Page 8 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

The three of them looked like they were the male versions ofCharlie's Angels, and for once, I wouldn't mind being Charlie himself.

Make no mistake—I knew the limitations of my upbringing. I made my peace with it on most days, even the most conventional parts of it. It didn't mean that I agreed with any of it.

And right at that moment, I was getting a good old-fashioned reminder of all the ways I'd wanted to be loved by men who knew what they were doing.

"Look how you've grown up," Niall said. His voice sounded like aged wine and something akin to the deepening of the night. "And become all gorgeous too."

Immediately, the defensive streak that was primary to my nature came through. "Really? So you're saying I don't look like ‘chubby Selly’ or smell like day-old clothes and stale bread?"

The men exchanged glances and a quick grin. "Nah," Aiden drawls. "You don't. But you still got that wildcat streak in you."

Ben cleared his throat, clearly not liking the direction in which the conversation was going. Abigail was already casting dagger eyes at his friends.

She was likely wondering about the ways in which she could keep Ben from spending too much time with them. I pitied her for that—nothing would keep my brother away from these three.

"Sel, stay for the night?" Ben asked, his tone slightly reproachful. "It's hardly any fun if you've got to leave right now."

I shook my head but leaned in to hug him. "You know how it is, Ben. I have to be on set at six in the morning. And Ollie needs to get some sleep."

All this while, Ollie remained steadfastly hooked to my skirt, but when Aiden leaned down in front of him and whispered something in his ear, he broke out into peals of laughter. I looked at Aiden suspiciously.

"What did you just tell my son?"

"Just boy stuff," he replied. I wanted to whack him for his audacity. But I hadn't heard Ollie laugh like that in a long time.

"Abigail." I turned to my sister-in-law, wanting to end the evening on a peaceful note. "You've never looked more beautiful than you do tonight. I'm so happy for the two of you."

"Oh, I'm just looking forward to when I'll be maid of honor at your next wedding!"

Way to go, bitch.

I decided I'd had enough of her backhanded compliments and kissed Ben's cheek before picking Oliver up and heading toward the exit. It was getting late, and I needed to put him to bed and get some work done before the morning.

On the way to the car with Chlo, Aiden caught up with me. "Hey, can I take a minute?"

"I don't have one."

"How about half a minute?"

I groaned and stopped in my tracks. Chloe disengaged Oliver from my arms and carried him back to the car, a smug smile on her face. I knew she'd be asking about him and the other two the second I got in.

"What? What do you want, Aiden?"

Aiden continued looking at me for what felt like much more than thirty seconds.

"It's just..."

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to finish his thought.

"I thought it was stupid of Abigail to say what she did. And I think you're doing an amazing job for yourself. You don't need a man to complete you. Maybe you need one or a few to..." He teased over the words lightly. "Show you a good time."

Oh, God. I knew I was turning my least favorite shade of beetroot red.

I should have felt scandalized. I should have thought of all the boundaries. But all I saw at the moment was this green-eyed hunk who was saying something that made me feel more alive than I'd ever felt, even with Dave.

"That's..."

"Scandalous?" he asked, chuckling. "What's life without a little scandal now and then, Selene? From what I remember, you always liked being the rebel."

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