Rain is passed out on the couch, her head in Dane’s lap as he talks to Kode. Tria is motioning me over, but I suddenly don’t like being here. I look like death with a little makeup, and all these girls look like they just left the runway.
What’s going on?
“Hey,” I say, discreetly scanning the living room, but not seeing Ethan or Allie. “What kind of party did I stumble into?” I ask her.
“This is Maverick inviting the models over from Pretty Posh,” Tria explains, laughing under her breath. “Kode’s fault. Bora gave us a tour of the new line, and they did a runway test for the couture stuff. This is what happens when you take Maverick around a bunch of models.”
So they really are runway models.
She offers me a glass of wine, but I grab the vodka instead. Maverick lives too far away for me to walk home at night, but I can always crash on his couch or take a cab back.
“Where’s Allie?” I ask her as I pour a little orange juice in with my vodka and toss in a few ice cubes.
“Out back. Wait until you see Corbin.”
My eyebrows go up, and she starts laughing while shaking her head. Curious, I head outside, and Corbin Freaking Sterling is the first thing I see.
I burst out laughing before my mind can even really process what I’m seeing, to be honest. Is that an elephant trunk sticking out of his man thong? Why is he wearing a man thong?
“Not one fucking word,” he tells me, pointing at me like it’s a warning.
I’m too busy laughing to form words, so it’s a useless threat. Ruby wipes tears out of her eyes as her body shakes with silent laughter. He mutters a few curses before glaring over at her.
“Can we go now? You said the last person who had to see is Bella, and she’s finally fucking seen me,” he growls.
“Yes, Tarzan. We go now. Good boy,” Ruby says in a mock, deep voice, then breaks out into a second round of hysterics.
“Just wait. Paybacks are hell,” he tells her as they walk by me. She slaps his bare ass, and he flips her off without turning around.
“Thanks for coming,” she tells me, still wiping away her tears in between bouts of laughter.
Sometimes I wonder if I have to be certifiably insane to be in a healthy relationship.
My laughter dies in my throat when my eyes collide with a pair of dark ones. Ethan is watching me from the patio table where he’s sitting next to Wren, and his hands are steepled under his chin.
He smirks at me, then returns his attention to Wren as he tells him whatever he’s telling him. Allie waves me over, and I go to sit down at the table with them. I’m on one end, and Ethan’s on the other, which on the rectangular table, puts him a safe distance away from me.
It’s the first time we’ve seen each other without tearing off our clothes.
“Work is rough, I assume,” Allie says, sipping a bottle of water.
“Yeah. Lots of people leaving or calling in because of a virus. Where’s my girl?”
Allie grins. “With Wren’s mom. She loves having a grandmother these days. And I’
m happy for her.”
One of the models walks by us, wearing a dress that I want to steal and curl up with at night. But my ass would never fit in that.
Sighing, I stare after her wistfully, until I suddenly tense because she’s running her finger along Ethan’s shoulder.
His expression is blank as he talks to Wren, but I can’t hear the words. All I can hear is the muffled rumble of his deep voice.
My fists clench when she leans over to say something in his ear. He stops talking to Wren, and he turns to face the girl as she leans back. She’s giving him a grin like I give him right before he takes me, and it’s making me want to vomit.
It’s a little too soon to be a jealous crazy girl, so I keep my mouth shut and stare very obviously. Not that he notices.
“Is that so?” he asks loud enough for me to hear, cocking his head to the side.