Page 8 of Breakaway Bet

He holds out a hand, and I shake it. “Deal,” we say at the same time.

He taps his phone, and mine buzzes with a text. “I added Kellan to the text thread for proof.”

West: Bet: If Cash gets a ring on the Bradley girl’s finger first, I owe him $100,000. If I do, he owes me $100,000. Bet expires Sept. 20.

I reply because drunken Vegas deals are always a good idea, and getting it in writing is the exact receipt we need.

Me: Deal, motherfucker.

Kellan: You two are idiots. Also, how do I get in on this?

CHAPTER 4: Ivy Bradley

Choking Hazard

I fumble with the key for maybe ten seconds when Dex grabs the keys out of my hand and unlocks the door himself.

I’m staying with Everleigh for now. She has a huge house she shares with her new husband, and I basically have my own wing…which is nice because she also has this huge dog, a female German Shepherd named Bruno, and I’m not really much of a dog person. She’s super chill, though, and she almost never barks, which makes her all right in my eyes.

It’s been nice living with my sister, honestly. I’m probably closest to Liam out of all my siblings just because we’re the closest in age, but he’s still a full five years older than me. Everleigh is ten years older than me, but we’re the only two Bradley girls. The rest of our siblings are boys, so she and I have always shared a special bond.

But if Dex is like my new father, well, Ev is like my new mother. And on top of that, she’s my boss since I accepted a position working for Ever-Brand, her brand strategy company.

It sounded like more fun to help rebrand businesses and post to Instagram for a career than being a design coordinator for VanBrad, the family real estate development firm run by my brother and sister-in-law. I could be building mood boards for homes, or I could be building them for brands, and I guess the latter sounded more exciting.

Well, and Vegas.

It sort of sold itself. My best friend lives here. Three of my six siblings live here. There are palm trees and mountains and hot hockey players named Cash, so my brother will be hard-pressed to get me out of here and over to San Diego. And I don’t really want to go back to Chicago. It’s home, and maybe that’s why I want to run far, far away—like everyone else in my family. Liam and I were the only two left, but he just signed to play for San Diego, and I just moved here.

Dex gets the door open and lets me in, and Everleigh is just walking down the front hall, clearly alarmed by the noise at her front door.

“Everyone okay?” she asks, Bruno right by her side to protect her.

“Couldn’t get the door open,” I mumble.

Dex jabs his thumb in my direction. “The birthday girl is a little wasted, FYI. Make sure she doesn’t choke on her own vomit.”

Everleigh wrinkles her nose, and she lets the dog go since she lost interest in finding it was just me.

“I’m not that drunk,” I protest. “I’m not going to vomit. But, Ev, would you take me back to the club?”

“She was about to take Cash Maddox up on his offer,” Dex reports.

“The hockey player?” Everleigh asks.

“Hottest damn hockey player I’ve ever seen,” I mutter.

“See? She’s wasted. If she were sober, she’d know better,” Dex says.

“Oh, like a football player? Yeah, real smart move there.” Both my siblings look offended by my sarcastic reply since one is a football player and the other is married to one. I roll my eyes.

“I’ll keep watch over the choking hazard,” Everleigh mutters to Dex.

“I’m right here,” I say, and I wave my hands in case I somehow turned invisible in the last few minutes. I think about making some comment about how his cock would’ve been the only choking hazard if they hadn't gotten involved, but I let that one fly past me. “Dex got all Papa Bear on me and escorted me out of the club like I’m some sort of child. Meanwhile, Cash Freaking Maddox wanted me. He came over to hit on me, and he wanted to buy me a drink. A drink. You know that’s code for get her drunk and take her home. And freaking Dex stopped it.”

“He was right to. Cash has quite the reputation,” Everleigh says.

“I hate you both,” I mutter petulantly.