by Leigh James
He shook his head, but I could see a longing in his eyes. "I'm good. I have everything that I need."
I thrilled at his words as I hustled to my room. He had managed, in a few short days, to make me feel something I'd never felt before: special.
I searched my closet, looking for a dress I remembered, a dress more beautiful than anything I'd ever seen. I dug until I found it. It was a bright blue, fitted, strapless, with a lace overlay. It looked like something a princess would wear, or an actress. I ran my fingers down the expensive fabric. This dress probably cost more than I made in a year as a waitress.
I tried it on, admiring the way it hugged my curves. Chase would love it. A little thrill ran through me at the thought of being out with him tonight, wearing something so beautiful, so proud to be at his side. I wished that every night could be like this, or rather, I wished that there were more nights like this ahead of me.
I did my makeup and fixed my hair. I put on a little extra lip gloss. There. I looked in the mirror approvingly. I looked as though I belonged in this dress, which, all things considered, was a minor miracle.
Chase put his hand over his heart when I came out to meet him in the foyer. "I'm pretty sure I'm having a heart attack," he said. "You're drop-dead gorgeous."
I basked in his approval. "You look nice, too. I can't believe they make a tux that can fit all your muscles in it."
"Love the compliments—keep 'em coming." He held out his hand, and I took it gratefully. "I didn't want to go to this thing tonight, but seeing you in that dress…I take it all back."
We were quiet on the drive into the city. There was a line of limousines and hired SUVs outside of the aquarium. My stomach flipped nervously. I gripped Chase's hand. "I'm not trying to be needy, but can you help me tonight?"
"What do you mean, babe?"
"I don't want to make a fool out of myself," I said nervously. "I don't want to say anything dumb or obviously not fit in."
He squeezed my hand. "You're going to do great. Please don't be nervous. I'm going to stay beside you all night, because are you kidding me? You think I'm going to leave you alone for two seconds in that dress?" He laughed. "No way. My teammates would try to intercept you in a heartbeat."
I smiled at him warmly, his words calming me down. "Cover me."
"Now you're stealing my football lines?"
I giggled. "I don't actually know enough about football to know whose lines are whose."
"I'll teach you. I'll make you an expert." He squeezed my hand as the car idled at the curb. "Are you ready?"
I swallowed hard. My nerves were gathering as I watch the crowd head into the building. I nodded. "Of course," I said.
"Don't be nervous, babe. Chase has got you." His big hand squeezed mine. "Okay?"
With his hand clamped over mine like that, I felt like everything might actually be okay. Even though he'd referred to himself in the third person again.
"Okay."
Chapter Sixteen
CHASE
I pulled Avery against me, smiling automatically for the press as the flashes went off. As soon as we got inside, I grabbed us each a glass of champagne and scanned the elegantly dressed crowd for Eric, my teammates—and Jessica and Pax. We stopped and chatted with players and other people I recognized. I proudly introduced Avery around; she was garnering lots of appreciative stares from everyone.
I didn't let go of her hand once.
Then thankfully, I saw Reggie. I'd missed my friend. "Hey buddy," I called. "I can't wait to get back to practice with you. I miss your terrorizing ways." Reggie always aggressively blocked for me at practice, often knocking several guys down in the process.
He sauntered up to me, his tuxedo looking as if it was about to burst at the seams. "You know I have to watch your back," he said, and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Not so much for my own teammates," I said, grinning at him. "Who never actually hurt me."
Reggie shook his head. "I can't help it. I see someone going for you, I automatically take them out. Can't wait until you come back tomorrow. It's been boring without you." He turned to Avery and raised his eyebrow. "But I can see you've been doing just fine."
He flashed her a smile and held out his hand. "Well, hello. I'm Reggie."
"I know who you are. I'm a big fan of your work." She shook his hand. "Avery Brighton."
"It's nice to meet you. You look beautiful. Even better than the pictures."
"Hey." I clamped my hand on his shoulder. "Stop trying to steal my girl."
