Page 20 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

His eyes moved over the combined living room and kitchen, and then, with a catch in his chest, he recognized the fourth guest.

His sweet little wanna-be-evil witch, working her magic in the kitchen. Ivory.

In all the mess earlier, he’d forgotten she’d likely be here since she was Nia’s friend. But he didn’t think she’d be the only other guest. He narrowed his eyes at Caspian. “More people are coming, right?”

Caspian shook his head. “I did say it’d be small.”

Adrian groaned under his breath.

Nia came over to hover at Caspian’s side and gave Adrian a polite smile. “Glad you could come.”

He pursed his lips. Had this been some kind of girl pact, then?

“Thanks for the invitation,” he said, nodding to her and once again dismissing his preoccupations. “Congrats on the engagement, you two. Truly happy that you found each other.”

Nia beamed, then turned her face up at Caspian as he leaned down for a kiss.

Ugh.

He’d secretly been on team Nia ever since she got Caspian to be more self-aware, but he didn’t need a front row seat to their sappy affections.

He spared another glance past Caspian, where Ivory hummed in the kitchen and piped decorative swirls of white frosting on a round cake. Her hips swayed as she spun the plate on the counter, lips curved into a delicate smile.

The heat must not have gotten to her, because a sweater bunched at her elbows and hung just below the curve of her ass, tights hugging her long legs.

Damn. She was achingly gorgeous. And the last person he needed right now. She’d see through his attempts to hide his underlying frustration in a heartbeat.

Yet, even as the thought passed through his mind, a sense of calm accompanied her presence. His worries were overshadowed by the light she radiated, like a personal northern star. Her happy mood was contagious, and as he turned back to Caspian and Nia, he realized his emotional immune system had been severely compromised.

“Thanks for coming, man,” Caspian said, snapping him back to the conversation. “Means a lot.” But he’d caught Adrian’s wayward gaze and looked over to Ivory, then quirked an eyebrow at Nia, who blushed.

Well, now the cat was out of the bag.

“I’ll leave you two to chat, or whatever guys do,” Nia said and flitted off to Ivory’s side.

Caspian pinned him with a presumptuous smile and a silent question swirling in his blue eyes.

“It’s nothing,” Adrian said. “I’m not interested.”

Caspian laughed. “Sure. Whatever you say, man.”

TEN

He settled on the couch, beer in hand, and pretended not to be bothered by the two sets of eyes staring at his back from the kitchen. Meanwhile, his and Caspian’s conversation meandered through a traditional path of how-were-your-holidays, grumbling about how much homework had been assigned in the first week of classes, and then down memory lane, which circled back to what it was like not to be single.

Or, in Adrian’s case, what it was like to still be single. He carefully avoided the topic of Ivory, not wanting to say something she’d overhear and get embarrassed by.

After a short while, she and Nia brought in plates of fancy appetizers, or what Ivory called mini charcuterie—a collection of cheese, deli meats, and fresh fruit that looked far better than anything he’d seen at any college gathering.

“It’s simple, kinda plain, but I guess it does the trick,” Ivory said, handing him a small plate.

“Looks good to me,” he commented.

Nia cast a proud look at her friend and sat beside Caspian on the couch. “It was all her idea.”

Ivory shrunk at the compliment, picking at the piling on her sweater as she mumbled that it was really nothing special.

Noting the limited space on the couch—the only comfortable seating option, which left a lot to be desired of Caspian’s hosting etiquette—Adrian relocated to the desk chair and made space for the ladies. Caspian went about setting up a multiplayer video game while Nia happily munched on the snacks.

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