Party of Three

by Sandy Lowe

“I know.” Avery walked to her, then touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Elle. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be what you needed.”

  Elle threw her arms around Avery and clung to her, tears seeping into Avery’s shirt. “You asshole. I thought you were disgusted by me. You told me you were with Sarah.”

  Avery winced. “Yeah. That was a dumb move.”

  Elle lifted her face from Avery’s shoulder and glared. “I went crazy and almost had her thrown out of school.”

  “Oh, I know. You do have a bit of a green-eyed monster lurking in there.”

  Elle pressed a hand to her mouth. “You were never actually sleeping with her?”

  Avery shook her head. “I asked her to lie. You were so hurt, and I didn’t want you to think it was you. It wasn’t you. It was me and how I felt about Spencer. But because I couldn’t tell you, I had to come up with another reason.”

  “Guess I owe her an apology.”

  “You’ve owed her one long before tonight. Even if I’d been dating Sarah, lying to make sure she failed an exam was harsh.”

  “I know.” Elle sighed. “I hated her. I kind of still hate her. Did you know Dad fronted the money for her little cake shop? Millions of dollars.”

  “It’s a gourmet bakery.”

  Elle scowled and waved a hand in the air in exactly the same way Spencer did when she was frustrated. “Whatever.”

  “He’d give you millions of dollars if you asked him, no flour or sugar required.”

  “And that’s the point. He gives me whatever I want. But he invested in Sarah. He believes in her stupid mini cupcakes. He’s never paid that kind of attention to me.”

  Avery slid a finger under Elle’s chin and tilted her face until their eyes met. “He invested in Sarah because he knew his daughter had done wrong by her. And also, because she’s brilliant. Sorry, but she is. Those mini cupcakes are to die for.”

  Elle groaned. “I know. I’m secretly addicted. I think they’re laced with cocaine.”

  “Just because she’s brilliant doesn’t mean you’re not. You’re just as smart. You wouldn’t have been able to pull off that crazy stunt at school if you hadn’t been neck-and-neck for grades. Make your dad proud, but on your own terms. Do it your way.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” She glanced toward Spencer who was still standing by the railing, turned away, and doing her best to give them privacy. “You still kissed my sister. My kid sister. On my birthday. At my own party.”

  “Forgive me?”

  Elle didn’t reply; she just stared at Spencer sadly.

  “I do love you, you know. But like a sister.” Avery held her breath.

  “You love me like a sister and you love my sister like, well, if that kiss was anything to go by, like you’re dying of thirst and she’s the damn ocean.”

  Avery shifted uncomfortably. “We don’t have to go there.” Especially before I have a chance to tell Spencer myself.

  Elle sighed. “We’re already there. I want to take this memory from my brain and run it through the sanitize cycle on an industrial washer.”

  Avery winced again. “Sorry. It’s got to be weird seeing your sister all hot and—”

  “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Elle covered her ears like that would prevent her from hearing.

  “Shutting up now.”

  When Elle dropped her hands, Avery smiled.

  Slowly, tentatively, Elle smiled back. “If you lay so much as a finger on her before she’s ready, I’ll cut it off with a rusty knife and force it down your throat. When I’m done, I’ll disembowel you and feed your insides to a shark, no, wait, a mountain lion. They have smaller teeth and it will take longer for you to die.”

  Avery bit her bottom lip. “A mountain lion, huh? That sounds painful.”

  “It will be.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her, and we’ll be taking things just as slowly as she needs, if we take them anywhere at all.”

  Elle looked back at Spencer and sighed. “She wants to be a sex therapist, you know.”

  “She told me.”

  “She’s, like, twelve. Twelve to me anyway, and she wants to study sex.”

  Avery tried to think of a response that wouldn’t make Elle tell her to shut up again. “She’s going to be a great therapist. She’s already really talented.” Elle’s face turned murderous and Avery added hastily, “At listening and understanding people.” Then she laughed. “Geez. I don’t work that fast.”

  “Did she ask you about sex? Oh my God.”

