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Chloe’s brows drew together like maybe she hadn’t heard her right and Linnea came up to stand beside them. “I don’t understand. How did you get in then?”
She worried her lip and then answered, “You dropped an invitation when you came in yesterday. Some lady picked it up off the floor and I was going to give it back to you, but then the lady who found it told me it was an invitation to the ball, and I figured you didn’t need it and…”
“And you wanted to be Cinderella and see your Prince Charming?” Linnea hugged her, smiling from ear to ear. “Just like a fairy tale.”
“Oh, god. I hope not.”
Doesn’t she know how sick and twisted fairy tales often are?
Linnea tilted her head to the side, the smile shrinking from her face.
“I’d hate to, you know, lose a shoe or turn into a pumpkin or something at the stroke of midnight,” Katie quickly added, laughing at her own lame joke.
They must have found it funny, though. Chloe and Linnea both giggled in response.
Kyan put a glass of champagne in her hand. “C’mon, you need to meet everybody.”
“Uh, Ky…” Linnea tapped his shoulder and spoke softly. “She’s not old enough to have that.”
And here we go.
Linnea’s husband pressed a kiss to her lips and grinned. “If she’s old enough for Brendan then she’s old enough for a glass of champagne.” He winked at Katie. “Maybe two. Don’t tell me you never had a glass of wine before you turned twenty-one, princess.”
Chloe giggled. “I know for a fact she did.”
“I know she did too.” He hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s introduce her to the crew.”
Kyan swung her around and took a step to the space’s private bar. Two men stood there sipping on drinks. One had long dark-brown hair, and the other blond. Both were gorgeous. “Katie, meet my brother, Dillon, and my brother-in-law, Kodiak. Guys, this is Brendan’s girl, Katie.”
Katie didn’t bother correcting him. Everyone seemed deaf when she tried to. That she and Brendan were a thing seemed to be a foregone conclusion as far as they were concerned and she couldn’t understand why.
Linnea’s brother shook her hand, but Dillon leaned in for a hug. “Welcome, Katie. My cousin is a lucky guy, you’re far too pretty for that beast.”
“Um, thanks.”
Then Kyan started at the far left of the big purple couch. She met all the band members of Venery without fainting, which she thought was a major accomplishment—well, they were famous and hella cute, weren’t they? She said hello to Taylor and was introduced to Jesse—he hugged her too. Katie immediately understood why Chloe loved them both.
Finally, at the opposite end of the sofa were two women. They were obviously a couple, judging by the familiar way they touched each other—oh, and the matching wedding bands clued her in too. When she and Kyan reached them, a tall woman with mocha skin and hazel eyes stood up and clasped her hand in both of hers. Her smile was so friendly and warm, Katie immediately felt at ease.
Everyone is so darn nice.
“Katie, this is our dear friend, Monica, and her wife, Danielle. They’re family.” He clasped her shoulder. “Actually, all of us here are family. Monica and Brendan went to college together.”
Monica squeezed the hand that was clasped in hers. “Hello, Katelyn. I’m so happy to meet the girl who’s captured our Brendan’s heart.”
What?
“I did?”
“You did.”
“Wait, you called me Katelyn.”
She’d been introduced to everyone here as Katie. No one called her by her given name, except her mother when she was in trouble.
And Brendan.
Her eyes went wide as she looked up at the tall woman.
