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When he finally made it home earlier today, he’d been exhausted and grumpy. Spending the day in the office wasn’t what he wanted for today. I may have been relieved at the time to write, sure. But seeing Alexander walk into his room full of tension and stress was heartbreaking.
I’m sure he’s been under a lot of pressure since his father’s death.
I squeeze his arm as we enter the Ellison mansion, following a staff member as he leads us to the ballroom. I can already hear the classical music drifting through the halls, and the thought of maybe getting to dance with Alexander makes my heart skip a beat.
The room is well-lit with glistening chandeliers and tall candles at every table. The middle of the room is empty, and a few couples are dancing, slowly swaying to the music. A wave of relief hits me as I see the amount of people I don’t recognize.
“Alexander!” A woman in a hot pink dress waddles over to us. Upon closer inspection, I realize with dread who she is.
“Good evening, mother.” Alexander kisses her on the cheek, and I can’t help but notice the stiffness in his movements.
“I was wondering when you were going to show up. And who’s this?” Everly glances at me with a smile, only for it to fall. “What are you doing with her?”
“Nice to see you too, Everly.” I plaster on my best fake smile.
“Alexander, you can do better than—than that,” Everly hisses, glancing around. “What about Vanessa?”
“My love life isn’t any of your business.” Alexander loops his arm around my waist.
“My dear, you know you need to make a better decision than this. What will people think? And you know you need to secure the future of your father’s business. What better way to do that than marria-”
“My business is secure, mother,” Alexander spits out, loud enough to make Everly glance around with concern. “And I don’t need a marriage to keep it that way. Worry about yourself for once.”
Alexander turns, dragging me with him as he heads to the opposite side of the room. A group of three men in perfectly-tailored suits stand in a tight-knit circle. One of them glances up, and I’m met with a pair of familiar blue eyes.
Blaze Grayson. I’ll never forget the kind, blond jokester who helped make high school less miserable.
“Aha!” he exclaims, waving his arms and almost spilling the glass of champagne in his hand. “Is this why you’ve been so secretive lately, Alex? Welcome back, Soph.”
I grin, embracing Blaze as he shoves past the other two and envelopes me in a hug. I can feel Alexander tensing beside me, but I don’t care.
“Took you two long enough.” Dominic winks at me. While he shares the same blue eyes as his younger brother, Dominic is a tad taller than Blaze, and with dark brown hair instead of blond.
Once Blaze has finished hugging me, Dominic gives me a nod—probably because of the murderous glare Alexander is giving him.
“I didn’t miss you one bit.” The other man grins at me. Hair the same color as Dominic’s, flopping onto his forehead in loose ringlets.
“You look familiar.” I narrow my eyes, looking him over. He shares some of the same facial features as the Grayson brothers, but his eyes are gray.
“We met a few times when you were in high school. I’m these idiots’ cousin.” He jerks his head toward Blaze and Dominic. “I heard quite a few stories about the four of you back in the day.”
Blushing, I take Alexander’s arm again. The four of us had been quite the friend group. One girl, three guys, but I never felt unsafe. They’d grown up in the same neighborhood as Alexander, so we spent a lot of time together after school and in the summers.
We’d had a blast together—until everything fell apart.
“Felix works with us now,” Dominic says, clapping him on the back. “He’s great with computers and that shit, which is great to have.”
“Right.” I smile politely, racking my brain and trying to remember what the Grayson’s business is.
“Private security,” Blaze says with a grin.
“Thanks. Sorry, I should’ve remembered.”
He shrugs it off. “No biggie. Tell me, how have things been with you? What’ve you been up to?”
My heart all but stops. This is exactly what I was afraid of, yet I still haven’t figured out a good way to say that I’ve been struggling in every aspect of my life. “Not much.” My grip on Alexander’s arm tightens.
“The important thing is that she’s here with us. With me.” Alexander drops a light kiss on my head. “Now, where’d you get that champagne?”
