Page 29 of Salacious Park Avenue Prince

DAD AND VERA were out of their minds if they thought this living situation was going to end in anything less than a bloodbath. Travis lived to provoke, for fuck’s sake, and I didn’t see him letting up on that anytime soon. He was just trying to get a reaction out of me any way he could, and he thought poking at a sore point in our relationship would be the best way to do that.

Sad thing was, it was working. I couldn’tnotreact when he pulled those stunts. When he got close enough in my space that I could see his heartbeat pulsing rapidly in his neck. Apparently I did that to him, riled him up the same way he did me, and I didn’t know how to fix it. I hated conflict in general and would’ve rather kept to myself and separated from the drama, the way I’d beentryingto do by getting my own place away from Travis and his crew. I’d succeeded for the most part, except for the occasional run-ins that couldn’t be avoided. Family dinner included.

The TV was still on full blast, the way it’d been since I left Travis by the couch and headed into my room. I doubted he was even watching anything. He’d probably just turned up the volume to be obnoxious, but whatever. I threw on myheadphones, blared my music, and started editing some photos from a red carpet event I’d gotten paid for a few nights ago.

I was in my zone, working away, when my phone lit up with a message.

JT:

Sorry…

I frowned. Sorry? For what?

I started to write him back, but before I could send the message, a loud banging sound cut through my music.

What the hell is that?

When it continued, I ripped off my headphones and pushed off the bed, ready to kill Travis for being such a pain in the ass.

But when I hauled open my door, I saw him grumbling and cursing on the couch at whoever it was trying to beat our front door down. It seemed urgent, like a pack of firefighters desperate to get in.

“What’s going on?” I shouted, but he wasn’t getting up to see, even though he looked annoyed as shit. “Wow, don’t lift a finger or anything.”

He shook his head at me, but I didn’t have time to decipher what that meant when the pounding was starting to match the throb in my head.

The second I unlocked the door, a rush of bodies entered our condo, one after the other, all of them hyped up and bringing the noise inside with them. And every single one was a blasted Park Avenue Prince or significant other.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Caleb, my man,” Donovan said, clapping my shoulder.

I tried to shrug him off, but his grip was tight. “I’m not your man.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. We used to all have fun together.”

“That was a long time ago.”

Out of the corner of my eye, Gavin grabbed the remote, cutting off the TV, and Travis put up a fight until Daire stepped up behind Gavin. That grumpy bad boy wasn’t one I’d ever bond with, and the muscles he’d honed over the past few months professionally fighting weren’t exactly endearing. They just screamed,Get the fuck away,or in Travis’s case,Get the fuck up and don’t give my boyfriend shit about it.

“What is this?” I said, finally pushing away Donovan’s arm. “An intervention?”

Someone in the group snorted, and East stepped forward.

“No, it’s what we do best.” He paused for dramatic effect and arched a brow. “Throw a party.”

“A party?”

“Yes. We gave you some time to get settled, and now it’s time to reintroduce you toourway of life.”

This was not happening. It’d been bad enough when my parents forced me to move in with Travis, but they said nothing about having to hang out with this bunch of entitled morons.

I shook my head and started to back away. “I don’t think so.”

“Uh-uh-uh.” Donovan stepped in behind me. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Exactly, and that includes any dumb party.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Travis glared in my direction. “If he wants to be a wet blanket, let him be.”

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