Page 165 of Rush

“Ava, this is Broderick.”

“Miss Edwards,” he says, offering his hand. “It’s a pleasure...to meet you.”

Ava swoons—dramatically.Before shaking it. “Oh, and agentleman, too? Elena, where the hell have you been hiding this one?”

“We’re just friends,” I say quickly, downing another shot of tequila that scorches my throat in the best way and fuzzes the edges of the room.

“Uh-huh. And I’m the Queen of fucking England.”

Broderick chuckles. “I like you.”

“I’d like you too—if you weren’t already spoken for,” she fires back with a wink, grabbing a slice of steak off a silver tray and popping it into her mouth. She chews like a cat with a secret.

Then she turns to me, eyes glittering. “Girl, if you don’t fuck him tonight, Iwillhave you institutionalized.”

I choke on my laughter.

“And remember,” she calls over her shoulder as she skipping away, champagne bottle sloshing, “what happens in Vegas...staysin Vegas.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want you institutionalized now would we,” Broderick says, looking down at me.

I shake my head, scrunching my nose at him.

Drink after drink is poured. The suite pulses with music and heat—half-dressed dancers flit between velvet couches, champagne fizzes in every glass, and laughter ricochets off the marble walls.

Broderick watches me from across the room, sipping a beer as he chats with Luca, who’s finally taken a seat—after Ibadgered him for twenty minutes about relaxing and letting me live a little. “I’m not in danger,” I had told him. “I’m just drunk, not dying.”

I dance wildly with Ava, our bodies loose and glittering with sweat, until I make my way back to Broderick, plopping myself directly onto his lap.

“Luca, are you gay?” I blurt, tipping my head toward him.

He raises a brow. “No. I am not.”

“Hmm.” I squint. “Then why didn’t you want fuck Riley? She’s so hot. And beautiful. And I miss her face,” I slur the words with a dramatic pout.

Luca just shakes his head—exasperated.

Broderick’s hand snakes over my mouth.

I cackle behind his palm.

“Okay,” he mutters. “You’re cut off. Water—now.”

Without warning, he stands and hoists me over his shoulder like I’m a sack of rice.

“Brody!” I squeal, kicking my feet in the air, smacking his ass. “I’ll make you my friend, Luca!” I call over his back. “I’m on a new friend-making journey! Living life and shit!”

Luca shakes his head, and I almost see the crack of a grin on his face.

Gotcha.

I hear Ava somewhere behind us, yell over the music, “You can fuck her in my room!”

“Woo!” I scream back, upside down.

Broderick pushes open one of the guest bedrooms in Ava’s penthouse with his foot and tosses me onto the massive bed like a carnival prize.

I land with a bounce, limbs sprawled, heart thumping in my ears.