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“Yeah, he was, and that’s the only reason he’s still standing.”
We make it out of the little chapel in Vegas where Ryker and Eden wanted their wedding, and the sun beats down on us, hot and relentless. My skin warms where it’s exposed by the strapless, champagne-colored sheath dress all of the bridesmaids are wearing. Lottie was asked to be a bridesmaid but declined after admitting she was pregnant and barely keeping any food down. She wanted to be able to run from the room if she needed without causing a commotion. She insisted Lincoln remain as a groomsman though, hence him leading me out, although he hadn’t been happy about being more than two feet from her. Lincoln was taking overprotective to another level. If he had his way, Lottie would be on bed rest and not lift a finger until the day she gave birth and if he could arrange her birth plan, he would. Lucky for us and him, Lottie has grown a lot in the time they’ve been together and knows exactly how to manage her husband and when to put her foot down and this was one of those times.
“So it’s not because messing with him would mean a week on the couch if Lottie found out?”
“Yeah, that too. I love my wife, and since we got back together, she has this iron will that I find oddly arousing, but the threat to my manhood, not so much.”
“Is it wrong that I love how much she owns your ass?”
Lincoln gets this soft look as his head lifts and he searches her out, his eyes full of love when he finds her. “How could it be wrong when I love it too?”
“I’m happy for you, Lincoln.”
“I almost lost her with my stupidity and deplorable behavior, but she gave me another chance. I won’t waste it.”
“I know.”
“Audrey, can I escort you to the venue?”
I release Lincoln as I turn to my date, trying to force a smile to my lips and hide the irritation his mere breathing makes me feel. My smile is pinched, and the sound of his voice annoys me to no end, but he serves a purpose, namely to keep Hudson away from me. Joe, Jerry, Jed, I can’t remember his name, is classically handsome with blond hair and blue eyes and a body that shows the hours he spends in the gym. I wish he was as good in bed as his body and looks promised, but unfortunately, Jed, John, Jonah, whatever his name is, couldn’t find the clit with a fucking SatNav.
Jason, that’s it!I focus on him as he offers his arm in a gallant move, he probably thinks is suave and sexy, but only makes me cringe. I’m about to reject him when I glance up and see Hudson watching us with a dark, brooding look on his face. God, he’s a handsome bastard. I let my eyes wander over him, not toning down my obvious pursual, and find myself clenching my thighs together. I want to make him feel small, like an object with no value to me. I lift my head back to him and our eyes meet. He smirks and it’s like he can read my mind and I want to slap that smug look off his face. I give him the cool, haughty look of someone superior to him and turn to Jason with a wide smile.
“Of course, you can escort me, you handsome boy.”
He seems to have no idea I just insulted him to his face, calling him a boy when he’s surrounded by men. Jason is nothing but a toy to me, and it’s just how I like it. I don’t allow men to get close to me. I treat them like dirt under my shoes and they let me because of my wealth, my name, and because the chance to screw me delights them. They all think they can tame me, can manipulate me into falling in love with them, when in truth, it will never happen. Men believe I’m a plaything, but I’m the hunter, and they’re the prey. I was prey once before and it will never happen again.
Jason’s bright white teeth almost blind me as he walks me to the hotel that is owned by our friend Ethan Masters. He also owns the Manhattan Cleavers hockey team. His family and mine have been friends for years, both old money that goes back generations. When Ethan found out about Ryker getting married, he offered the hotel as a venue as his wedding gift to the happy couple. He’s a few years older than me, and his sister Serenity is an actress who just got a part on a new streaming show that promises to be the hit of the year.
Jason is still prattling on about stocks and share prices when we step into the room where the reception will be held but I’ve tuned him out. It is truly beautiful inside the high-ceilinged room. All pale pinks and rose gold with cream flowers and just that touch of sparkle that defines Eden and Ryker together. I feel incredibly honored that Eden allowed me to help her with it, and that we’ve become close.My friends, the boys I met in college who have been my family, have been incredibly lucky with the women they’ve found, and so have I. I consider each one of them part of my family and they’ve given me something I never had before. A sisterhood, a group of women who have my back in ways my male friends can’t. I love those boys like brothers, but Norrie, Lottie, Amelia, and Eden have become the sisters I always wanted.
So why don’t you tell any of them the truth about who you really are?
Because I’ll lose them, they’ll pity me, and I can’t stand the thought.
I suffer through the three-course meal, barely tasting any of the beautiful food that Eden took ages choosing. I chat with Norrie and Harrison, ignoring the questioning looks my friend gives me. We’re seated at a round table of ten. Me and Jason, Norrie and Harrison, Lincoln and Lottie, Eric, and Beck, Xander, and Amelia. We have a shorthand that friendships, as long and as deep as ours, have, and the conversation ebbs and flows naturally. Jason is trying to engage Lincoln in some business scheme, and I should feel bad as I watch my date being played with like a spider with a fly in his web, but he brought it on himself. I warned him no business at the wedding, and he chose not to listen. If Lincoln eviscerates him, it’s his own fault.
Jason turns to me when Lincoln gets bored and shuts him down, turning his attention to his wife.
“Champagne?”
I have a slight tension headache from resisting the urge to seek out Hudson, but I nod regardless, hoping the alcohol will ease the strain in my neck. “Yes, please.”
Jason looks around for a waiter, but I need a few minutes away from him, away from all of this to get my game face on before I face everyone at the table for speeches. I’m like a glass statue, hard and impossible to scratch but one wrong move and I could shatter into a thousand shards and cut everyone around me into ribbons.
“Actually, would you mind getting me an Old Fashioned instead?”
Jason takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, and it takes everything in me not to cringe. This man gives me the ick in a big way, but I smile through gritted teeth, wondering how much my dentist will cry when he sees the damage I’m doing to my molars from grinding them.
“Anything for my girl.”
Beck snorts and mumbles something as Amelia nudges him in the ribs.
Urgh.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tear Jason down a peg and remind him exactly who I am, but I have no intention of causing a scene over someone who doesn’t matter. Not today. Not when Eden and Ryker deserve every moment of happiness after what they went through to get here.
I watch Jason walk away and almost lose an eyeball I roll my eyes so hard. I stand and excuse myself with a practiced smile before I head toward the doors, my stride sure, my mind elsewhere. I turn sharply near the bar that leads to the exit to find a private moment on the terrace and crash into a hard, immovable object. I reach out and steady myself as a big hand grips my biceps to stop my tumble and that’s when I smell his scent. Cedar and lime and fresh sea air. The scent that haunts me and drugs me as much as it repulses me.
