Page 62 of Safe and Sound

“Great,” I gritted out.

Nick turned his attention to Molly. “Was Ava telling you about her new man?”

As I stared wide-eyed at him, Molly’s face lit up. “Ava, have you been holding out on me?”

“You know it’s hard getting a word in edgewise with you, Molly,” Nick teased.

She giggled. “Jace says the same thing.”

Sliding his arm around my waist, Nick said, “Our Ava here is seeing averyhandsome andverywealthy club owner in Boston. We were just there last night to see him.”

Fuck. Me. I was going to kill Nick. Like a slow and torturous death. With Molly’s gossip tendencies, half the town would know about me and Dare by morning. “What is the name of this handsome and wealthy man?” Molly asked.

Before I could make up a name, Nick replied, “Dare Kavanaugh.”

Her brows furrowed. “I think I’ve heard of him.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s a big deal.” Nick gave me a beaming smile. “I’m so happy for our Ava.”

As Molly stared expectantly at me, a fake smile curved on my lips. “I’m truly blessed.” Turning to Nick, I said, “We better get busy before Mom and Dad get on us.”

“Well, bye!” Molly called after us as I practically dragged Nick away.

Once we were out of earshot, I demanded, “Have you lost your mind telling her about Dare?”

“I could tell she was getting to you. I wanted to help.”

“By lying?”

“It wasn’t a lie. You did see Dare last night.”

Rolling my eyes, I argued, “But you made it sound like we’re dating, and that’s totally not true.”

“It could be if you hadn’t run out on him.”

“How long are you going to give me shit about that?”

“Until you get your ass in the car and go hunt him down in Boston.”

My jaw unhinged as his suggestion. “You aren’t serious.”

“Oh, I’m dead serious. That man was good for you. You came home practically glowing this morning.”

“That was just about the sex.”

“It was more.”

Grunting in frustration, I replied, “Besides lying about our non-existent relationship, I can’t believe you gave her Dare’s name.”

“I wanted her to be able to Google him, which you know she will.”

“And she’ll see him with a bunch of women who are not me.”

“Actually, there are very few pictures of his exploits out there.” At my questioning look, Nick replied, “I googled him.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Hey, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t a serial killer or something.”

---