  “She—”

  “No. I don’t want to know.” Elle put a hand up between them as if she could physically stop the conversation from happening. “I should go back inside, give you guys some privacy to…Jesus, Avery, just do me a favor and don’t put your hands on her out here for the whole world to see. If Dad catches you, he’ll feed you to a mouse and it will take you years to die.”

  “Noted. I’ll put my hands on her in private only.”

  “Shut up,” Elle said, but she was laughing.

  * * *

  Elle was just about to head back inside when Kaitlyn, Sarah, and a dark-haired, good-looking stranger appeared in the doorway. “There you are.” Kaitlyn pointed a finger at Elle. “We’ve been looking for the two of you everywhere. Oh, hi, Spencer.”

  “Hi.” Spencer walked up to stand beside Avery, took her hand, and snuggled close. “Great party.”

  Avery tried really hard not to grin like an idiot and beat her chest like the chief gorilla in the rainforest. She really, really tried but had a feeling she was failing miserably.

  “Awesome,” Kaitlyn agreed, eyeing their joined hands. “Better for some than others I suspect.”

  Elle shifted and cleared her throat. That topic was no longer up for discussion.

  “Hi,” Avery said to the stranger. “Avery Anders.”

  “Ryan.” They shook hands.

  Sarah and Kaitlyn both looked at Avery, and for the first time since she’d gotten to the party, she remembered the scene in the little dive bar on Madison. Crap. The last thing Elle needed was a double gut punch. But if Peter really was going to propose…

  “Eleanor, we need to tell you something. It’s not going to be easy.” Kaitlyn’s voice was soft but resolute.

  A wrinkle planted itself between Elle’s brows. “Not easy appears to be the order of the night. All of you do remember it’s my birthday, right? It’s fairly traditional to have fun on your birthday, expected even. Next birthday, I’m definitely requesting more fun.”

  Kaitlyn’s gaze slid back to Avery’s and Spencer’s joined hands.

  Sarah shifted uncomfortably, and Ryan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into the touch and her nervous energy disappeared. Interesting. Looked like Sarah found what she’d needed tonight. Avery wasn’t surprised; she had no idea how stunning she was. Sarah, her whole body trembling with need and a dancer in her lap, flashed through Avery’s mind. Yeah, it was still pretty hot, she had a pulse after all, but it didn’t do it for her the way kissing Spencer did. Kissing Spencer was about a bazillion times hotter. Now Spencer at that club…

  “What is it?” Elle’s voice had an edge now, sounding like she was done with their chickenshit stalling.

  Kaitlyn looked at Sarah, who looked at Avery, who sighed deeply. This was turning into the longest night of her life. She’d already broken Elle’s heart, then given it another good wallop when Elle had caught her with Spencer. How on earth did she say what came next?

  “We were at a bar on Madison this afternoon, waiting for salon appointments, and Peter walked in. He was with a woman, and they had sex in the bathroom.” God, she felt like the world’s biggest ass, and this time she hadn’t been the one in the wrong. Being the messenger was almost as bad. “I’m so sorry.”

  Spencer gave a small yelp and rushed to Elle’s side. “Oh my God. What a fucking dirtbag. Are you okay? I’m going to kill the fucker. Kill him dead.”

  The sisters had a serious mean streak.

  Elle�
��s spine stiffened as if she were a marionette and someone had just pulled her strings. Her eyes weren’t in focus, like reality was all too much and she’d checked out. But the longer the silence hung, the stiffer she got, and Avery wondered if she’d ever speak again. Or if everything that made Elle Elle would just snap in two from all the lies that had been revealed tonight.

  Surprisingly, it was Sarah who spoke next. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

  That brought Elle back with a jerk. “Of course I—”

  Sarah shook her head. “Don’t do that. Denying it only makes it harder. Trust me on that.”

  Elle shot her a look that radiated, don’t-you-tell-me-what-to-do. “I didn’t know for sure, but I had a pretty good idea. Believe it or not, there are some things that just aren’t any of your business. Why are you here anyway? I didn’t invite you.”

  “Reginald invited me.”

  Elle rolled her eyes. “Of course he did.”

  Sarah shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, I spent most of the night in the kitchen so I wouldn’t have to talk to you.”

