Page 69 of Between Commitment and Betrayal
Whipping around, I saw her. Lips shining with a bit more gloss than she’d had on at the gym and a bit more flare to her lashes too. Everly waltzed in on Wes’s arm looking up at him with a dazzling smile on her face.
Most men probably would have felt jealousy right then, maybe even anger. I felt a damn challenge.
I excused myself immediately and made my way over to them, weaving around the oak chairs and strategically placed foliage. “Everly, Wes. You guys up for a round of drinks?”
My raindrop bit her lip when she heard my voice and her brow furrowed. She adjusted the tennis skirt she must have changed into around before answering. Yep, she knew this wasn’t going to go well. “I don’t think that’s—”
“Oh, Jesus,” Wes groaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m never going to get a second alone with her, am I?”
That was the fucking point. “Piper and Anastasia are here. Clara might be stopping by. You know they’re going to bother you if you don’t sit by us anyway.”
Wes sucked on his teeth, flexing his muscles and rearranging the man bun on his head for no damn reason as he weighed his options, not even thinking to ask Everly’s opinion. Then, he shrugged. “A few drinks won’t hurt. Noah and Po will probably stop by.”
“Great.” I nodded at him as he breezed by me, beelining over to Anastasia and Piper who were already waving him over. I leaned into whisper to Everly as she walked by, “Guess we’ll be spending the evening together after all.”
She rolled her eyes like she’d had enough of me. Did she know I was only getting started? I touched the small of her back and saw how goose bumps flew up over her arms. I was thankful for Piper recommending a bigger booth so I could slide in next to her and push my thigh up against hers underneath the table. She glanced at me, pursing her lips and shaking her head ever so slightly as if to deter me.
I didn’t care, and she was either too stubborn or too intrigued to move away. Instead, when I placed my hand on her leg after ordering everyone a round, she narrowed her eyes at me like she was daring me to continue. I had no problem with that. My thumb circled on her bare skin over and over again. Then, she leaned into Wes to whisper something into his ear before he proceeded to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
“I think I need a shot,” Anastasia wrinkled her nose at them.
Me too. I ordered them all shots on top of the round.
Everly chewed her cheek before she picked hers up and clinked it with everyone to down it.
When she shuddered down the gulp, I leaned in. “If you hate it, don’t drink it, Drop.”
She took a deep breath. “I think we should all have another,” she announced.
There was a challenge in her eye so I dragged my hand higher up her thigh. Her soft lips parted but no other indicator of our interaction was given.
Clara arrived right then, floral pattern all over her dress like she’d burst from a garden, and a smile peeked out when she saw Everly although she tried to hide it from her sister. “So, I saw the news.”
“I can’t believe it,” Anastasia muttered.
Wes sighed as his hand rubbed Everly’s shoulder right in front of me, like he had no regard for our marriage, like I wouldn’t contemplate breakinghiswrist for touching my girl. Then he said, “It’s a shame Carl put you both in this predicament. Everly said it won’t be for long.”
“Did she?” I asked, my eyes on her. So she’d told him the truth on the way over. And yet, why did I still want to pound his face in? I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself and let my hand below ghost over Everly’s thigh back and forth. “Well, a year isn’t that long to some, is it, Everly?”
Fuck, the fire in her eyes as she whipped them at me was intoxicating.
“A whole year?” Piper and Anastasia said at the same time.
“Well, we’re about two and a half months in,” I shrugged and squeezed her leg under the table. Surprisingly, she hadn’t shoved me away, but her glare could have burned down the whole restaurant.
“Well, at least you can both date other people, right? I mean, do it discreetly, of course.” Piper pointed out and glanced at Wes’s arm, then turned to Anastasia. “You two still have a chance.”
“Anastasia and Declan?” Clara scoffed. “They’ve never even been on a date, Piper. Why would you say that after you’ve been with him?”
“Because Anastasia and Declanbelongtogether, Clara. Everyone knows that. I just was a blip on his radar.” She smiled at me, and I felt Everly’s thigh move under my grip. But she didn’t move away, she moved closer, spreading her thighs apart.
When I looked at her in question, I saw that Everly was indulging her jealousy the way I was, that she wasn’t backing down even as she smiled, cool, calm, and collected at them. “Well,” she said, “Piper does know what the public likes to see, I’m told. You all have a great group here together.”
I brushed my thumb across her panties, and she leaned over on the table, placing her chin in the palm of her hand.
“Exactly. It’s a tight-knit group too,” Piper pointed out, swirling her drink around. “You haven’t been around long enough to understand the dynamics.”
The dynamics were simple. I’d pick Everly over them again and again.
