Black Thorns (Thorns Duet #2) by Rina Kent

She laughs as a few businessmen join us. We put on our show, talking about nonsensical things that only serve to help us play the social game.

Being the Weaver’s good grandson isn’t exactly what I’d rather be doing, but it’s better than being lost in my own mind loop.

Aspen gives the performance of the century, laughing and flirting, even when she’s grabbing my arm.

“Why do you do that?” I ask when we leave the group of people we were with. “We both know you’re not interested in relationships.”

She fixes my already impeccable collar, running her red-painted nails down the lapel of my jacket. “Maybe I’m interested in baiting. Men covet what’s not theirs, call it a primitive type of characteristic. Seeing me on your arm is a sure way to pique their interest.”

I pause at her words.

Is that what this is all about with Naomi? The fact that she belongs to someone else?

“How would they differentiate between genuine interest and a need to conquer?”

“Simple. They can’t. At least not until it’s over.”

“The flirting or the fucking?”

“Neither. They wouldn’t know it’s genuine interest until whatever I have with you is over. They’ll most likely lose interest if they find out I’m single and theirs for the taking. That’s why I always come to these things escorted.”

“So I’m your victim of the night?”

“You could say that.” She tips her head in the opposite direction. “Isn’t that Asher?”

I smile when my eyes meet my childhood friend. He’s in a sharp suit like mine, but his body has become way leaner than mine, probably because he quit football three years before me.

“Well, if it isn’t Carson & Carson.” I approach him with Aspen in tow and he smiles as we greet each other in a bro hug.

I move in to kiss his wife, Reina, on the cheek, but he pushes me back with a calm yet firm hand on my chest.

“Back off if you don’t want a brawl tonight,” he whispers so only I can hear.

I laugh. “I see some things never change.”

“And never will.” He gives me a warning stare as he pulls Reina to his side by an arm around her waist.

“You’re lucky Owen isn’t here. He’d be demanding things from Rei.” I waggle my brows.

“Not if he wants to keep his football career, he wouldn’t.” Asher draws circles on Reina’s side with his finger.

She rolls her eyes. “You’re over the top, Ash.”

“But you already knew that, prom queen.” He kisses her forehead.

“Do I need to go?” I taunt. “Get you a key to a room, maybe?”

Asher gives me his signature blank look while Reina laughs. Then her smile turns mechanical when she directs it at Aspen.

I can tell she’s measuring her up and probably weighing her in that critical way she used to be famous for in the past. “And…you are?”

“Aspen Le Blanc.” She offers her hand. “Senior partner at Weaver & Shaw.”

Reina seems impressed, but her lips twist as she struggles to keep up her façade. “Aren’t you too young to be a partner?”

“So is Sebastian, but because of his gender, no one asks him that.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.” Reina sighs. “I’m just…surprised is all.”

“Don’t be. We’re unicorns, but we exist.” Aspen smiles at Asher. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Carson?”

Asher makes an absentminded sound, but doesn’t confirm or deny.

“I’ll be right back,” Aspen leans in to whisper, then kisses my cheek. “I’ll go steal their clients. Stall for me or I’ll be naughty when I come back.”

Great. Now she’s taking what Reina said as a serious offense. And since she noticed Reina was bothered by our closeness, she’s taking advantage of it.

“Who the hell is she?” Reina hisses as soon as Aspen disappears.

“I should be asking you why the fuck you were out to insult her.”

While Reina and I aren’t that close, we have Asher in common, and that makes us see each other more than either of us prefer.

“She seems annoying.”

“You don’t even know her, Reina.”

“He’s right.” Asher strokes her arm. “You were aggressive to a woman you just met.”

“Unnecessarily so,” I shoot back.

“She had a reason,” Asher tells me without breaking eye contact with his wife. “Didn’t you, prom queen?”

Only he would be patient enough to read behind her apparent bitchiness and actually discern why she’s acting the way she is.

Reina sighs. “She annoys me because she seems to have eyes for you, and I don’t like seeing you with anyone but Naomi.”

My jaw clenches. “But it’s okay to see Naomi fucking married?”

“I didn’t know that until she came back, and only through her photos in social columns. We don’t exactly keep in touch, except for a random text she sent from a number I couldn’t reach afterward.”

I narrow my eyes. “She sent you a text?”

“It was about two years ago. I think she was drunk. She said she didn’t think she’d miss her bitchy captain and then she begged me not to tell you because you guys are complicated.”