Page 49 of Lost Touch

Victoria turned her attention—and that formidable eyebrow—my way. “He’d never met my parents before. But we all saw each other in the summers at camp sometimes when we were kids. Victoria Peterson.”

She held out a long, slender hand for me to shake.

I realized she was the first one to bother.

God, I really didn’t want to like her.

I stuck out my own hand, having to shuffle out from behind Drew to do it. “Asher St—Castelli,” I stammered, remembering what Drew had said before I met his mother and correcting myself in the nick of time. “You can, um, call me Ash.”

“I’d do the same, but I hate both Vicki and Tori.” She smiled at me, the effect nothing short of devastating. Jesus fucking Christ. Drew wanted to run away with me—away fromthis? Was he brain-damaged? “You’re lucky you have a nickname that’s as cute as you are.”

“It’s good to see you too, Victoria,” Drew said, still sounding a little growlier than recommended for a dinner party. He edged his way back in front of me again, as if protecting me from the too-gorgeous, too-friendly alpha. Was I missing something?

“I’m not hitting on your mate, Drew, for heaven’s sake,” Victoria said, a ripple of laughter in her voice. “Get off your own knot for a minute and calm the fuck down.”

Hitting on your mate?I couldn’t possibly have been missing Drew being jealous, could I?

“Seriously, Drew,” Alyssa chimed in. “Victoria’s happy for you. I told her all about your whirlwind romance before you got here. We had a drink beforehand to catch up.”

I gave Drew a not-so-gentle nudge—because seriously, the one time I actually wanted to be a part of the conversation, and he had to hide me against the wall?—and craned my head around his arm in time to see the look Victoria gave Alyssa.

It could’ve melted graphite.

And then it twigged: Alyssa’s demand for gratitude, the dress that had to have been chosen with Victoria’s preferences in mind (and thinking about what her preferences had to be, based on that dress, broke my brain), Victoria’s friendly attitude.

Alyssa had thrown herself on the Victoria-grenade for our sake.

Victoria held out her hand, and Alyssa set hers in it, smirking at Drew—but blushing, and not like someone who didn’t like where their night was going.

Yeah, not much sympathy required for Alyssa’s noble sacrifice, I didn’t think.

“We’ll tell them it’s time for dinner,” Victoria said. “Sit next to me on the other side, Ash,” she added, leaning around Drew to make eye contact with me. “If Blake opens his mouth again, Drew and I can flip a coin to see who removes his testicles.”

And with that, the ladies swanned off, disappearing around the vase.

Drew turned to me, his eyes wide and his mouth a little slack. “Jesus fucking Christ,” he muttered.

“Is it just me, or do they have us completely outclassed in every possible way?”

“Not just you,” Drew said, blowing out a long, shaky breath. And then his face lit up with a grin that outshone every bit of gilded nonsense in the room. He leaned down and murmured in my ear, “Victoria has her parents wrapped around her little finger. And if my uncle doesn’t like it, I’m over it. Fuck it. We’re home free, baby.”

His hand found mine, and our fingers tangled together. I gave him a squeeze. Drew’s lips brushed over the shell of my ear.

“Let’s eat dinner, get the hell out of here, and go home so I can get my knot inside you,” he whispered.

“Yeah,” I whispered back. “Let’s.”

He led me out of our hiding place, and this time I didn’t have to force myself to smile.

Chapter 15

I’m Losing Control

Being home free, just like that, seemed way too easy.

And I went with it, because for fuck’s sake—didn’t we deserve a little bit of easy? Hadn’t we earned it?

Apparently we hadn’t, although I didn’t realize it right away.

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