Page 88 of Perfectly Complicated
“Yup,” Jaz says, popping a stuffed mushroom into her mouth. “Especially that one.”
Tate sighs. “Then I’ll just go ahead and apologize now…mostly for Leo.”
“Excuse me?” Leo slides into the circle with Victoria, totally unbothered as he sips champagne. “What did I do this time?”
“Tate was apologizing for your group chat behavior,” Lauren explains, snagging a pastry puff as a server passes.
Leo scoffs. “Please. If anyone owes an apology, it’s Sheriff Grammar over there.” He gestures at Tate. “Full sentences. Correcting our typos. What is this, a novel?”
“Better than your texts,” Tate replies. “Half insults, half unsolicited dating advice.”
Leo grins. “Insultingyouis a form of love. And I stand by all my dating advice.”
“Will you two ever stop picking on each other?” Victoria chides, elbowing Leo in the side.
“Never,” Tate says.
“Absolutely not,” Leo says at the same time, clinking glasses with him.
The whole group laughs.
“At least they’re consistent,” Janiemurmurs next to me.
“Speaking of dating advice…” I nod toward the entrance of the ballroom. “Did you see who Jaxon came with tonight?”
All heads in the circle swivel toward the man in a crisp black suit who is making his way across the ballroom with Scarlett. In the corner, Brendan stands like a hurricane, arms crossed, shooting lightning bolts from his glare. Judging by the vein bulging in his forehead, he is absolutely not taking this well.
“Wow,” Tate mutters. “He looks like he wants to burn down the building—with Jaxon still in it.”
“That’s love,” Leo says. “Or attempted murder. One of the two.”
Brax lifts his glass. “Twenty bucks says Brendan makes a move on Scarlett before the night’s over.”
Tate shakes his head. “My money’s on him brooding in the corner all night.”
Leo chuckles. “I’d like to see Brendan let loose for once and punch Jaxon in the face.”
“And cause a scene at his uncle’s estate?” Victoria asks.
“It would certainly make for a more interesting party,” Leo replies, before taking another sip from his flute.
The sound of silver tapping against crystal cuts through the room as Mr. Marco steps onto a small platform near the string quartet. “Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention.”
Conversations fade as the crowd turns toward him.
“Welcome to the Crushers Christmas party,” he begins. “As you all know, several of our Crushers players have been dedicating their time to community service this season…”
Lauren leans over and whispers to Janie, “Brace yourself for a speech about the importance of volunteerism.”
“…and I’m pleased to report that participation has been excellent across the board. Including our reluctant volunteers.”
Raphael Marco’s gaze lands on me, and his mouth curves up a little.
“In fact, there’s a bit of a heated race for the top volunteer prize,” he continues. “Which, as you may know, comes with a verygenerous Christmas bonus—and a matching donation to the player’s chosen charity. But we wanted to give you another chance to compete tonight.” He lifts his glass again, clearly enjoying keeping us in suspense. “Since you’re all competitive athletes, let’s see how you performoffthe ice.”
Chuckles ripple through the room.
“We’ve prepared something special,” he continues. “Tonight’s dinner is being held hostage until you complete a Christmas scavenger hunt.”
