon’ land that plane, friend?”

“As a man, you should⁠—”

The boos came faster this time.

He lifted his hands. “Alright. Damn. I yield.”

“As a man, you should know better,” Annie said dryly.

He shrugged, grinning. “I like to see what I can get away with.”

“Reckless,” Grant said.

Ava’s gaze slid toward Hale again, narrowing.

“And speaking of recklessness,” she said, “I cannot believe Carter walked out of here with Sophie like you weren’t sitting right there.”

Everyone perked up.

Sophie had left about an hour earlier, claiming an early meeting. Carter had stood almost immediately.

“I’m heading out too. Need a ride?”

She hadn’t hesitated. “Yeah.”

She said her goodbyes with the same warmth she’d arrived with, squeezing Ava’s hand, telling Tabby it was so good to meet her, smiling at whatever Annie muttered on her way past.

When she reached Hale, it was a warm, easy nice to meet you, which he returned just as easily. And that was it.

The door had barely closed behind them when Annie gasped.

“Snake behavior.”

Tabby lifted her head. “Full reptile.”

Hale hadn’t blinked. “I know, right.”

He caught my eye, winked, and I laughed despite myself.

Nico shook his head, grinning. “You gotta admit, Av. They did look good together.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What is the point?” Hale asked, genuinely curious.

“The point is I invited her here for you.”

“Ah. Well,” he said. “I wish them luck.”

But I caught something in Ava’s look. A sharpness beneath the teasing. Concern, maybe. Or frustration. Like she’d seen him sidestep this before and her patience was at a low.

Hale met her eyes, then looked away first.

“More wine?” Grant asked, breaking the moment.

“Yes, please,” Ava said.

The conversation loosened after that, everyone pleasantly drunk and unwilling to call it. Annie had migrated from the floor to the couch somewhere in there, folding into the corner of it.