  “You should’ve stayed there.”

  Sarah glanced at Ryan and her eyes went soft. “That’s the smartest thing you’ve ever said to me, Eleanor.”

  Elle scowled at that. “Why don’t you just—”

  “Whoa.” Spencer cut them off. “Let’s save that fight for later. Ellie, I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t date a guy who’s cheating on you.”

  “I’m going to marry him.” Elle said it the way someone else might’ve said, “I’m going to the store for milk.”

  “No, you’re not,” Spencer and Sarah said in unison.

  Avery’s head spun. Hadn’t Sarah been all prepared to let Elle say yes only a few hours ago? “We didn’t think you knew about his engagement plans,” Avery said. “We couldn’t let you say yes without telling you.”

  “We’re not letting you say yes at all.” Spencer gave her a none too gentle shove the way only siblings could get away with. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you even love him?”

  “Yes.” But the word was so insubstantial Avery didn’t believe her.

  Avery didn’t know what to do. If Elle knew, then maybe she and Peter had an open relationship? It wasn’t very common and it didn’t sound like Elle at all, but what did she know. Spencer looked ready to charge into the ballroom guns blazing and confront him, and Avery was right behind her on that, but Elle was so freaking detached right now, that didn’t seem like the right approach. Girls were so confusing.

  Kaitlyn looked just as torn. “Okay, well, we should go back inside, let you deal.” But she didn’t move.

  Sarah made a long-suffering sound and frowned at Elle. “I don’t like you.”

  “Sarah,” Avery warned her.

  “But,” Sarah said, raising her voice a little over Avery’s protest, “you don’t deserve some fucker screwing a tramp in a hole-in-the-wall bar. She wasn’t even pretty.”

  The corner of Elle’s mouth twitched. “No?”

  Sarah chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “She looked like Alvin the Chipmunk and Smurfette’s illicit love child.”

  How could this possibly be helping? But it seemed like it was. The twitch turned into the tiniest of smiles. Avery had no idea why the hell it even mattered if the girl was pretty or not. Cheating was cheating.

  “That’s gross,” Elle said.

  “Like you wouldn’t believe,” Sarah agreed.

  “They really had sex in the bathroom?”

  “Yup.”

  Elle’s shoulders slumped. “Perfect.”

  “A year ago, I went on vacation to Miami with my ex. She screwed some stranger, who was probably just as ugly, at the top of a lifeguard stand. You know the ones that are just a ladder and a chair? They climbed all the way to the top at three in the morning to have sex while I was asleep in the hotel room.”

  “What the fuck?” The words were out of her mouth before Avery could stop them. How had Sarah not told her? She knew Sarah and Melinda had problems, sex kind of problems, but… And seriously, a lifeguard stand?

  Elle raised her eyebrows. “Who would cheat on you?” She waved a hand at Sarah. “You’re perfect. You’re like Barbie, but with an actual brain. You’re Smart Baker Barbie.”

  Sarah smirked. “Gee, Eleanor, I had no idea you had such a thing for me.”

  The wave turned into a poke. “Shut up. You know what I mean. You’re hot.”

  Sarah’s eyes twinkled. “Please, by all means, keep going.”

  Elle scowled. “You’re also annoying. I don’t like you either.”

  “But you think I’m hot.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “Children, please settle down,” Kaitlyn said, rolling her eyes.

  “Look, all I’m saying is that it happened to me too. I didn’t have any idea it was going on, but it absolutely completely sucked. It took me a long time to get over, until tonight actually. I thought she’d cheated because I wasn’t sexy enough and she had to go looking elsewhere. But screw that. I’m awesome sexy and it’s her loss. It’s Peter’s loss too.” Sarah gave Elle an appraising head-to-toe. “You look like you can do sexy just fine.”

  “I can,” Elle said with another of those tiny smiles.

  If someone had told her that it was Sarah who’d get all life-coach empowering and make Elle see the truth, Avery would have sworn on her life it’d never happen. Tonight was turning out stranger than a double episode of Fringe.

  “But why are you still with him?” Spencer asked Elle.

