Page 286 of The Winslow Brothers

Lydia laughs. “You know exactly what it means, Rae. You’ve always been the girl who thrives off a challenge. Especially, when it comes to two things…”

“And what would those two things be?”

“Men and rebelling against our father.”

“The rebelling against our father, I get, but men? I don’t see the connection.”

“Get real,” she retorts through a snort. “You are the OG love ’em and leave ’em party girl from back in the day.”

“I wasn’tthatbad.”

“I watched our father drag a boy out of your room at three in the morning, and then, for two weeks straight, that boy called our house non-fucking-stop. Dragged out of our house, shoeless and by the waistband of his boxer shorts, and he still couldn’t walk away from you. Trust me, Rae, youarethat girl. And I absolutely adore you for it.”

“You do realize I was only seventeen, right? It’s been a long time since I was that much trouble.”

“Notthatlong.”

I roll my eyes. “The only reason you never had to sneak people into your room was because Dad didn’t realize you were into girls.”

“That was definitely an advantage for me.” Lydia giggles and nods. “But this isn’t about me. It’s aboutyou. And that card in your hand.”

“You know, I came back to New York to be the professional, responsible adult our father has always wanted me to be.”

“Bo-ring,” she teases, letting her mouth pop on each syllable. “Now, who’s the lucky guy?”

“You’re a bad influence.”

“Says the girl who talked me into lying for her for two months straight so our father thought she was at some kind of library-themed summer camp, when in reality, she was touring the country with her rocker boyfriend in a beat-up van that probably shouldn’t have been allowed on the road.”

Well,shit. If I keep giving her openings, she’s really going to make her point. Yes, I, Rachel Rose, used to be known for making some questionable judgments. But I’m trying to be different now. I’m trying to begood.

“Get out there and be the badass goddess I know you to be,” Lydia orders with a little grin as she leans closer to Lou to wrap her arms around her wife’s waist.

“Fine.”As if I could ever back down from a challenge.

“That’s my girl!”

“But you have to give me a minute to find the right guy,” I add. “This club is huge, there are a ton of people here, and I refuse to do this shit half-assed.”

“Don’t worry, Rae,” Lou chimes in. “We’re both well aware that you’re an all-in kind of gal.”

Lydia nods in agreement, and I wink at both of them.

Now…to find the hottest guy in the room…

“The night isn’t as young as it was an hour ago, Rae.” Lydia takes a sip of her wine and smirks at me over the glass.

“The card said thehottestguy in the room. A girl needs some time to survey the potential.”

Truthfully, I’ve known who my unsuspecting victim would be since about thirty seconds after I started scouting. And after a quick trip to the bathroom, I’ve been ready to live up to that stupid card’s task—Make the hottest guy in the room remember you for the rest of his life.

“After Rachel does the damn thing, we’re leaving, right?” Lou questions, and I nod, even if the question wasn’t intended for me.

“Yes.”

“What? Why would we leave?” Lydia squints her eyes in a rebuttal. “This party is fantastic.”

“Because we own a bakery,” Lou retorts on a snort. “Four in the morning comes way too soon.”

---