He turned back to me, an approving look on his handsome, weathered face. "You two are looking good. I like what I see." He quickly scanned the room, and his smile turned into a grimace. "Most of it, anyway. I think I might have to take someone out tonight. You're going to have to hold me back." He jutted his chin in the direction of the penguins and ominously cracked his knuckles.
I turned and saw Pax and Jessica sipping champagne and regarding us coolly. I groaned. "Have you talked to him at all?"
"Hell no," Reggie said loyally. "And I don't plan to. Word is that he's getting traded. It can't happen soon enough. We're all ready to jump him and beat his ass senseless. A broken nose just isn't enough."
"He's not worth it. I should know."
Reggie shook his head. "I knew the guy had no class, but what I did not realize was that he's absolute trash. And Jessica…I guess she's shown her true colors. I'll leave it at that." He grunted.
I sighed as I watched Jess rub her boobs, which were spilling out of her too tight dress, against Pax's chest. "I've got nothing to say—except ugh." I reached out and grabbed Avery's hand. "Are you ready to go and face them?"
"Already?" she squeaked.
Reggie looked at me as though I'd grown an extra head. "Why're you talking to them?"
I shrugged. "I'm going to see him tomorrow at practice, anyway. A very wise person once told me that the best defense is a good offense. So we're trying that out."
Avery took a gulp of champagne. "Let's get it over with. Before I have too much to drink and start speaking my mind."
Reggie nodded and gave us a thumbs-up. "This one's a keeper. You remember I told you that."
"I'll remember. I promise."
I felt as though I was walking the plank as we headed toward Jess and Pax. Jessica inspected Avery from head to toe. Pax had dark bruises underneath his eyes, but his nose looked okay now. "Hey." I nodded at them in what I hoped was a friendly manner. "Pax, I wanted to say that I'm sorry. That was unprofessional of me to go after you like that." Even though you fucked my wife and were taunting me about it.
He looked taken aback. "It's…okay." He sounded unsure. Jess gave him a stern look that I was all-too-familiar with: Stop talking.
"This is my girlfriend, Avery Brighton. Avery, this is Jessica and Pax Unger."
"Hey," Avery said. She smiled at them.
"Chase," Jessica said, nodding at me icily. "I saw your swan boat pictures. Nice work."
"It wasn't work—I actually like kids. Unlike you." I took a gulp of champagne. "I saw your Instagram." I didn't say anything else.
A very awkward silence ensued.
She turned her laser-like glare to Avery. "And you…it's interesting to meet you. How did you two meet, again?"
"I met Chase in Harvard Square. We were book shopping."
Jess laughed. "Chase doesn't read."
Avery nodded at her, her smile still intact. "You're right—I haven't even seen him crack open the book he got that day. I think he just wanted to meet me, so he followed me into the store."
I squeezed her hand. I fucking loved this girl.
Another awkward silence ensued.
Jessica tossed her hair over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. She turned back to me. "Mickey said you're closing on your new house soon. I need the proceeds of the sale wired into my account as soon as the Wellesley house closes. You understand that, right?"
I thought I saw Pax wince a little at either her demand or her tone, but that wo
uld mean that he had some sort of conscience. "I'll do exactly what Mickey tells me to do. Don't worry—you'll be getting all sorts of money that isn't yours real soon."
"Hey. Chase. Don't get her started," Pax said, his voice tight.
Jessica stiffened next to him. "Don't speak for me, baby. Remember what we talked about?"
Pax looked cowed and nodded obediently. "Of course."
I raised my eyebrows at him but decided not to say anything—for his sake. "Well, we just wanted to be friendly and say hello. I go back to practice tomorrow. Avery and I are hoping that we can all be civil going forward."
Jessica was now staring Avery down. "We?"
I cleared my throat. "That's what I said."
Another awkward silence. "Well, see you around," I said, and hustled Avery away.
After we made it to the relative safety of the other side of the room, she chugged the rest of her champagne. "That went well."
I grimaced. "I told you she's a piece of work."
