Page 79 of Vegas Baby!

“Yep.” I took a sip. “We’re good.”

He gave us a speculative look and loaded up a plate with desserts before departing.

“Have you done any of the fun stuff in Vegas before?” I asked.

“Not really. I’m usually only here for conferences. Not much time for anything else.”

“How do you feel about zip lines?”

“Never been on one.”

“Obviously that has to change.”

“Is this you inviting me to hang out? Are you planning to push me off the platform and make it look like a gear malfunction?” He asked it with a slight smile, so I wasn’t entirely worried about him believing I would actually do that.

“And open up a Vegas landmark to a lawsuit? Absolutely not.ButI will tell everyone if you chicken out.”

Bryce laughed. “I’ll take that challenge.”

“It’s open late if you’re feeling brave tonight.”

“Sure.” He nodded. “As long as Ava doesn’t want us at home.” Bryce refilled his juice and poured a second glass. “Let me know when we’re ready to go. I’m trying not to be too socially awkward at this thing so I should probably not hide in the kitchen for too long.”

“Way to call me out, dude.”

I caught his smile as he slipped out into the main room. I let out a long breath and prepared myself to socialize. Bryce was still pretty perfect, but the more I dug, the more human he became. He still kind of had priss vibes, but I was willing to excavate. I would definitely have to shake him loose before I could count us as friends.

The shower was a pretty quick wrap up after that. Ava opened her mountain of presents. She was cute as hell, getting excited about all of the baby supplies and clothing and accepting at least a hundred hugs before the evening was over.

We were well stocked on food since Micah’s mom had ordered extra catering, leaving us with a hefty portion of snacks for Ava to work through over the next few days. Once everyone headed out for the night, we got all the presents loaded either into the nursery or wherever they would be used, and I announced to everyone that Bryce and I were going out for a few hours.

“Did I step into an alternate universe?” Ava asked.

“I’m trying to make him feel welcome,” I defended.

Ava turned it to Bryce. “You actually want to go?”

“I’m willing to give it a chance” was his reply.

I guess that was all I deserved. I booked the tickets before we left. It wasn’t too hard to find availability considering it was off-season.

Bryce changed into jeans and a long-sleeved tee before we left. It was still weird to see him in casual clothing. I was pretty sure suits and Bryce were permanently joined in my brain.

We took my car since Bryce didn’t have one.

“Are you planning on getting a car at some point?”

“I suppose I should. I didn’t need one in the city.”

“We’ll cart you around, but if you’re gonna be bougie and hire a fancy car service out here, Iamgoing to judge you.”

“In fairness, hiring a car service wasn’t much more expensive than car payments and parking fees.”

“Gross. Parking fees are such a scam.”

“No argument here. Any places around here that won’t try and drag every single dollar out of me for a car?”

“Hell if I know. I’ve never bought a new car before.”

---