Page 209 of By His Vow
Kingston and Miles quickly follow suit, but Kingston is the only one I focus on as he throws his shot back and then bites down on a slice of lime.
“Jesus,” Lori breathes. But when I glance over, I don’t find her watching the screen. She’s looking at me, and there’s a weirdly sappy look in her eyes.
“What?” I mutter.
“You want to be that lime so badly right now,” she sings.
My chin drops at her insinuation.
“N-no, I?—”
“Jesus, you really have been punishing yourself as well as him, haven’t you?”
The second the words are out of her mouth, I regret telling her that we haven’t been together since that night in his bedroom.
“Fucking complicates the situation,” I argue, sticking to the story I first told her when I explained my sudden vow of celibacy.
“Fucking is a massive benefit of marrying an asshole,” she counters.
The hurt I remember all too well the moment I discovered he’d shared what I thought was our private moment together at the cabin edges in.
“I can’t do it, Lor. That weekend, it?—”
“Tate,” she says, abandoning her cell on her lounger and taking my hand. Her eyes bounce between mine as if she’s trying to find a way to deliver her next words delicately. I narrow my eyes, silently telling her to hurry the fuck up, but the second the words fall from her lips, I regret it. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
“What?” I gasp. “No, of course I’m not. I can’t stand him. He’s—” A door closing behind us cuts off my argument before the click-clack of heels moves closer.
Assuming it’s the server coming to supply us with new drinks, I don’t bother turning to look.
A shadow falls over me and Lori’s eyes lift to the person standing beside me.
Glancing over, I have to do a double take when I find a beautiful young woman looking down at me with a soft smile playing on her lips.
“Could we please get two more pornstar martinis?” Lori asks, clearly not getting the memo from what she’s wearing that this woman isn’t our server.
Her smile grows. “Cute,” she whispers, briefly glancing at my best friend before turning her eyes back to me.
Suddenly, she thrusts her hand out for me.
“Tatum, I’m Aubrey Kendrick and I’ve?—”
“Fucked my husband,” I blurt.
Lori gasps beside me, jumping to her feet so fast I’d be surprised if she didn’t get a head rush. In contrast, Aubrey doesn’t so much as flinch at my cutting statement.
“You two have spoken about me, then?” she says before walking around my lounger and taking a seat on the end of Lori’s abandoned one.
My best friend watches Aubrey like Griz does before pouncing on a toy.
It’s cute, and her need to protect me makes my heart swell with love.
“It’s okay, Lor. You can stand down.”
Aubrey shoots a look up at my bikini-clad security guard and smirks. If what Kingston told me is to be believed—and honestly, why would he lie?—then I hardly doubt she’s fazed at all by Lori. She’s hardly scary.
Focusing back on me, she smiles. This time, it’s a lot more genuine.
“It was a long time ago. We’ve been friends—platonic friends—ever since.”