Page 254 of Silver Sweet

She crinkles her nose in thought. “I’m not sure he would…” She cranes her neck. “There’s Beth Anne. See you two around.” She darts away.

“Dammit,” I mutter. “That would’ve been so much fun to watch.” I explain to Phoenix why, and he’s shaking his head at me.

“You don’t know how to not stir the pot.”

“Says the guy who likes rattling the cage.”

For the record, he’s smiling. A shadowy smile, but it exists. He knows I make these dull events full of life. He says, “I love how we both tried to set up our brothers with ballerinas and failed.”

Okay, maybe that’s why he’s amused, but I could be a secondary amusement.

“I will try again,” I tell him.

“I’m sure you will, nepo baby. Failure is not an option in your head.”

He knows me so well too.

Servers pass us, and Phoenix takes a sparkling water. I’m glad I don’t grab the smoked salmon blini. Because I’d choke on it in this second—seeing Leo Valavanis not even fifteen feet away, chatting with some old aristocratic lady. She’s wearing a dead fox like a shawl.

“You good?” Phoenix gives me a look like I’m acting strange.

“Okay, I have to warn you very fast.” I hold out my hands, including the injured one. “That dude over there is obsessed with me.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

My face flash-freezes, not sure how to react tothat.Am I offended? “Dude.”

Phoenix glares. “Tom, he’s barely looking at you.”

There is no way. “I’m not overreacting here. That’s Leo Valavanis, the male principal dancer who competes with my brother for roles. There is a ninety-percent chance he comes over here and tries to flirt with me. Okay, he’s the one chatting with the old lady sporting an orange fox—RIP.”

“Yeah,” Phoenix nods. “That’s who I thought you were pointing…out.” His voice wavers, then he goes rigid. His jaw muscle tics as we watch Leo leave the wealthy donor and saunter towardme.

Justice. I am not overreacting.

I withhold the immature “told you so” response, even if it’s aching to be set free. Sweat builds beneath my suit, and I scan for Beckett, unsure if I want to find him or not.

Leo slides a casual hand through his dirty-blond hair. His ugly smile is too self-satisfied. He carries himself like he’s immune to all common colds and diseases. I literally cannot believe I even momentarily crushed on him.

I can’t believe I crushed on anyone but Phoenix. Everyone has become so unattractive in comparison to my boyfriend.

Quickly, I whisper to him, “I promised Beckett I’d never interact with Leo.”

“Then don’t say anything,” Phoenix tells me fast.

Leo stops in front of us, loosening the bowtie of his black tux. “Fifth-born little Cobalt,” he greets rudely.

“We are the same height, dude,” I retort.

Phoenix side-eyes me like,so much for not talking.

“Age,” Leo emphasizes, then arches his brows at Phoenix’s eviscerating glare. “Did I do something to you?”

“Depends on how the next five seconds go.”

Leo’s smile stretches, his eyes pinging from me to Phoenix, back to me. “Did you find yourself a boyfriend?” I hate how condescending he says it—like I’m in sixth grade with a locker room crush.

It pierces a sensitive part of me that I don’t want Leo touching. Instead of becoming angrily defensive, I just shut down completely.