"Her boobs are, anyway. I was afraid she was going to poke my eye out with one of those things." She started to giggle, but then she seemed to get distracted by something over my shoulder.
"Holy shit." Her voice was strangled.
I turned around, searching the crowd. "What's the matter? Is Jess flying over here on her broomstick?"
"It's my sister. Oh my God, my sister's here."
She was focused on a young woman in a formfitting black dress. Her blond hair was slightly longer than Avery's and tumbled down her back in similar waves. Her eyes were blue, too.
I watched as she grabbed two flutes of champagne and took sips from them both.
"The one in the black dress? The blonde?" I asked.
Avery nodded. Her face had gone pale. "I have no idea how she got here…or where she got that dress."
"Shouldn't we go talk to her?" I asked.
Avery looked at me miserably. "Can I do it alone? I'm not ready for you to meet her."
I nodded. "I'll stay right here, but wave to me if you need backup. It's kind of weird that she's here, don't you think?"
She grimaced. "Uh…yeah." She let go of my hand and headed over, her face taut, as if she was about to face the firing squad. I watched as Lila turned and noticed her, fastening her glittering eyes on her younger sister.
I grabbed another glass of champagne even though I didn't really like the taste. I watched as Avery reached her sister and pulled her in for a hug.
Just then, Eric pulled up beside me. "Who the hell is Avery hugging?" he asked.
"Her sister." I looked at him. "By the way, hi."
"Hi yourself." He dusted the lapel of his immaculate jacket as he watched them, his brow furrowed. "Why the hell is her sister here?"
"I don't know. Avery seemed surprised." And unhappy, but I kept that to myself.
We watched as Lila proceeded to chug both the glasses of champagne she was holding and grab two more as another server went by.
"This could be bad," Eric said, a sour look on his face.
I spotted Jessica out of the corner of my eye. She had her arms crossed against her chest, pushing her boobs up precipitously, and was appraising Avery and Lila from across the room.
I took another swig of the too sweet champagne. Shit, shit, shit.
"Nah," I lied.
* * *
AVERY
My sister looked lovely in her dress, but she was double-fisted and guzzling champagne at an alarming rate.
And she wasn't supposed to be here.
"Lila," I hiss-whispered to her. "What the hell are you doing?"
She regarded me coolly and widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Avery! I'm so happy to see you." She leaned closer and I could smell cigarette smoke in her hair. "Wouldn't it be nice if you greeted your sister in the same, friendly manner?"
"Lower your voice," I begged. "You're not supposed to be seen in public with me. How did you even get in here?"
My sister tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "I gave the bouncer a bag of weed. I figured it was for a good cause."
"How did you find out about this?" I asked.
She snorted. "It's this little thing called the Internet—you might have heard of it."
"You have to go," I said. "If Elena finds out you were here, I'm going to get fired."
Lila took another healthy gulp of champagne. "You know that's not going to happen. The press is eating up your little story. She's not going to fire you now." She surveyed the crowd, her laser-like stare taking in every detail. "I had to come find you. You've been ignoring me. You were supposed to send me money."
"I already gave you two thousand dollars. You didn't already spend it, did you?" My panic was rising.
Lila rolled her eyes. "Not all of it."
"Jesus. When are you going to learn to—"
"Can you introduce me to any ballers?" she interrupted me. "I was kind of hoping I could meet one. You look like you're having so much fun, I thought I might give it a whirl."
"No, I can't. As far as they know, I don't have any family around here. Please," I said, desperate to get her to leave. "Don't ruin this for me—for us. I'm going to make so much money, I'll be able to take care of you. We'll be able to move out of that dump and get a nice apartment. But not if you mess this up."
"Where can we get an apartment?" she asked, excited. "Do you think we could move to the South End? I've always wanted to live there…"
I sighed. "Wherever you want. Just promise me you'll go."
"Not yet, okay? I got this dress from Rent the Runway for twenty-five bucks," she said as she smoothed it. "It needs to earn out. Plus, there's free drinks."