  “I don’t know. It’s easier, I guess. We’ve been together so long our families would be devastated if we split.”

  Spencer looked at her like Elle had just told her she’d decided to become a nudist and was going to give her entire wardrobe to charity. “You’re with him because our family likes him? Are you crazy?”

  Avery tucked Spencer’s hand back in hers and squeezed. Apparently, her knack for empathy and insight was lost when it came to her big sister’s love life.

  “I thought maybe once we’d married, gotten a little bit older, things would change.” Elle shrugged. “That’s probably wishful thinking.”

  “You think?” Spencer said.

  Avery wanted to cover her mouth.

  “He was going to ask you tonight, only hours after sleeping with that girl,” Kaitlyn said quietly. “He was going to stand up in front of your friends and family and talk about how you were the only girl in the world for him. He’d have lied his face off.”

  “What am I supposed to do? Everyone expects us to get married. You know who my father is, it’s not that easy to just break things off.”

  “Do you really want to marry him?” Sarah stared holes through Elle like a perky blond drill sergeant.

  “Not anymore, but I don’t know how…”

  “Don’t worry.” Sarah patted Elle’s shoulder. “I have a plan.”

  Elle narrowed her eyes. “Why are you helping me?”

  Sarah smiled. “Because you didn’t flay Avery alive for cuddling up to your little sister. That was classy.”

  “I still might.” Elle shuddered. “I caught them kissing.”

  Sarah burst out laughing. “Oh, to have been a fly on the wall. Okay, now I’m definitely going to help you. I bet you wanted to puke.”

  “These are eight-hundred-dollar shoes,” Elle said, deadpan. “No way.”

  “Let’s all move inside, shall we?” The last thing Avery needed was Sarah and Elle talking about the kiss. She wanted nothing more than for them to all go the hell away so she could go back to doing just that with Spencer. Preferably alone, in a room with a bed.

  As they stepped back into the ballroom, Avery slung an arm around Spencer’s shoulders. “Is this okay?”

  “More than okay.” Spencer twined her fingers with the ones Avery had rested on her shoulder. “But don’t think for a second I’m letting you get away with not telling me every single detail of your crush
on me.”

  Avery let out a windy sigh. “Do I have to?”

  Spencer laughed, reminding Avery again of chimes in the breeze. “You had it bad, huh?”

  “So bad,” Avery whispered, pulling Spencer even tighter against her side. “If we can manage to make a clean escape tonight, I’ll be happy to show you all the many and varied things I fantasize about, Dr. Sex Brain.”

  Spencer appeared to be considering this. “Well, I do want to write a really good essay. What do you say we skip the cake?”

  Avery’s heart started to pound so hard she was sure her ribs would be sore in the morning. “Are you sure? We don’t have to do anything. I know you’re probably not ready, and…” And your sister threatened to feed me to a mountain lion. Let’s not forget that small detail.

  “Oh, we are definitely going to do something. You’re not the only one with a crush, you know.”

  Avery’s grin was so wide her cheeks hurt. Tonight, Spencer would be hers. Finally.

  Chapter Twelve

  Never Forget Your First

  Avery and Spencer sped down a deserted hallway in the McGregor mansion like they were executing a prison break and freedom was an unlocked bedroom away.

  “Quick, in here.” Spencer pushed open an antique wooden door and motioned for Avery to hurry up. Safely inside, she fell against it, kicking off her heels and groaning as her bare feet sank into the inch of oatmeal colored carpet. “Those heels are not made for sneaking around.”

  “They’re made to drive me to distraction.”

  “Worth every penny then.” Spencer wiggled her toes in the carpet.

  “I’m shocked we ever made it out of there. When your mother cornered us, I thought we were goners for sure,” Avery said.

  Spencer shook her head. “Please. That was easy. I have eons of experience handling Pamela McGregor.”

  Seeing Spencer’s goddess-of-the-social-circuit mother blocking the ballroom doorway and looking none too happy about them heading in that direction had set off alarms in Avery’s brain so screechily persistent she hadn’t taken in any of the conversation that followed. It wasn’t exactly a heroic trait, to say the least. She was embarrassingly terrible in a crisis.