Page 166 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
“Yeah, okay. You pass.” She picked up a drink I hadn’t even noticed got delivered to her and sipped it. “By the way, I’m claiming you. You don’t get to vote. You’re one of my besties now.”
“Is that how this works?” I asked, hoping she’d read my sarcasm the way I’d intended.
“Yup. That’s how the Kingsleys work.” She clinked against my glass of water. “Welcome to a chaotic, well-intentioned family that will go to the ends of the earth for you.”
I grinned. I did love their family. “Thank you for caring so much about him that you’d be willing to confront me to keep your brother safe.”
She winked. “This stays between us. Marc can’t know, or he’ll think I’ve gone soft. He needs to think I’ll get him when he least expects it. That’s how we roll.”
“My lips are sealed.” Even though I knew Marc had seen it already. He didn’t need me to say a word.
Grace linked her arm through mine. “Want to wait and see how many times I have to save poor Kevin before Josh explodes?” I glanced up to find Josh watching her. The tension between them simmered all night.
“Sure.” We returned to the table. Kevin, sweet and unaware; Grace, bright and easy; and Josh, across from them, gripping his drink.
Adele caught my eye, equally fascinated. “This is new,” she whispered. “Should grab popcorn.” I laughed, but when Kevin leaned in to show Grace something on his phone and theirheads tipped together, Josh shoved back from the table and disappeared toward the bar.
Grace’s gaze followed him, something quick and complicated crossing her face before she turned back to Kevin.
I shook my head. Had Marc and I been just as clueless?
Adele laughed at something Ellie said and pulled me out of my thoughts. It was real and unguarded, and it filled the space around her with joy. And I also noticed Wyatt’s expression when he looked at her.
He was across the table. He’d been careful all evening—the same careful distance I’d noted at the shelter, the same deliberate geography of a man who knew exactly where she was and how much space was between them.
He’d been fine. They’d both been fine. Until Adele laughed.
He looked at her the way you looked at someone you’d been pretending not to miss, and just for a second, remembered how much you did. Adele felt his stare. I watched her feel it—the laughter faded at the edges and her expression shifted as she registered his attention from across the table.
She turned. Their eyes met. Held.
One second became two.
Then Adele looked away. Picked up her drink. Said something to Ellie that continued the conversation and didn’t acknowledge what had happened.
Wyatt looked at his glass.
Neither of them said a word.
I didn’t say anything either, but I made note of it.
This. Whateverthiswas had gone on long enough.
I tried to respect Adele’s wish for silence, but from what I’d seen, it wasn’t doing either of them any good. And soon, not tonight, I was going to find out what had happened, even if it was to bring closure to the two of them.
I turned my attention to Marc.
He’d been in the middle of a conversation with his dad. “We just wait,” Marc said.
I was so frustrated for him. For Theo. For all the sweet animals that needed this grant. And the committee departing with such a blasé retort that they’d know in two weeks.
I’d watched Marc absorb the uncertainty of their statement with the careful composure he used when things were outside his control, and I’d thought, sitting there, that I couldn’t fix the committee’s timeline, but I could help alleviate my man’s worry.
My man.
“What if we don’t wait?” I asked.
The table noise around us dipped.
