Page 12 of My Stupid Heart

“I didn’t mind the book,” Sienna said, breaking the tension.She was always the peacekeeper.“I mean, it wasn’t my favorite.But I finished it with a smile on my face.I do agree that Damien should have done more.He should have sacrificed more and his grovel scene was too short.But the happily ever after did make me swoon.”

“And those sex scenes …” Rosalie added while fanning herself.“Woo!”

Molly mouthed, “Thank you,” to Sienna and Rosalie.They offered her friendly smiles back.

All eyes were drawn down the hall when the doorknob for the bathroom jiggled.

Every single woman in that living room was hoping that Ryker would exit wearing nothing but a low-slung towel.

And even though Molly knew he’d be fully dressed, she still hoped.

Hope was all she had left.

Of course, she was right, and he emerged with damp hair, gray sweatpants (yum) and a tight black T-shirt.

Susannah said what they were all thinking.“Gray sweatpants are second best to naked or a towel.”

Rosalie, Sienna and Evelyn all said, “Amen.”At the exact same time.

Kate and Olivia shot daggers at Molly while Molly tried to shrink herself to the size of a sparrow in the corner of her couch.

Hegavethewomenas much time by themselves as he could.But by eight-forty-five, he figured some of them would be getting ready to leave, so he needed to catch them and question them before they headed home.

His belly also rumbled like a starved bear post-hibernation, so after updating all the guys via their group chat on his brief visit to Adrian’s yesterday, he left the guest room to go find food.

Thankfully, all the women were still there.

And there was quite a bit of food left, too.

“Who made the deviled eggs?”he asked, popping another one into his mouth.“I like that bit of spice you added there.”

“That would be me,” said the gray-eyed woman with wavy blonde hair and large breasts.She sat beside Molly on the couch.“I add just adollopof sriracha.But I definitely think it gives it that necessary heat component that regular deviled eggs lack.”She preened herself by tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and touching her neck, all the while flashing him a flirty smile and raking her eyes up and down his torso.

He made himself a small plate of snacks, grabbed a can of sparkling water from the fridge, and casually made his way over to the living room.There were no seats left, so he brought over one of the stools from the kitchen island.

All eyes stayed on him as he moved, and nobody said a word.

“So, who is who?”he asked, all friendly smiles, but secretly sizing every single one of them up and making a cursory evaluation.

“Susannah,” the deviled-egg-making blonde said with a wave.

He nodded.“Nice to meet you.”

Molly placed a hand on Susannah’s thigh for a second.“Susannah was actually a client of mine at the dental office.We just hit it off and have been friends ever since.”

“Nobody does a gentler but thorough scaling than my girl,” Susannah said, wrapping an arm around Molly and giving her a squeeze.“Never makes me bleed.”

“That’s because you floss regularly,” Molly said with a laugh.

Smiling, Ryker moved his attention to the pretty Indian woman with the sleek black bob and nose ring, sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs by the window to Susannah’s left.She had faded henna tattoos on her hands, and expensive, but tasteful and modest gold jewelry around her neck and on her ears.“I’m Evelyn,” she said with a polite but no-nonsense nod.Everything about her screamed doctor.The short trim of her nails, the way she sat up straight with her shoulders back, her constant awareness of everything around her.Not to mention the fact that she was the only one not drinking wine.She was probably on call.

“Evelyn and I met when Sasha fell at the playground and broke her arm a few years ago,” Molly said.“She was the on-call resident.”

“But now she’s a full-fledged attending,” the redhead said with a smile.“I’m Sienna.Nice to meet you.”

“Sienna and I met at the gym a few years ago,” Molly said.“We became sweaty sisters in spin class together.”

“I enjoyed it so much I became a personal trainer,” Sienna added.

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