Page 86 of Whiskey and Regret

Navy was seated in front of a desk with her eyes trained down on her work iPad. When I walked in, she smiled. When Xari walked in, her brows knitted together.

“Hello, Senator Freeman and…Xari.” She studied her sister with scrutiny and I knew her brain was busy putting puzzle pieces together. Xari already told me Navy suspected we were fooling around. She wasn’t wrong but it was nothing she needed to concern herself with. It wasn’t like Xari was my woman.

“Hey, Sissy,” Xari chirped. Navy blinked at me then looked toward Apollo at the door. As usual, he shot her a glance and took her in all at once. “I have your schedule of events and a copy of what you’re going to say at the start and finish of each event.” She handed me a paper copy then pushed a copy to my phone.

“Thank you, Navy.” I sat behind the desk and without thinking, I pulled a chair up beside me for Xari. Without having to say a word, she sat beside me. I saw her fingers stretch and I knew she wanted to link fingers with me because I was fighting the same urge.

Navy’s brown eyes swept over Xari and I sitting beside each other quietly then she returned her focus to her phone. “Governor Shaw will be arriving in five minutes so when he gets here, we’ll kick things off,” Navy said. She was the perfect professional as usual, but I saw the questions dancing in her eyes, especially when she looked at Xari, who was an expert at ignoring her big sister.

The four of us sat quietly in the room together beneath a blanket of awkward silence. Navy and Apollo knew Xari and I were fucking around but neither of them would break their ironclad professionalism to slice through the silence.

“Wow, the air is tight in here. It’s like a dick in the ass,” Xari exhaled, shaking her head. That girl never knew what the fuck to say out of her mouth. It made Apollo snort by the door but he returned to his stone-faced self in a matter of milliseconds. Only Xari had the talent to slip past Apollo’s shield and make him laugh even for a little while.

“Behave,” I said, squeezing her thigh.

“What?” She shrugged then gave me a smile because she knew how I felt about those dimples.

“You know what,” I said trying to keep my voice down. It didn’t matter though. Navy and Apollo could hear everything I said.

“It’s true.” When our stares collided, the air between us popped with bursts of energy.

“You’d know that how? There’s nothing tense in here,” I said.

“Oh, I thought you were asking how I knew what a dick in the ass felt like.” She bit her bottom lip and grinned at me, mischief dancing in deep pools of espresso.

Another snort from Apollo at the door and an eye roll from Navy. I swallowed my laughter and glared at her. It only made her smile bigger.

“Um, Senator Freeman,” Navy said, clearing her throat. “I adore my little sister but can I ask why she’s here? Is Frankie coming later on or…”

“No, she’s not. I just wanted Xari to get out of the house. She’s been practicing non-stop for the past week. She needed a change of scenery.” I neglected to tell Navy that her sister put me at ease and I enjoyed her company. That would sound too much like a date. I wasn’t dating Xari.

“She does practice a lot…” Navy eyed Xari who blew a kiss at her and crossed her shapely legs.

“I do,” Xari nodded her head then glanced at me. “So do we have to hang out in here the entire time or can we walk around and talk to people?”

“We generally wait for all the speakers to arrive before we make an appearance. That way it can be in solidarity,” Navy said.

“Well, I’m bored in this office and I want to talk to people.”

“Are you five? You can’t sit still for a few minutes?” Navy quipped.

“No, I’m not five but I do like stimulation. Plus, if Evander is one of the speaking guests, why not go out there and let people see him? Staying back here isn’t doing anything.”

Her words sank into the crevices of my mind and I realized she was right. I was an advocate for the people of my state and I was busy sitting in the back, hiding until my fellow politicians came. It felt like we were promoting clique behavior and alienating ourselves from people.

I stretched my finger in the air and said, “You’re right, Xari. I should go out there and mingle before things start.” Apollo stood up and sighed.

“You really doing this, Van?”

“Why not? You know Governor Shaw is never on time.” I turned to Xari and smiled a little. “Thank you for pointing out that I was hiding back here.”

“Things always work out better when you let me drive the boat,” she smirked and I let out a warm laugh.

“Remember you said that, Xari.”

“How could I forget, Evander?” She leaned into me and I tugged on the hem of her blush pink dress a little.

Buzz.