Page 34 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

When she spots us, she jumps to her feet. “Oh, you’re here! Perfect!” As she walks over to us, her curly black hair bounces against her bare shoulders. The second I’m in reach, she throws her arms around me and pulls me into a hug. “It’s lovely to meet you all.”

After some quick introductions, Aubrey grabs my hand and pulls me away from the guys. Ludo looks mildly annoyed but doesn’t try to stop her.

“I wassohoping you’d come tonight,” Aubrey tells me as she pulls me toward the outdoor bar. “Ludo told me a little about you, and I know tonight is supposed to be about me getting familiar with your boyfriends, but whatever. I’m used to having bodyguards I don’t know.”

“Oh, wow.”

She shrugs as she busies herself by making two drinks. “I come from a family of lawyers. My parents take a lot of high-profile cases, and they want me to follow that same path. Between that and being engaged to Ludo, I can’t remember the last time I left the house alone.”

I swear I detect a hint of bitterness in her voice, but I’m not sure if I’m imagining it or not. “Well, hopefully you’ll be able to relax this week.”

“I’ll be able to eventually,” she says with a conspiratorial smile.

I’m not sure what the smile means, but before I can think about it much, Aubrey slides one of the two matching drinks in my direction.

“We can hang out on the daybed together,” she says. “I’d love to get to know you more. Do Ludo and the guys work closely together?”

Following her to where she was lounging earlier, I say, “I’m not entirely sure.”

I am, of course. But I’m curious what led Aubrey to ask that.

“Oh. Ludo talks about them often enough, so I just assumed.” She situates herself on the large cushion, moving a journal and a book with a light pink cover over to make room.

“Oh, is that a book of poems?” I say as I lean over to get a better look.

“Mmhmm. Why, do you read poetry?”

“Not as often as I’d like. I typically stick to fantasy, romance, and murder mysteries.”

“If you ever want to get into it more,” Aubrey says, “I can recommend some great collections for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The water isn’t too far away, and the sound of the waves hitting the shore has goosebumps spreading across my skin. If it wasn’t for last weekend, I’d probably think it was nice. Earlier on the beach, I think I did just fine, but now I’m wondering if that’s because I had Rhett with me. The sky is darkening, and it makes the waves look much more menacing.

“That’s a lot of water.” My voice wavers.

Aubrey catches on. “Oh, are you afraid of it? I used to be when I was younger until I did mommy-and-me swimming lessons.”

“Something like that,” I mutter into my drink before taking a sip through a cute paper straw. It’s sweet and fruity, helping to cover the taste of some of the alcohol.

“So, I know you’re with all three of them.” Aubrey nods to the guys. “Are they all with each other as well?”

“Yeah. They’ve been together for a long time. I’m a more recent addition.”

She hums, watching as the guys and Ludo converse. Then she turns and looks at me. Up close, I can see just how deep brown her eyes are. They’re soft, too, like she spends a lot of time smiling.

“How’d that happen?” she asks. “All four of you ending up together?”

“They met in high school. I work at the coffee shop they swing by once a week. After a couple months of awkward flirting, we ended up at a Valentine’s Day ball together. And somehow I found the courage to go home with them.”

“No way.”

“What?”

Aubrey shakes her head. “That’s way too cute of a story to be real. And way too fun of a night.”

“It was a whole weekend, actually.”