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Cocking my head to the side I glare at Beth, but she covertly avoids eye contact.
“Oh really, well that’s a shame,” I say sarcastically, taking a sip of my martini.
The private dining room is a large enough space to accommodate the more than twenty people I’ve been able to mentally count in my head, but the frosted, dimly lit sconces adorning the rich wood paneled walls creates an intimate atmosphere. Everyone talks at once, and I’m surprised I can hear a word Laura is saying. When the doors open, the room falls silent once again as everyone turns to see who’s entering. I nearly drop my martini glass as I follow suit to see the man standing in the doorway is the same man I had a one-night stand with two weeks ago.
* * *
For Your Love by Måneskin
“Addy!”Laura bolts out of her seat and both her sisters, Ianna and Ana, rush forward, engulfing him in hugs. Surveying the room I see there is nowhere to hide, and I can feel my palms start to sweat.
Crossing and uncrossing my legs, I try to find a comfortable position, but there isn’t one. As much as I want to look away, I can’t. I did something in my past life that I’m paying for now, because of all the people for him to be related to, my sister’s fiancée is the worst possible outcome.
The guy I had a one-night stand with is my future sister-in-law'slittle brother.
When his sisters move, I lock eyes withhim. There’s a flicker of shock in his eyes too which is both amusing and satisfying. It’s clear he wasn’t expecting to see me either.
But here he stands with that dark ruffled hair, those piercing brown eyes, and a helmet tucked under his arm.
“Did you ride your bike here?” Ianna asks, giving him a playful shove. “You better not have gotten your suit wrinkled,” she warns.
With a bashful smile, he leans in to say something I’m not privy to.
Florina rounds the table, grabbing his face, “Adrian,” she says, before giving her son a peck on the cheek as a way of greeting.
Adrian.
That’s his name.
The name I didn’t want to hear, the name I didn’t want to know, because it would make him real. Then I remember meeting hisgirlfriend,Taylor, at the bridal shower last week.
And all I can think of is what afuckingliar.
He looks in my direction again, and I want to either crawl under the table or climb over it and punch him. My chest prickles with heat that travels up my neck and into my cheeks.
Looking around for the waiter, I am desperate for another martini. When I chance a glance in his direction again, I hear him ask Laura something in Romanian,Cine este? Laura slides her eyes in my direction, smiling, and I see her mouth form the word,Lake.
Turning away, I try to focus on something else when Laura’s cousin, who I was sitting next to, stands up and scoots her chair over loudly. When the waiter pushes an extra chair next to me, I’m certain this is karmic payback.
As Adrian takes the seat next to me I get a whiff of his cologne, taking me back to his apartment that night. I cross my legs under the table away from him and when the waiter drops off another martini, I take it gladly.
“Thank God,” I say, taking a hearty sip.
“Adrian, have you met my sister, Lake?” Beth asks from across the table, and if she wasn’t so far away, I would kick her.
I don’t know what I expect him to say, that yes, we met me when he cheated on his girlfriend with me during a one-night stand, but we never got around to getting each other’s names because he was too busy fucking me so hard I woke up the neighbors with my screams?
Not daring to look at him, I don’t know who I’m going to see – the young man in front of that bar who captivated me, or the little brother to my soon to be sister-in-law?
“No,” Adrian replies with his velvety voice, and I press my thighs together under the table.
Beth shoots me a disapproving look from across the table because I’m being rude, so I turn to him with a fake smile. “Lake,” I say, introducing myself.
He smirks as if this is all a game and he’s leading in points. “Lake,” he says. “That’s different.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s a family name,” I say, holding my martini. “My dead mother’s maiden name, actually. Where did you get yours from?” I ask, tilting my head as if waiting for an answer.
“Lake,” Beth warns, her eyes wide in shock. “Sorry,” she addresses Adrian. “My sister can have a mouth on her,” she apologizes for me.
