“Ugh, why does she hate me?”

“Huh? Who?”

“Wren. I have to go over to see her, when really I wanna go over there and put the moves on Brie.”

“What? I thought you hated her!”

“How can I hate that?” Vaughn asked, pointing to her, and Jensen rolled his eyes.

“If she were smart, she’d run. You look dumb in that suit.”

He scoffed. “You’re just mad that I look better than that boring black suit you’re wearing. But come on, let’s go check on our friend.” Cutting across the floor by the couples who were dancing, Vaughn rushed to Wren and threw his hands up. “Ugh, Wren. Why?”

She made a face, and even her stance said “stay away.” Her arm was crossed over her stomach while her elbow leaned on it, holding her glass. “Ew. I didn’t want to see you guys. I was about to duck out.”

“You have to stay another hour. Elli’s rules.”

“I’m ready to go.”

“What? You haven’t even brought in the New Year.”

“If it’s anything like this year, I couldn’t care the hell less about it.”

Jensen laughed, though Vaughn didn’t think she was joking. He figured he was right when she didn’t laugh, just sipped on her drink. “I know you assholes have talked to my brother.”

Vaughn shook his head. “I haven’t.”

“Liar. He told me he did, and you guys are to harass me. Seriously. I’m good.”

“We care,” Jensen added, but she shook her head.

“Don’t. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I just gotta figure some shit out.”

“Let us help.”

Looking to Jensen, she smiled. “You don’t want to help me, you just think you do because you care about me. But really, my issues are mine. Don’t worry about it. Go find someone to have fun with.”

“We want to have fun with you,” Vaughn declared, leaning toward her drink to see what she was drinking because he was thirsty. “What you drinking?”

“Jack and Coke, you freak. Get your own drink,” she said, smacking him away. “You guys can go, really. I’m terrible company.”

“Let’s change that,” Jensen said, taking the cup out of her hand and handing it to Vaughn. “Dance with me.”

Vaughn’s mouth actually dropped open. Like, to the floor, as his best friend pulled a very reluctant Wren to the dance floor while she protested. “I’m a horrible dancer.”

“Good, so am I.”

Throwing his thumb up, Vaughn bounced up and down. Jensen shot him a dirty look before moving to the floor and taking Wren in his arms. She went willingly. Call him silly, but he pulled his phone out and took a picture, sending it to Wells. He answered back almost immediately.

Wells: No. Way.

Vaughn: Right? He just asked! Took her out there and everything.

Wells: Way to go, Jenny!

Vaughn: I know. I’m proud.

Wells: They grow up so fast.

Vaughn: Whatever will we do? Our babies aren’t babies anymore.

He waited for Wells to text him back, a little grin on his face, but then he heard, “Texting at a party. Is your date boring?”

Looking up from his phone, he found Brie grinning up at him.

And he was dazzled.

Dazzled? Could he be dazzled? He wasn’t sure, but at that moment, he was pretty fucking dazzled. If he’d thought she looked gorgeous from afar, nothing could touch how she looked up close. Her lips were so plump, her eyes so bright with the glitter and gold makeup, and Jesus, she smelled heavenly. “Hey, no. No date.”

Her lips curled more, and he was pretty sure she was batting her eyelashes at him. “Oh, well, mine is in the bathroom.”

Tucking his phone into his pocket, he scoffed. “Liar.”

She shrugged. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

“Ha, yeah.”

Turning to face the party, she took a sip from her wineglass before looking up at him as he took a long pull of what he discovered was just Coke. Why did Wren lie? Before he could question that more, though, Brie said, “Party is nice.”

“It is. Elli puts on one hell of a show.”

“She does. And my goodness, how does she do it? She’s so gorgeous all the time. And five kids? Lord. It exhausts me just thinking about it.”

“Yeah, those kids aren’t easy either, but she does it with grace,” he added with a nod.

She smiled. “Oh, I didn’t get to thank you for stopping by earlier. I had to leave for my hair appointment, but Rodney was beyond excited. He sent me all the pictures of him, Mitch, and the girls together. That was sweet of you and Dawn.”

His face broke into a grin. “The cake was my idea.”

“Well, since the cake said, ‘From Nate,’ I kind of got that.”

He laughed. “Wanted you two to know.”

“We did, and he loved it.”

“Good. I’m glad. I’ll let Dawn know.”

“I already sent her screenshots of his texts to me.”

“Cool, but yeah, he looked good. He was really peppy.”

“Yeah, he is in good spirits, ready to go home, he says.”

“Good,” he said with a nod. Everyone loved Rodney at NateWay, and Vaughn was so damn happy he was fitting in so well. He knew that kid was the perfect fit when he met him. He was so full of life, so funny; they needed him as much as he needed them. Clearing his throat, he said, “I noticed that his arm was really weak. He said he couldn’t move it.”

She let out a long breath. “Yeah. After the first heart attack, he lost all feeling in his left arm. It came back, but then the second one knocked it out again. So they think that it’s just a temporary side effect.”

“Yeah, I think Dawn wants to give him a volunteer during his recovery.”

“That’s what she texted me. I agree.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re all on the same page.”

“Me too. She said she’ll go visit while we’re in California.”

“I told her to,” he said, meeting her gaze, and she smiled.

“Thanks.”

Heat started to spread across his chest as he stared into her eyes. They were so blue, so gorgeous. Everything about the girl was just exquisite. The air around them was crackling, and he felt it. Could feel her heat. He swore as her gaze moved along him he could feel it in every fiber of his body. He wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and kiss that dark red mouth of hers. He wondered how she tasted. He wondered how she kissed. Would she be rough, sweet? God, he wanted her.