Page 10 of Be Your Anything
Unfortunately, as the son of an ambassador, he’s fairly connected, so Paige felt compelled to lick her wounds in silence, a fact that has always bubbled irritably under her skin.
It’s unsurprising—to me, at least—that she wants an incredibly attractive man at her side whenever she goes to a society event. Reggie won’t know what hit him.
And neither will Giroux
“I haven’t gotten my invitation yet,” I hear Wyatt say, “but what do you say, Ms. Morrison? Wanna be my date to a horrible alumni dinner with everyone I know from high school?”
Paige leans forward. “That has to be the worst-sounding date I’ve ever heard of. You need to work on your pitches or this girl is gonna keep shooting you down.”
Wyatt smirks. “I don’t know…it seems to be working so far.”
“I’d love to be your date,” Hannah replies.
Wyatt waves his hand in her direction. “See?”
Hannah giggles and leans into him, and Wyatt kisses the top of her head.
I don’t know Hannah at all, apart from the few times I’ve interacted with her briefly in the last few months, but I’ve known Wyatt my entire life.
Anyone who can turn that roaring lion of a womanizer into a sensitive little kitten is something to behold.
Now that it looks like she’ll be around for a while, and especially because she’s the sister of one of my closest friends, I need to make a point of getting to know her better—apartfrom the speculation the local gossip mill was churning out about her when she arrived in town.
Paige, on the other hand, rolls her eyes at the display and looks at Lucas. “How are you dealing with the two of them being like this? It would drive me up the wall to watch my sister with one of my friends, especially someone as playboy as Wyatt.” She looks over at him. “No offense.”
I turn and look at Lucas on my right, where he sits casually and comfortably in his chair, glass of whiskey in hand.
“If Hannah’s happy, that’s all I can ask for.”
All the girls at the table make cooing noises, loving this newfound devotion Lucas has for his sister, and I can’t help the little swoon my own heart does at his declaration.
Lucas has always been big-hearted, the type of guy who is open with affection with the people he loves, uncaring about the expectations the world has placed on men to be gruff and aggressive and anti-affection and tenderness.
It’s one of the things I’ve always loved about him. Might even be one of the reasons I’ve always been so drawn to him as opposed to the multitude of alpha males our society seems to produce and that my family seems to deem ‘appropriate’ for me.
Growing up in a house where affection was shown so rarely and perfection was expected so regularly, I probably couldn’t help the way I gravitated towards his warmth when we were younger.
Though I guess now, my interest in Lucas is less of a gravitational pull and more of a violent hurtling through space with nothing to hold on to and the desperate knowledge that nothing good is going to come from it in the end.
I drop my eyes to my plate and continue the slow mixing of my breakfast bowl, though I know I won’t eat any more of it.
I’ve been in love with Lucas for what feels like forever, since before I even understood what the wordlovereally meant. And during a wonderful moment of our youth, I thought he felt the same.
Or at least something similar.
We kissed at a party during my sophomore year. Saying it like that—we kissed at a party—makes it sound like bullshit, like we were just normal high school teenagers fumbling with braces and giggles and stupidity.
But it was more than that.
While it was happening, while we were in the moment, I could have sworn it was something more to him, too.
Until we got to school the following Monday and I saw him hand in hand with Remmy Wallace.
“So this is that project you’ve been working on?” Rebecka asks, drawing my attention back to the table and away from my past.
I clear my throat and nod, a genuine smile creeping onto my face. I might not have originally wanted to work for my family’s foundation, but it’s going okay, and at least I’m enjoying this particular project that has been dominating my life for the past few months.
“Yes. This event falls under my position, so…it’s my baby.”
