Page 153 of Beauty
He laughs. “Nope. It’s shocking, I know, but at thirty-five, I do know how to dress myself?—”
He cuts himself off, his eyes going wide and his mouth falling open.
I whip around, following his line of sight. And there, at the doors, my sister stands, her dark hair down in easy waves and a deep magenta dress flowing around her.
Theexactmagenta as Noah’s vest.
I peer back at my buddy to find he’s frozen in place, still focused on the back of the room.
I wave, then snap my fingers, to no avail. The man is completely entranced.
After several seconds, he blinks rapidly, like he’s coming back online, and breaks into a smile.
Wait. Does Harry have a thing for Sienna?
Brooks
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” my younger brother whisper-yells, whacking me in the chest.
Next to me, my wife leans forward, her blue hair cascading over her bare shoulders. “What are we seeing?”
Aiden eyes Noah, who’s seated across from us, then turns to the back of the room.
Sara, who is about as discreet as an elephant hanging around mice, squeals. “Oh my god, I would love that.”
My head has been pounding all day. After another sleepless night with Taylor and an intense morning skate, I had every intention of taking a nap. But my poor blueberry girl is having trouble with her tummy, so she screamed all afternoon. It kills me that I can’t do anything to help her, but my fucking head feels like it’s splitting in two right now. If my brother and my wife don’t stop squealing, I’m going to leave them here and go find somewhere quiet to nap.
“Excuse me.” Noah pushes back from the table. He’s probably eager to get away from these two as well. Why the guy got stuck with us is beyond me. There’s no fucking way management won’t re-sign him. They’re just playing hardball. Aiden and I leave plenty of space in the cap for the team to draft whomever we want. He and I would be set for life without pay at all, so we take the minimum. We just want to play the game.
Other than my wife, the Stanley Cup is truly the only thing I chase, and money won’t help me get either.
Sara presses a kiss to my cheek and runs a hand over my hair gently. “Cocktails, dinner, and a little dancing. Then I promise we’ll be out of here, and you’ll be getting lucky, old man.”
Chuckling, I pull her close. “I’m not that old.”
The beautiful woman who has been my obsession for over half a decade bites her lip, her eyes glittering. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
I give her a mock glare, though I wince when my head pounds again. “No sleeping lately.”
“Focus, you two,” my brother whines.
“On what?” I grouse. I just want to stare at my pretty wife, have a few drinks, celebrate my best friend’s daughter, and get out of here. If I’m not dead on my feet by then, I might even fool around with my wife in the limo on the way home.
“Sorry.” Sara leans over me, practically bouncing in her chair. “Back to Noah and Sienna. They’d besohot together. Older. Forbidden. Brother’s best friend and workplace romance? Get it, Sienna.” She shimmies her shoulders.
Noah and Sie—what?“What the hell, crazy girl?”
Leg still bouncing, Aiden angles in close. “So it’s not just me, right? He can’t take his eyes off her. You think Noah likes Sienna?”
Gavin
“Dance with me, Peaches,” I murmur in my wife’s ear, needing a few seconds with her pressed up against me. All night, she’s flitted around, looking like my literal wet dream, but finally, she’s sitting beside me. I never could have imagined that the sight of my wife pregnant with my child would have me walking around half hard all fucking day, but here we are.
Millie’s cheeks go my favorite color, a light peach. And when she licks her bottom lip, the picture of innocence, she knows precisely what it does to me. To be fair, she’s gorgeous all the time. In a pair of sweats, with her journal in her hand as she hums a tune and jots down lyrics. When her dark, curly hair is a mess or when it falls past her shoulders. Millie Langfield is my obsession. Every version of her.
But tonight? Fuck. My sister outdid herself with Millie’s dress. The peachy pink garment accentuates her tits and her curves and the swell of her stomach where my child currently grows, making her look like an ethereal goddess.
I turn to thank her again. “You outdid yourself. Every woman at this table is gorgeous.”
