Play With Me, Baby(21)

“What was the name of the publishing house?”

Dread trickled into my veins and my arms tightened around Macy.

“Harbor House Publishing.” She titled her head up and smiled at me, her eyes sparkling.

I leaned down and kissed her nose, hoping she wouldn’t notice my apprehension.

“That sounds familiar,” Aspen mused.

Jenna snapped her fingers and sat up straight. “Oh, I know!” She looked at me, completely unaware of the fact that she was about to make my life a lot fucking harder. “Isn’t that where your friend’s sister works? Kassidy something?”

Macy froze. I think even her heart stopped beating for a moment. Then she slowly pulled out of my embrace. “Kassidy Bell?” she asked Jenna.

“That’s right,” Aspen jumped in. “She’s Dillon’s sister. What a coincidence.”

Macy turned to face me. “Is it?” she asked quietly, her emerald eyes icy.

Fucking hell.





Macy



I forced myself to remain calm. It wasn’t an easy task because I was filled with a confusing mixture of hurt and pissed off, but I wasn’t in the mood to make an ass out of myself in front of an audience. If it was just Aspen, it would be different since I knew my best friend would never judge me. She’d be the first to have my back, just like I’ve had hers many times before. And guessing by the looks on Jenna and Quinn’s faces, they already had a good idea just how pissed off I was about what I suspected Rhys had done. But even if they’d understand me pitching a fit, it didn’t matter because this was a conversation I wanted to have with Rhys in private. And that meant we couldn’t do it here.

Once I’d managed to get a hold of my emotions, I turned to look at Aspen. “Dinner was great, but Rhys and I need to head out now.”

She jumped up from her seat and gave me a big hug. “Give him hell,” she whispered in my ear. I nodded jerkily in agreement. “And after you’ve gotten some of the anger out of your system, listen when he explains what dumb, masculine logic was behind whatever it was that he did. You’re not going to want to hear what he has to say, but I’ve seen you with him—you’re going to hate it even more if things don’t work out between the two of you.”

Her warning wasn’t what I wanted to hear right at that moment, but it was probably exactly what I needed. A reminder of what was at stake. “Okay,” I agreed, my voice shaky.

She offered me an encouraging smile, one I didn’t have in me to return, as she backed away so I could say goodbye to Jenna and Quinn.

“Guys can be idiots—” Jenna started.

“Hey!” her fiancé complained.

“Let me finish,” she huffed, rolling her eyes at him. “As I was saying, guys can be idiots but they usually mean well. You just need to put him on a shorter leash going forward so he doesn’t mess up quite so badly again.”

Even with as angry as I was, I still giggle-snorted at the image that popped in my head of Jenna leading Quinn around by a leash.

“I’ll show you a shorter leash when we get home tonight,” Quinn purred, making Jenna’s face fill with heat as her eyes widened in embarrassment.

“I was only gone for ten minutes. How the fuck did the conversation turn into shit that’s likely to get Quinn killed?” Weston growled as he walked into the living room.

“Long story short, Macy got a publishing deal.” Aspen held one hand up to stop her husband from interrupting when his eyes lit up and he started to open his mouth. “You’re going to have to save your congratulations for later because it’s with a company where Rhys has a personal connection, so he has some explaining to do to my very stubborn best friend who never wants to accept help from anyone.”

“Stubborn is an understatement,” Weston muttered, turning towards me. “But let me know if you need any help kicking his ass.”

“Seriously?” Rhys grumbled, shooting him a frustrated look. “Like you don’t understand exactly where I was coming from? And what ever happened to solidarity of gender?”

“Maybe I do.” Aspen giggled and mumbled “maybe” under her breath in a sarcastic tone. Weston pulled her into his side and gave her a big squeeze before continuing. “But I warned you about my talent for burying bodies before you got involved with her. Now you’ve hurt her, and you need to figure out how to make it right before I have to step in and do something about it.”

Rhys looked like he was ready to take Weston on, his muscles bunched up as he glared at his friend. “She’s mine.”