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The prospect of seeing him at the party does make me a whole lot more excited for it, though. There are plenty of places to sneak off in the old lodge, and if we play our cards right, maybe we can steal some time alone.
“Maybe you should try to chat with him more this time, Lo,” Tristan suggests. “Follow up on any leads you’re currently working. Probably wouldn’t hurt to flirt with him a little.”
“Leave the flirting up to me,” Avery cuts in, waggling her brows. “I’ll gladly exploit my feminine wiles for information. He’s fuckin’hot.”
My wolf surges forward possessively, ready to rip Avery’s head off for even suggesting that she’s interested inmyman.
“As long as it doesn’t go any further than that,” Madd warns, leveling his twin with a stern stare. “No sleeping with the enemy.”
My wolf claws harder at the inside of my chest, a wave of nausea hitting me as I struggle to keep her at bay. The thought of Javi and Avery together turns my stomach. I’m sure he wouldn’t go there though…right?I mean we never said we were exclusive, but I’d assume it’s implied.
Shit, should we have talked about this?
I’m definitely spiraling.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Avery tuts, waving Madd off with an eyeroll. “Once he’s cleared and invited to join the alliance though, all bets are off.”
I slam my chair back and jolt to my feet, everyone’s heads snapping toward me in attention.
“I, uh… are we done planning the initiation stuff?” I ask, my heart pounding and brain working overtime to come up with some passable excuse for my erratic behavior. “I just thought of something I have to do.”
Avery furrows her brow, glancing down at the handwritten list in front of her. “Yeah, I think we’ve got it all covered,” she says, lifting her gaze to me. “Go ahead, if you need to.”
I nod, stepping aside and pushing my chair in. Forcing a smile to my lips, I give my friends a casual wave, skirting around the conference table quickly and heading toward the door.
“Lo, I meant what I said before,” Avery calls after me, and I pause with my hand on the knob, turning to look at her over my shoulder. “If you need a break, don’t hesitate to take one.”
“Yeah, I know,” I breathe. “I appreciate that. But I swear I’m good.”
Avery smiles, blowing me a kiss. It’s a simple gesture, but it only further demonstrates how effortlessly flirting comes to her.How the heck am I supposed to compete with that?
A sick feeling comes over me again and I turn back around and push the door open, slipping out of the conference room and into the hall.
Javi attending this party could either be an exciting opportunity or an epic disaster.
Either way, here’s hoping I don’t blow our cover.
17
“Come with me,” I urge Chey for what feels like the tenth time since I received the invite to the party at the old lodge, as if she’ll suddenly change her mind and decide to go.
Rather than declining yet again, she just throws her head back with an exasperated sigh, reclining back on her elbows atop my bed.
I asked Cheyenne to come over to hang out under the guise of keeping me company while I get ready, but it’s really a last-ditch effort on my part to convince her to join me tonight. I could use a wingman to cover for me if Lo and I get a chance to sneak away, but more importantly, my friend needs to get out and start living her life again- and I’m determined to continue pushing until she does.
“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” I insist. “Meet some new people, have some drinks…”
“I’d rather drink alone,” Chey quips, raising her paper cup of tequila.
“You know, that’s probably a bad sign,” I deadpan.
She just shrugs, balancing on one elbow as she brings the cup to her lips to take a sip.
I change tact, trying to appeal to her sense of curiosity instead since my insistence that she needs to get out and have fun clearly isn’t working. “If you come tonight, you’ll get to meet her,” I say, waggling my brows.
“Who,Ojos Azules?” she asks with a teasing smile.
We have an understanding that we don’t speak Lo’s name when we’re around the motel, just in case someone may be listening in- so we’ve taken to referring to her by the way she’s saved in my phone;blue eyes.
