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uld mean that he had some sort of conscience. "I'll do exactly what Mickey tells me to do. Don't worry—you'll be getting all sorts of money that isn't yours real soon."
"Hey. Chase. Don't get her started," Pax said, his voice tight.
Jessica stiffened next to him. "Don't speak for me, baby. Remember what we talked about?"
Pax looked cowed and nodded obediently. "Of course."
I raised my eyebrows at him but decided not to say anything—for his sake. "Well, we just wanted to be friendly and say hello. I go back to practice tomorrow. Avery and I are hoping that we can all be civil going forward."
Jessica was now staring Avery down. "We?"
I cleared my throat. "That's what I said."
Another awkward silence. "Well, see you around," I said, and hustled Avery away.
After we made it to the relative safety of the other side of the room, she chugged the rest of her champagne. "That went well."
I grimaced. "I told you she's a piece of work."
"Her boobs are, anyway. I was afraid she was going to poke my eye out with one of those things." She started to giggle, but then she seemed to get distracted by something over my shoulder.
"Holy shit." Her voice was strangled.
I turned around, searching the crowd. "What's the matter? Is Jess flying over here on her broomstick?"
"It's my sister. Oh my God, my sister's here."
She was focused on a young woman in a formfitting black dress. Her blond hair was slightly longer than Avery's and tumbled down her back in similar waves. Her eyes were blue, too.
I watched as she grabbed two flutes of champagne and took sips from them both.
"The one in the black dress? The blonde?" I asked.
Avery nodded. Her face had gone pale. "I have no idea how she got here…or where she got that dress."
"Shouldn't we go talk to her?" I asked.
Avery looked at me miserably. "Can I do it alone? I'm not ready for you to meet her."
I nodded. "I'll stay right here, but wave to me if you need backup. It's kind of weird that she's here, don't you think?"
She grimaced. "Uh…yeah." She let go of my hand and headed over, her face taut, as if she was about to face the firing squad. I watched as Lila turned and noticed her, fastening her glittering eyes on her younger sister.
I grabbed another glass of champagne even though I didn't really like the taste. I watched as Avery reached her sister and pulled her in for a hug.
Just then, Eric pulled up beside me. "Who the hell is Avery hugging?" he asked.
"Her sister." I looked at him. "By the way, hi."
"Hi yourself." He dusted the lapel of his immaculate jacket as he watched them, his brow furrowed. "Why the hell is her sister here?"
"I don't know. Avery seemed surprised." And unhappy, but I kept that to myself.
We watched as Lila proceeded to chug both the glasses of champagne she was holding and grab two more as another server went by.
"This could be bad," Eric said, a sour look on his face.
I spotted Jessica out of the corner of my eye. She had her arms crossed against her chest, pushing her boobs up precipitously, and was appraising Avery and Lila from across the room.
