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“Avril,” Tess said threateningly.
Shutting her eyes so that she could roll them behind her eyelids—Liam was certain of it—Avril took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she traded time attending to him and Anna with her gaze.
“I’m sorry that I used your phone to make Liam think I was the one texting him. And you too, Tess. And I’m sorry for tricking you into coming over because you thought it was Anna, Liam. I won’t do it again.”
As far as apologies went, it sat within the same tier as those made by politicians found cheating on their spouses or embezzling funds. Not one word felt earnestly contrite. Still, he suspected it was about the best one could expect from Avril Knight, especially since it was abundantly clear that she didn’t think she’d done anything wrong.
With how thingshadworked out, he imagined most of the table wasn’t particularly upset with her. He certainly wasn’t, though he couldn’t let it be known that he was immensely happy that things had transpired as they had.
Thusly, the three women, all knowing her better than he did, accepted her mild apology as the best they would get. The table’s attention turned back to his card skills, and he spent the next twenty minutes showing off what he could do. Much more than when he’d done this for his friends, Liam lived in bliss while the four heavenly beautiful women focused on his talent. He was happy to explain and reexplain as needed, content to feed their curiosity for as long as they liked.
“So, what do I have to do to get private lessons?” Avril purred at one point, earning an immediate response from the two women directly beside her.
“Not a chance.”
“That’s not happening.”
“Oh, come on, what doIneed more money for? It’d just be for kicks, mostly.”
“Liam, please do not teach her any of this,” Anna said. “She gets into enough trouble without knowing how to swindle people with cards.”
“Such betrayal!” her best friend cried, hand over her heart.
By the time things began wrapping up with his card expo, the only light left entering the nearby windows came from the complex’s outdoor lamps. Victoria was the first to declare she’d be heading home. Standing, she asked Anna to join her outside while she warmed her car up, though she offered no explanation as to what she wanted from her.
With absolute certainty, he was sure they all had the same idea why.
“Thank you for inviting me over,” Victoria said. “It was nice to see you all.”
“If you’d like, I could start heating up your cars,” Anna said to him and Tess, standing up.
“That’d be great. Thank you, Anna,” Tess said.
Liam echoed the sentiment, and once they’d handed their keys to Anna, she and Victoria departed. The three left at the table remained silent until they heard the front door open and then shut.
“Yeah, it’s exactly what you think it is,” Avril said, lips curled in amusement as he opened his mouth to voice his question aloud.
“So, I’m not crazy. Does she just dislike me in particular, or is it just because of the stuff with Anna?”
“She has nothing against you, Liam,” Tess quickly promised. “But… yes, she was against the idea of us looking for anyone to introduce to Anna in the way we discussed.” She diverted her attention, a frown forming, toward Avril. “And I can’t imagine she’s pleased about the way in which you manipulated events.”
“Yeah, but whenisshe pleased about something? I love her to death, but she’s perennially wound too damn tight. She’s going to explode someday, and I hope I’m not in a ten-mile radius of the detonation zone when it happens.”
Tess continued to frown, but she didn’t disagree with her opposite’s assessment.
“Why was she so against the idea?” Liam asked to break the silence.
“She thinks us interfering in Anna’s love life is too similar to what her father is doing—what we’re condemning him for doing,” Tess answered. “She’s a very independent woman, and she thinks the best outcome for Anna is for her to make her own choices, bereft of our involvement.”
“’Coddling her won’t be of any help to her,’ is how she put it, I think,” Avril said, tapping her lower lip.
Tess shook her head. “I understand her point of view, but she’s assuming that everyone is as strong-willed as she is. Some people do need help during trying times.”
“Yeah, I think she’s just seeing one too many parallels between Anna’s situation and her situation with my brother. I mean, she helped you out plenty during and after your divorce, right? She’s notalwaysa hardcore momma bird, just kicking her babies out of the nest and telling them they better learn to fly before they go splat on the ground.”
“You might be right,” Tess said, sighing. “Hopefully, Anna can convince her that this is what she wants, but you haven’t made it easy for her, Avril.”
Avril held her hands out placatingly, then let the silence linger for only a handful of seconds. “Well, while sheisinterrogating my lovable but stunted roommate, we’re free of the two prudes of the group. So… now’s the time to answer my question, Liam!” She leaned forward, grinning mischievously. “I’m sure you thought about it.”
