Page 135 of Bottle Shock
But I can’t think about that now. Not while I’m about to sit across the table from his mother.
We arrive together, keeping a respectable distance as we walk in.
“Hi, sweetie,” Leanne says, and pulls me into a hug, enveloping me in her signature Chanel. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
We ran into each other when I stopped in for coffee at Novel that other day and she was fastto invite me.
The thing about Leanne though, is she doesn’t do anything on a whim. And Gavin’s already told me he suspects she knows something is going on.
So this should be…interesting.
Since dinner isn’t quite ready yet, everyone drifts into the living room, conversations overlapping at once.
I practically grew up here, so I’m accustomed to everyone talking over each other until the volume slowly rises to the point of having to yell.
I loved it.
Not that I didn’t love my own home, and the stability my parents provided, but there was a special kind of chaos here that made me feel included, like I wasn’t just watching from the outside but I was part of it.
That’s who the Ledgers are. Always welcoming, always kind, truly good people.
Making lying to them even harder.
I look across the room, where Gavin is talking with Ethan. They’re laughing about something, which is rare enough to be concerning, because Ethan barely laughs at anything.
His eyes flick to me for a moment, as if he could feel me looking. His mouth curves slightly, like he wants to smile, before he turns back to his brother.
I look away, down at my lap, biting my lip.
Normally, I’d have Elyse to talk to, but Leanne said she and Dominic would be a little late. Instead, I’m sitting with the twins, trying to pay attention to the conversation.
Layla is telling me and Ariana about the cadavers she’s been working with in school, and I’m realizing this family might be a little morbid.
Shane and Leanne are in the kitchen, and Lily has joined them—likely acting as the taste tester.
Marisa is chatting with Jack Ledger, the patriarch of thefamily and the reason all the Ledger men are over six feet tall and too handsome for their own good.
Gavin looks the most like him, whereas Ethan and Shane have more of Leanne’s features.
My phone chimes, buzzing in my pocket.
Gavin
Stop checking out my dad.
I almost laugh, but catch myself, not wanting to draw any attention.
I wasn’t checking him out, just merely admiring what you might look like in a few decades.
Gavin
So you were checking him out. Tsk tsk.
I press my lips together, fighting a smile.
I only have eyes for you.
Gavin
