“You and her…you were so obvious that night I picked up Everly.”
My brows furrow. “Nothing had happened at that point yet.”
Luke shrugs. “Max was like a lost puppy.”
Wyatt grunts his agreement, continuing that brooding, man of few words vibe he puts out as he sips a pink drink through his thick beard. Another stunning sight. Honestly, Rainbow Project should put these brothers on their event fliers. They’d sell tickets like crazy.
“Did you guys bring dates tonight?” I inquire, glancing around for three women who look like they’ve been abandoned.
“Hell no,” Calder answers with a laugh. “We come to this thing every year, dump a bunch of money on the auction stuff, and hit up downtown in our tuxes. Three dudes in tuxes is like a fucking bat signal to the single ladies in Denver. It’s a win-win because we don’t have to buy a ticket for some random chick to the event, and we still get laid because of the tuxes.” Calder snaps his fingers proudly and I laugh.
“Ignore him,” Max huffs, rolling his eyes. “And I regret to inform you they are seated at our table because I can’t trust them alone with anyone else.”
“It’s for a good cause,” I offer helpfully.
Wyatt lifts his glass to mine and clinks it in a silent cheers of agreement.
“Speaking of which, we should probably go find our table,” Max says, looking over the top of my head. “My business partner should be here with his wife by now, and I really should give him some face time.”
An odd shiver shoots up my back at his mention of work stuff, but I do my best to shake it off. This is Max’s world, and if I want any chance of what we have turning into more, I need to get used to mixing business with pleasure.
The live auction begins, and I watch my brothers huddle around the brochure that lists everything up for auction tonight. The sight of them at this event every year makes me prouder than they’ll ever know. None of them have a ton of money, though they aren’t broke by any means. I’ve helped them invest in various homes they’ve flipped throughout the years so they can maintain some passive income and don’t have to rely as heavily on booking new projects all the time. But when they come here and drop a few grand each on weekend getaways to Colorado Springs, or a wine club membership, it’s not because they have money to burn.
They do it for Everly.
As different as my life is from the three of them, they have never, not once, made me feel like an outsider. I love those weird assholes.
The text thread between the four of us when I told them I was bringing Cassandra tonight and would appreciate them not being pains in my ass about it was amusing to say the least.
Wyatt communicated mostly with emojis, which was weirdly more expressive than his actual spoken language. Luke sent a lot of “I called it” GIFs, and Calder accused me of watching too much nanny porn.
He really is the biggest asshole of them all.
But fuck it, after my talk with Dean, I realized that if I didn’t at least try to go all in with Cassandra, I would always wonder what-if. And I would rather try and fail with her than never try at all.
I check my watch, wondering where Jenson Hunsberger and his wife must be. The event is nearly over, and I heard from him earlier this week that he was looking forward to coming. I hope nothing bad happened to them.
Cassandra’s hand finds mine under the table, and I lace my fingers through hers, smiling softly at the oddly natural feeling it is to have her here with me tonight. I haven’t had a real girlfriend since Jess, and what I feel for her is nothing like what I felt for Jess. And I don’t think that has anything to do with Jess’s sexuality. I’m starting to realize she just wasn’t my person. I was forcing her to be because I cared about her and thought we made sense. We were both driven and focused, had big goals in life.
I don’t have those commonalities with Cassandra, but I find that I like the feeling of being challenged by her. And the chemistry that sizzles between our palms right now is fucking addicting.
She is beautiful tonight. Her short dark hair is curled and pulled back in a colorful headband that goes perfectly with her dress. A dress that was more than worth the quick trip to Aspen. Honestly, how I ever thought I could simply bang it out with Cassandra and be satisfied is laughable at this point. I’ll never get sick of her.
Cassandra leans close to me, her pink lips looking extra kissable as she whispers, “This might sound weird, considering you’re my boss and I’m your employee, but I’m really proud of you, Max.”
My brows twitch with that odd remark. “Proud?”
“Yeah…you’ve got it going on.”
“Do I?” I practically growl as I drape my arm around her chair to cage her into her seat. “In what ways exactly?”
Her lips twitch with a smirk. “Oh, you want a list?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I need one…not all of us subscribe to the willy-nilly way of life.”
She narrows her sexy eyes at my mouth. “I’ll have my assistant fax you over a list in the morning.”
“No one faxes anymore, Cozy.” My fingers tease the back of her neck, causing her to bite her lip and shiver.
I lean in to take her teeth’s place when suddenly a hand lands firmly on my shoulder.
“My man, Max!” Jenson’s voice booms from behind me, and I quickly pull back to turn around.
“Jenson, you finally made it,” I state, standing up to reach my hand out to his. Jenson is a solid five inches shorter than me, so I always have a nice view of his receding black hairline. “I was starting to worry.”
“No need to worry.” He laughs and leans in close, drenching me with the scent of vodka. “Just had a little pre-party before the real party. You know how that goes.”
“Where is your wi—” My voice trails off when I see a tall, young blonde standing behind him that is most definitely not his wife.
“This is Paisley,” he says, pulling on the girl’s elbow so she moves in to stand beside him. “She’s been my right hand for years. Libby wasn’t feeling well tonight so she stayed home. I thought it’d be good for you to meet one of your future team members.”
He wraps his hand around her waist, his fingers drifting low on her hip as he secures her beside him. Jenson isn’t a bad-looking guy, but something looks off between this girl and him. Not to mention, his hands seem a bit too intimate for a platonic boss, employee situation. Especially a boss who’s married.
Then again, am I one to really judge?
Paisley forces a smile and shakes my hand, her fingers limp in mine. “Nice to meet you, Paisley. Let me introduce you to my girlfriend.” I step back to reveal Cassandra, and my face falls when I see her staring up at us with the most stricken look I’ve ever seen on her face.
“Cassie!” Jenson bellows, bumping me in the shoulder as he moves past me to lower himself into my vacated seat. “Is that really you?”
My chest tightens as I watch Cassandra’s arms cross over her waist. Her brow is furrowed, and she looks like she could be sick as she replies woodenly, “Hello, Mr. Hunsberger.”
He barks out a dry laugh and drapes his arm over the back of her chair just where mine was a second ago. “You don’t work for me anymore, girlie…call me Jenson.”