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So I ended up answering, “I’m not exactly dressed to go anywhere.”
Her gaze traveled over me, and heat pricked my skin everywhere she looked because her eyes seemed to like what they saw.
Then she waved out an unconcerned hand, claiming, “You look fine. Most people will probably be in jeans and a T-shirt too. It’s not like we’re going to a club or some fancy restaurant. Now, put your shoes on and grab your keys. I need you to drive so I can get drunk tonight. I just realized I haven’t had any alcohol since I learned I was pregnant with Ava.”
I couldn’t seem to argue with that, so I sighed and said, “Alright. Give me a minute.”
Half an hour later, I was pulling to the curb in front of a ranch-style house that Lucy had directed me to.
“Now, Bella and Fox are both children of friends in the group. They’ve known each other their whole lives even though they only started dating last year and got married about four months ago. And Bella is Gray’s twin sister, while Fox is my sister-in-law Bentley’s brother.”
Killing the engine, I arched my eyebrows and sent her a look. “You realize I’m not going to remember any of this, right?”
“Yes, you will,” she encouraged, patting my arm optimistically. “Eventually. So… My brother is Beau, as you know, and our first cousins are Cress, Teagan, and Haven, which you haven’t met yet because she and her fiancé, Wick, live almost two hours away. And Teagan is married to—”
“Okay, seriously. You can stop. My head is beginning to hurt.”
Lucy laughed. “Fine.” She rolled her eyes and grinned before pushing open the car door. “But feel free to ask if there’s anyone’s name you do want to learn.”
“Deal.”
Lucy waited for me on the sidewalk, so I picked up my pace, coming around the car to join her, where we walked up the front walk together. The closer we got, the more I could hear muffled music and talking from inside. At the entrance, she didn’t even bother to knock before opening the door and stepping inside.
Immediate trepidation swarmed me as soon as I entered behind her. “Whoa. There are a lot more people here than there were last week at my place.” And I only recognized a handful of them.
“Yeah.” Lucy moved closer and lifted her voice so I could hear her over the hullabaloo. “Only about half the family could make it to help you out last weekend, but I think pretty much all of them will be here tonight.
I nodded, scanning the faces again until I spotted one I recognized. And yet this person hadn’t been at my place last weekend either.
“Holy shit.” Grabbing Lucy’s arm as I continued to gape, I yanked her closer and hissed, “Is that Tucker Holt, the singer?”
She sounded amused as she asked, “You know him?”
“What? No!” I sent her an incredulous glance. “But I saw him in concert once. He’s amazing.”
“He’s married to one of my non-blood cousins,” Lucy reported, grinning big.
I furrowed my brow. “But isn’t his wife the daughter of two singers from that old, famous group, Non-Castrato?”
“Rory,” Lucy explained, telling me the name of Tucker’s wife. “Yeah. Remy and Asher Hart are part of my family unit too. All three of their daughters will probably be here tonight.”
My eyes grew big. “No way.”
With a laugh, she patted my shoulder, and then hollered across the room, “Hey, Tucker! You got a super fan over here.”
Tucker immediately lifted his face and glanced over. Then he grinned and waved, starting our way.
“Holy shit, what’re you doing?” I hissed, whispering out my distress. “Now, he’s coming this way.”
I’d wanted to meet him personally at his concert but hadn’t been able to afford the VIP tickets for both Duke and myself, so we’d settled for balcony seats in the nosebleed section.
My brother would flip if he knew who I was about to talk to right now. I was as excited as I was discomfited to meet him. This just didn’t seem right without Duke.
But Tucker Holt was walking toward me, anyway.
“I have no idea what to say,” I admitted to Lucy from
the side of my mouth.
