Page 110 of Wicked Angel
Suddenly, this whole thing did feel like a date. Like I’d brought home a guy I liked, and he was trying to impress my family. We both were. I’d worn a pretty dress because my mom liked me in dresses.
But this wasn’t a date.
This was just a practice dinner. A trial run, for future social occasions where the stakes would be much higher. And honestly, maybe it was a test, of sorts. I didn’t tell Johnny that. But I really needed to observe him in action, socially, so I could try to figure out where the problems lay. And howmuchwork this was going to be.
I was no therapist, nor did I want to be his—despite his accusations to that effect—but I was a decent judge of character and I knew a troubled human when I saw one. I hoped Johnny could get past his troubles to pull his shit together, as soon as possible, so he could get on with his career. But if he couldn’t win over Tom and Felicia Delacroix, nicest humans on Earth… I’d know we had a long-ass, mountainous road ahead of us.
“Are you sure about this?” Elle asked me, following my gaze across the room.
“About what?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. Whatever the hell this is, Angie.”
I turned to my sister and looked her in the eye. “This is my first big girl job. I don’t really know why he hired me, but he hired me. So just don’t ruin it for me, okay?”
“Ruin it?” Elle looked taken aback. “Why would I do that? I’m on your team, Angie. Always. Do you seriously think I’m not?”
“I seriously think you don’t trust him with your little sister,” I told her, “on any level. But I’ve known Johnny for years, as Shayla’s brother. I have my own relationship with him. Just trust me, okay?”
“I do trust you.”
“Then believe me when I say I know what I’m doing.”
My sister actually looked moved by my conviction, and much more sold on it than I was. Did I know what I was doing? Fuck, no. But it was mine to figure out.
“I believe you,” Elle said gently. “I only want the best for you, you know.”
“I know.” I gave her a quick hug.
Then Seth strolled over. In his casual T-shirt and jeans, my sister’s rock star husband looked even better than he did all dressed up at the nightclub the other night. He swiped his brown hair casually out of his face, looking like the DILF he was. He’d been growing it out again; it now touched his chin and that meant the dreamy waves were coming back.
“Angeline.” He smiled wryly at me, his grayish-green eyes crinkling. If he was also wondering why I was showing up to family dinner with Johnny O, he was way cooler about it than my sister.
“Hey, bro.” I gave him a hug, sucking in the comforting scent of him. Seth Brothers was a slice of heavenly maleness on Earth. Ever since he’d made a baby with my sister, though, I’d made a concerted effort to stop drooling whenever I saw him. But I could still appreciate the hugs and the scenery.
And I definitely appreciated the fact that Seth had been an amazing brother-in-law to me.
“You want a drink?” he offered, as Elle got pulled away by Emma. Seth was drinking coffee, his go to, no matter what time of night it was.
I glanced over at the bar, where Johnny and my dad appeared to be bonding over their wine. “Not tonight. I’ve had enough this past week. You don’t even want to know what happened the night Flynn and I broke up.”
“We’ve all been there, Angie,” he said easily, sympathetically. “Don’t sweat it.” He didn’t ask any questions. Which was why it was always so easy to be honest with Seth.
He didn’t pry like my sister did.
Seth was the closest thing to a big brother I’d ever had. My best friends all had older brothers, but those guys—Courteney’s brother, Cary, Larissa’s brother, Trey, and of course, Johnny (shudder)—had never felt like brothers to me. Maybe because they all made me nervous on some level?
Not Seth. Seth put me at ease.
Plus, as a recovered addict—recovering? Whatever it was properly called—Seth had been there, for sure. Probably nothing I could tell him would faze him. Worry him, maybe. But he was way easier to talk to than my sister most of the time. Less reactive. The downside was that he’d probably tell my sister whatever we talked about. And I wouldn’t exactly ask him not to. I knew he wasn’t into that. It was a recovery thing. Harboring secrets was not cool, from his wife especially.
“I’m okay,” I said, to his unasked question. I hadn’t really talked to him, one on one, since the breakup.
“Well, even if you’re not. You don’t need to be.” He glanced over at Elle and Emma. “You can still call us, anytime. Even if we’re away, on tour. We’re always here for you, Angie.”
“I know.” I knew he meant that. Because he cared about me, sure. But mostly because he was that devoted to Elle, and anything that was important to her. “So, hey,” I asked him, awkward-yet-casual, “when you know something is bad for you, but you just can’t stop doing it… that’s an addiction, right?”
If the question concerned him, like it would concern my sister, Seth didn’t show it. “I think that could be a lot of things.” He studied me for a moment. “You worried you’re drinking too much?”
