The moment I enter the kitchen I can hear the sound of girls giggling coming from the living room. One of them squeals and I swear it’s Kelli. She’s got a loud mouth so that’s no surprise. I glance around the messy kitchen. Two empty wine bottles and a few glasses sit in the sink. The island has serving plates scattered all over it, most of them empty but one still has a few appetizers on it. Grabbing some weird looking pastry thing off the plate, I stuff it into my mouth and go to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
Hmm. The weird pastry thing is pretty damn good. I grab another one, about to shove it into my mouth when Shep enters the kitchen, his eyes about bugging out of his head.
“Holy hell, did you just eat one of Jade’s fancy appetizer things?” He sounds like I just risked my damn life for a mushroom puff or whatever the fuck it is.
I roll my eyes and bite into the pastry with extra enthusiasm just for Shep, then shove the other half in. “It’s delicious,” I say, my mouth full.
Shaking his head, Shep picks one up and takes a bite. “Huh, it is good,” he mumbles, sounding shocked.
Oh, if Jade heard his lack of faith just now. She’d give him endless shit.
“I know.” I swallow and take a drink from the bottled water, trying my best to ignore the laughter that’s still coming from the living room. I’m curious to check out what’s happening. “Sounds like they’re having fun in there,” I say casually.
Shep goes still. “Don’t go in there.”
Him saying I shouldn’t makes me want to go in there even more. “What’s the harm in seeing what’s going on?”
“Aren’t you the one who told me you didn’t want to see them passing vibrators around?” he points out.
I might’ve said that very thing back at the bar but that was hours ago. Now I wanna see it. I wanna see something.
I also want to know if Alexandria’s in there. I swear I can feel her presence but that’s ridiculous. I can’t want Alexandria. To want her is to want—more. More than I can give her, more than I can accept, more than I can deal with. Relationships are bullshit, all the girls I’ve ever been with are greedy bitches who demand the whole damn world and yeah…
It’s gotta be the booze affecting my mental state. I drank too much, my head is spinning, I’m starved for more mushroom pastry things and the need to see Alexandria is damn near overwhelming. Just to catch a glimpse of her, even for a few seconds. That’s all I need.
All I can want.
Pushing away from the kitchen counter, I head toward the living room, Shep falling into step behind me, right on my heels.
Fucker.
“Don’t go in there,” he warns me, his mouth practically at my ear. I swat him away but that doesn’t stop him. He just keeps talking. “Jade will murder us both if we ruin her party, you know. And you really don’t want to face her wrath.”
“I’m not scared of her. Besides, we’re not going to ruin shit,” I say. “Maybe we can be the entertainment.”
“I think they have enough entertainment,” he retorts as he grabs my arm, stopping me. “Come on, you should go to bed.”
“I don’t want to go to bed, Dad.” I jerk my arm out of his hold. I hate it when he tries to tell me what to do. “I’m not tired.”
Shep glares at me. “I forgot how belligerent you get when you drink.”
“Shut up. I’m fine,” I mutter as I stroll into the living room as if I didn’t have a care in the world. Shep doesn’t follow me and I’m glad. This is my moment to shine with a bunch of amped up women who’ve done nothing but obsess about sex all night. Talk about an opportunity.
“Good evening, ladies,” I say with my biggest grin, spreading my arms wide like I’m on display—just another sex toy for one of them to possibly enjoy.
Clearly, I’ve lost my damn mind.
I go completely still when Tristan walks into the room, looking so good I sort of lose my breath when I see him. Kelli’s sitting next to me on the couch and she jabs her elbow in my ribs, making me jump.
“What an asshole. He’s not even looking at you,” she whispers out of the side