Page 66 of Don't Be in Love

“Adelaide, how nice to see you tonight,” Dorian commented.

“Good to see you,” I responded with a closed lip smile.

“Who were you arguing with?” James asked, taking a seat again.

Dorian took a step forward, right as an older woman filled the seat beside James. He looked at me, and then the open seat beside me.

Oh no.Please, no.

He slid the chair out and sat down, looking as if he was taking a seat beside the dreaded Aunt Margaret he mentioned once.

How quickly I had fallen to Aunt Margaret status.

He took his cloth napkin and folded it over his leg before leaning towards me—towards Jamesto answer his question. I pressed my back firmly against the chair. A button from the cushion pierced my spine. I’d let it drill a hole through my skin though.

“I was arguing with this girl. I had invited her to come last night, but she turned me down and showed up anyway,” Dorian explained.

Dammit, Dorian.

“She’s here, right now?” James was abashed. Thenheleaned in. I could smell his woodsy cologne and see the rich brown of his hair growing in at the root.

“Yup. And I found her kissing another guy.”

“What?You need to point her out.”

“Actually, I think you know her—”

“I can just move so you both can speak,” I offered eagerly, trying to end this conversation.

Placing my hands on the side of my chair, I pushed myself up—

“No,”they blurted out. Their hands landed on my legs. Dorian’s right hand on my left thigh and James’s left on my right. All of my blood rushed to my lap. Their hands projected catastrophic levels of heat into my skin despite the fabric of my dress dividing the grasps.

“Okay …” I agreed, sitting back down.

They immediately retrieved their hands.

With a cleared throat from James and a slug of wine from Dorian, I was left ironing the silk on my lap with my hands.

James spoke up. “Um, so, the weather has been really great despite it being the end of October and everything—”

Buzz. My phone screen lit up.

“Thank god,” Dorian muttered.

I reached for the phone.

Mia: Everything good over there?

My head snapped up, and I found Mia sitting directly in front of us—two tables down, twenty feet away.

Her eyebrows rose as she stared at both boys.

Me: Am I providing you with ample entertainment?

Mia: Almost too much. I don’t know if I can fit this all on Monday night’s call. My cousins will have lots of follow-up questions. Like if throuples are common in England.

Me: There is no throupleness happening over here.