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But just because I understand it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“Where’s Sloane?” Avery asks as I approach, looking past me like my ex is going to materialize at any moment.
“How the fuck should I know?” I grumble, sliding onto the empty stool beside her.
Even though I washed my hands, I swear I can still smell Sloane on me- and from the way Avery’s nose twitches to the side-eyed glance she throws my way, I’m not imagining things.
Fuckinggreat. Can’t wait for that interrogation later.
“Hey, there she is!” Lo announces, and to my surprise, I swivel on my stool to see Sloane striding into the bar, looking a whole lot more put together than when I left her.
She’s changed into a tight pair of black skinny jeans and a plain white cropped tee, but she’s still got that post-orgasmic flush to her cheeks, her lips still a little puffy.
It’s always been my favorite look on her.
“Sloane!” Ares calls, lifting his arm to wave her over as I resist the urge to tear the limb from his body.
Clenching my jaw, I look around for the server, desperately in need of a drink.
“Hey guys,” Sloane greets cheerfully as she walks up to our table, rounding it to take the open stool between Ares and Iver. She’s startlingly casual, as if I didn’t just finger fuck her to orgasm on the table in the conference room. And I don’t know why that bothers me so much.
Maybe because my balls are currently bluer than the electric lemonade Lo’s sipping on.
“So what’d you think of your first squad leader meeting?” Iver asks, nudging Sloane with an elbow.
She shrugs a slender shoulder. “Honestly? I thought there’d be more to it. Are all your meetings that short?”
“Hey, we don’t fuck around,” Archer replies with a chuckle, pointing the rim of his beer bottle toward Sloane. “As I’m sure you noticed, things can go off the rails pretty fast if we don’t stick to business.”
“Mostly because of Ares,” Lo adds.
“Hey!” he protests.
“Don’t act like it isn’t true,” Avery chides, leaning over and slinging an arm around his shoulders.
Ares doesn’t deny it- he just leans into her like having my sister this close to him is equivalent to hitting the fucking lottery.
Yet another reason to make me wanna punch the guy.
“Hey, what’d Andie say when you asked her about coming back?” Iver asks, looking between Archer and Ares.
Their sister Andie is on a temporary hiatus from squad leadership, but given the escalating situation with the hunters, we’ve discussed trying to bring her back on board.
“She’s in, as soon as Aunt Liv finds a new nanny for baby Maeve,” Archer supplies.
“Good, we need her,” I mutter. “With all this hunter bullshit, we could use her skills.”
Iver leans in toward Sloane to bring her up to speed. “Andie’s the best shooter out of any of us,” he explains. “All the Raines kids have been training with firearms for years. Luna Serena suggested it as a way for them to blow off steam, thinking it might come in handy someday.”
“And it has, so basically my mom’s cooler than all of yours,” Ares flexes, waggling his brows and taking a swig of his beer.
“Nah, I think Tris and Sloane have you beat,” Lo muses, stirring her drink with the little swizzle straw. “Theirs can tell the future.”
“Not enough of it to give us a heads-up about whether these hunters are gonna show up or not though, eh?” I grumble as I finally make eye contact with the server and flag her down.
Kelly strides over with a bright smile on her face, tucking her short blonde hair behind her ears. Apparently she’s been serving drinks in this bar since our parents were our age, and she always takes good care of me and my friends when we’re here, making sure our drinks are never empty for long. “Beer, Alpha?” she asks, tossing a coaster onto the table in front of me.
“You know it,” I reply with a nod.
