Page 69 of The Very Naughty List

“Addison?” I blink at my sister, who’s standing next to her husband and daughter. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Seb!” She gives me a hug, then grimaces as we separate. “I’m here to do a bit of schmoozing. There are some really good potential clients in this room, so I couldn’t exactly turn down the invitation. I talked Michael and Iris into coming with me.”

“Ah.” That makes sense. She’s an event planner, so I can see why she’d want to make connections with some of the people here.

“Hi, Uncle Sebastian!” My six-year-old niece, Iris, waves brightly from beside her mother.

“Hey, little munchkin.” I reach down and swoop her into my arms, spinning her around once and making her laugh. When I set her down, her eyes are shining.

“Are Nick and Reid here too?” Addison asks.

“Yup. Over there.” I point out to where Reid is watching the dance floor, and where Nick is standing just at the edge of it talking with Hailey.

“Is Nick actually going todance?”

“I doubt it.” I laugh. “You know him. Standing within five feet of the dance floor is probably as close as he’ll get to dancing tonight.”

Addison laughs, a sound that always reminds me of our mother. Our sister is only a few years older than me and my brothers, but her laugh sounds so much like our mom’s. Maybe it’s because she helped raise the three of us after our parents died, or maybe it’s because she embodies all the best qualities that our mom had.

Addison is sweet as hell, but she also takes no shit. She’s one of the strongest women I know.

“Well, you all clean up pretty well,” she tells me with a smile. “Who knew I had such handsome brothers?”

“I hate wearing this shit.” I fuck with my cufflinks, and Addison slaps my hand away.

I roll my eyes at her, and Michael laughs at the two of us. I like him. He’s a good guy—down to earth, and he treats my sister well.

“I was just about to grab some drinks,” I tell the two of them. “Can I get you anything?”

“Nah, let me go,” Michael offers. “You and your sister can catch up a bit.”

Addison gives him a kiss on the cheek, and once he strides away, my sister turns her attention back to me, her lips pursed to one side in an expression I recognize well.

“Sooo,” she drawls, and I brace myself for the question I know is coming. “Nick and Hailey are looking pretty close over there together.”

I nod. “Yup.”

She eyes the two of them, who are still standing near the dance floor. Nick has his arm around Hailey, his hand resting on her lower back. Then she shoots me another look.

“I thought that I heard rumors that you were dating her. And actually, I heard the same thing about Reid too. What’s that about?”

Well, the rumor mill is definitely working.

I love my sister, and over the years, I’ve been able to confide all sorts of things to Addison that I haven’t even told my brothers. But this is different. I definitely can’t tell her the truth, so I’ll have to feed her the same story we’re telling everyone else.

“Nothing.” I shrug. “We each realized we were interested in her, so we each asked her out. I went on a date with her, and so did Reid and Nick. It’s nothing serious yet or anything. She’ll pick one of us eventually. Or she won’t, who knows? I don’t think she’s staying in town long anyway.”

My answer is meant to be vague and slightly evasive, to give my sister enough to satisfy her without going into detail. But for some reason, with every word I speak, I find my mouth turning down into a deeper frown. I don’t like the idea of Hailey picking one of us over the others, even if it’s not real and I just made all of that up. The thought of it bothers me for some reason—almost as much as the idea of Hailey leaving Chestnut Hill again.

I clear my throat, trying to banish the sudden tightness in my chest. “Anyway, she’s here with Nick tonight.”

“Hm.”

Addison doesn’t say more than that, and she doesn’t probe for more details, which is very unlike her. I worry a little that something I said might’ve tipped her off to the lie, but I’m saved from having to say anything else on the subject when Michael comes back with the drinks.

As soon as he hands me mine, I grimace.Shit. I forgot I was supposed to get one for Reid too.

“Actually, will you give this to Reid?” I ask my sister, passing it to her. “I’ll go get another one for me.”

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