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“You just might be one of those flies.”
I shake my head and let out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t plan to get married, man.”
“Ever?” Gray’s face registers surprise.
“Ever. It’s not for me. I just don’t trust people, you know?”
“I get it.” Vaughn pats my shoulder, then rubs his hand down his face, his wedding ring glinting in the light of the kitchen. “Trust is hard under normal circumstances. Throw in the extraordinary life that you live, and the people you’re related to, and I know that it’s almost impossible. I come from the same kind of family. Mine isn’t as close, and it definitely isn’t as big, but it is just as famous.”
“Yeah, I know you get it. I have a small circle,” I confirm. “And I’m not mad about it. But no, marriage isn’t for me.”
“You’re no virgin,” Gray says.
“Fuck no.” I laugh again and reach for my drink. “I’m not a monk. But the women I choose to be with know the score. No surprises, no hurt feelings.”
“Aren’t you the romantic one,” Vaughn says with a wink, and I just shake my head.
“I’ll romance the cars I fix up. That’s about all the romance I need.”
Gray opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, the girls come tumbling back into the room. They’re giggling and a little sloppier than they were before.
The cocktails are doing their job.
“I like the black one,” Liv announces, clearly being funny. “Black with big, poofy sleeves.”
“I prefer the red,” Sidney replies. “The one that’s see-through. You have excellent nipples to pull that one off.”
“I know you’re kidding,” Gray says calmly as he wraps his arm around Stella’s waist and leans in to kiss her cheek.
“You don’t want to see my nipples?” Stella asks him, then sticks her lower lip out in a pout.
“Not when you walk down the aisle.”
“Uncle Nate would be quite scandalized,” Liv reminds everyone, and I can’t help but scowl at the thought.
“He’d kill someone,” I put in. “Anyone. And then he’d wrap you from head to toe in a weighted blanket to make sure you’re covered up.”
“Probably not worth it,” Stella decides. “Hey, thanks for doing the dishes.”
“You cooked,” Gray says with a shrug and then notices as his sister succumbs to a huge yawn. “You’re probably beat, huh?”
“Me? Nah.” Sid shakes her head, but her eyes are heavy. “I can party all night. Hell, on concert night, I’d barely be through the first three songs by now.”
“It’s not concert night,” Liv reminds her. “You’re staying downstairs in this building?”
“Yeah, I found a short-term rental just a few floors down. I thought it was convenient. But you’re probably right, I should go to bed.”
“You should walk her down,” Stella says to me. “She’s had a lot to drink. Make sure she gets there all right.”
“Oh, he doesn’t have to—”
“I was going to head out anyway,” I cut in, pushing off the stool in front of the kitchen island. “I’ll walk you down.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Stella says as she hugs Sidney and kisses her cheek. “I’ll take tomorrow off of work so I can hang with you.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Sidney insists, but Stella’s shaking her head.
“Trust me, I could use a day off.”
There are hugs all around, and then I’m suddenly alone with Sidney in the hallway, walking down to the elevator.
“I’m sure I’ll make it to my rental just fine,” she says as she steps into the elevator.
“I know you will because I’ll make sure of it.”
I step inside, and the doors slide shut, and I glance over at her. Her eyes are heavy-lidded from the alcohol, but she’s steady on her feet.
“Ever since I read Fifty Shades of Grey back in the day, I’ve always had a thing for sexy times in elevators,” she says.
But before I can pin her to the wall and kiss her, the doors open again, and she walks out ahead of me.
“I’m in four-oh-six.”
“Gray’s nine-oh-six.”
“Yep.” She grins as she approaches her door. “I’m right below him. But not right below him. Maybe I drank more than I thought.”
“You’re tired.”
I wait while she keys in the code to the door, and when it opens, I take a step back.
“Have a good time in Seattle, Sid.”
Before I can head back down to the elevator, she slips her hand in mine, and I turn back to her, one eyebrow raised.
“What if there’s a monster in the condo?”
“I’m no monster slayer.”
Her lips twitch. “Get in here.”
Chapter 3
Sidney
“I don’t believe that you’re afraid of anything.” Keaton follows me into the condo, closes the door behind him, and waits while I turn on some lights. His eyebrows climb when the space is illuminated. “This doesn’t look anything like Gray’s place.”
I grin and quickly scan the room. Gray’s condo is modern, with clean lines and little pops of color here and there.
