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Or are you going to make out? Because I can get on board with that.
You re a pig. Avery let go of Bri and straightened her spine. Typical of her to show only a
moment of weakness before charging on with life.
Oink. He met Bri s gaze as Avery walked past, and she recognized the concern there he d never
let their friend see. Drew was great at distracting people with his dirty jokes and wry humor, but his
carefree attitude masked a lot of things.
After the revelation with Ryan and his family s past last night, she couldn t help but wonder what
else she didn t know about Drew.
What s Avery s problem?
As if the thought of Ryan had conjured the man himself, his voice washed over her body, all warm,
and deep, and decadent. Bri spun around, hating that he d managed to sneak through the door and
surprise her. Did he have to look so& God, there weren t words for what he looked like.
He crossed the distance between them, worry written over his face. Is she okay?
Right. He wasn t as affected by her presence as she was by his. Better to remember that if she was
going to keep her panties where they belonged something made more difficult by the way he seemed
to care about Avery as much as his brother did, at least in his own way. She squared her shoulders
and grabbed the balloons within easy reach. She ll be fine. She s just going through a rough patch.
Before he could ask her anything else to weaken her resolve, she hurried through the door and
followed Drew and Avery into the bar.
&
She was afraid to be alone with him. He couldn t decide if that counted as a victory or a defeat, so
Ryan snatched up the rest of the balloons and walked into Chilly s main room. He d waited outside
because he knew it was only a matter of time before his favorite little librarian showed up, though
they d been interrupted before things could get interesting. That was fine. He had all evening to push
Bri s buttons. He could be patient.
He searched for a chair, pleased to find the only open one sandwiched between Drew and Bri. She
looked horrified when he settled into the seat beside her, purposely brushing against her side as he
made himself comfortable. Good.
Avery s dad waved from his place at the head of the table. Hey, Ryan. Destroy anything since
you ve been back in town?
Ryan sighed, and as everyone at the table laughed and laughed, he officially regretted coming home.
His frustration peaked when he glanced at Bri. Her eyebrows were raised and a smirk twisted up one
side of her lips. Of course she would sit there looking so damn superior the entire room wasn t
laughing at her.
He reached under the table and squeezed her thigh. Actually, yeah. I ve been burning up some
panties lately.
Avery s dad looked stunned, and her grandparents glared, but everyone else laughed. Everyone
except Bri, who blushed a deep red and smacked his hand away. Good. She should know what it
meant to be a resident of Wellingford. It wasn t always a positive experience. He nodded at Avery s
sister, who sat across the table. Hey, Alexis.
Hey. She didn t look much happier than Avery.
How are things? When s the wedding?
If Bri s elbow in his stomach wasn t enough of a hint, the way Alexis looked sick told him he d
fucked up. She gave him a smile that was so fake his teeth hurt. Eric and I didn t work out.
Ryan Flannery strikes again. I m sorry. I didn t know.
It s okay. She shot a look at her grandparents, and sighed. Mostly okay. Excuse me, please.
Then she was gone, making her way in the direction of the bathroom.
He sat back, feeling like the world s biggest ass. I didn t know, he said again.
It s a recent thing. Don t worry about it, Drew said, then turned to field a question from Avery s
grandmother.
You would have known if you weren t so busy running away from this place. Bri spoke so softly
he almost didn t catch her words.
For the last time, I m not running from anything. He smoothed her hair off her shoulder. I sure as
hell didn t run from you the other night.
Bri huffed out a breath and reached for her water. She fumbled it, knocking the glass over and
into his lap. Ryan cursed and she stammered out something that might have been an apology, followed
by, I can t believe this is happening. She grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser in the
middle of the table and started dabbing at his crotch.
He groaned, instantly going harder than a steel pike as she patted him. She was so busy trying to
clean up her mess, she didn t seem to realize what part of him she was spending so much time
stroking until he cleared his throat.
Bri froze. Oh crap.
He pulled the wet napkins from her suddenly limp hands. This was fun, but I can take it from
here.
Her goddamn perfume teased him much the same way her pink lips did, tantalizing and yet subtle.
She finally looked at his face and frowned. You re doing it again.
Doing what? He knew exactly what she meant, but he wanted to see if she d actually call him out
on it. I didn t knock over your water you did.
You re staring at me like you re thinking She blushed and frowned harder. Knock it off.
You re projecting. I wonder why? He abandoned the napkins and traced a finger up her thigh,
chuckling when she shivered. Could it be that you recently had your mind blown?
She elbowed his side again. Shut up. We re in public.
That didn t bother you the last time we were together. Nor did his touch, since she hadn t shoved
away his hand yet. Interesting.
Oh my God, will you stop talking?
It s not my fault someone has their panties in a twist. He trailed his hand higher than was proper
and squeezed her thigh. A flush stole over her chest, creating a fascinating contrast to her white V-
neck T-shirt.
She leaned in, kissably close. Don t think for a second that you had more than a passing effect on
my panties.
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