She chugged some more champagne. "Bottoms up," she said. "Oops, looks like we've got company. He's huge in real life, huh?" Looking past me and gawking.
Chase was suddenly beside me. I felt relieved that he was close, but I kept my face neutral. I didn't want my sister to see my feelings written all over my face. Any sort of ammunition she could assemble would be dangerous, potentially lethal. "You must be Avery's sister," he said in a friendly tone, holding his hand out for Lila. "I'm Chase Layne. I've heard so much about you."
"Don't believe a word of it." Lila shook his hand and simultaneously stuck her chest out at him. I winced and Chase protectively snaked his arm around my waist, a fact that was not lost on Lila's wandering eyes. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Chase. Avery's been hiding you from me—or me from you. I'm not sure which."
"Lila was just finishing her drink and leaving," I said pointedly.
My sister shook her head. "I'm not ready to go. I haven't met anybody, and I haven't had all the free champagne I can handle yet," she whined.
"My driver's available now, if you'd like him to take you home. It's a sweet ride—an Escalade, brand new." Chase smiled at her. He'd just met her, but he already had my sister's number.
That seemed to perk Lila up. She turned her gaze to me. "Ave, do you have any cash I can borrow? Maybe I can have the driver drop me at this club I've been wanting to check out. Since I'm all dressed."
I nodded stiffly, feeling my face turn a molten red. "Sure. I'll walk you out and make sure you have everything you need." I turned to Chase, certain he could read the humiliation on my face. "Be right back."
"I'll wait for you in the lobby." He kissed me briefly on the forehead and surreptitiously stuffed a handful of bills into my hand.
I turned back to find my sister watching us, clearly fascinated. "Let's go," I said in defeat. I hustled her toward the lobby. It didn't matter where I was in life, my sister would always be waiting to drag me back down.
"He seems fond of you," she said. "He must really enjoy having live-in…help."
I winced. "Why would you say something mean like that?"
"Because I'm your sister, and somebody needs to look out for you. I saw the puppy-dog look you just gave him," she said. "You seem like you're doing more than just your job. Someone needs to remind you of who you really
are, and where you're going back to when Prince Charming cuts you loose."
This was classic Lila. She was acting as though she were looking out for me, but really, she was just putting me down. "I don't know why you have to treat me that way. All I've ever tried to do is take care of you."
"Don't be so sensitive," Lila said. "I'm trying to help you." She tossed her hair, giving the party a last, longing once-over. "Wait a minute—is that Pax Unger? And Jessica Layne?"
I turned to find them watching us. I nodded, feeling sick. "Yes."
"Interesting," my sister said. I put the stack of bills into her hand. "Please use some of this for groceries, and not just weed, cigarettes, and Jim Beam."
Lila gave me a tight smile. "I'll see what I can do." With that, she sashayed out the door, coolly nodding at Jessica and Pax before she left.
Chase came up next to me and my stomach sank. "I think she's planning something," I said. "You're going to wish you never met me."
He put his arm around me and pulled me against him. "It's okay, babe. We'll go home and you can tell me about her."
"Great," I said, feeling the happy buzz from the last few days wear off. Just fucking great.
Chapter Seventeen
CHASE
"So…she does drugs?"
Avery nodded miserably.
"Like what?"
She shrugged. "She smokes pot. And drinks a lot. I think that's it. But she's never been able to hold down a job. She's not responsible enough." I watched her throat work as she swallowed.
"And you take care of her?"
"She took it hard when our mom died. It's like she's still angry about it…" Avery's voice trailed off. "I was hoping I could get her into some sort of rehab program with the money from this assignment. She's not a bad person. I think she just needs help."
I nodded, but I had a pit in my stomach. If I hadn't liked the way Lila was looking at Avery, I sure as shit didn't like the way Jess was looking at Lila. "What did she say to you? Why was she there tonight?"
Avery appeared as though she was going to cry. "She wants money. She wants me to give her money so she can go shopping and do…whatever it is she does."