The shrill screams of the women had me looking their way. Astrid stood with them, laughing. In the past the idea of a weekend of fun with a random lady made my dick stir. The idea now seemed… boring. Astrid’s lips were like honey. Her curves like a roadmap to heaven. That smile, like lightning in a storm. Exhilarating and blinding.

I sounded like an idiot, which meant being with Astrid was fucking with me.

I worried about her. Eddie was a fuckwad and being here was a social landmine. One false move and someone would explode.

I’d respond to Kent later, because this weekend, it was my job to ensure it wasn’t Astrid because I could easily seeing her lose her shit. Yeah, she needed to take a load off. Take a break and more than the nap she’d had in the van. If the wedding cake she’d made for her sister was any indication of her work, and work ethic, then she needed to let loose a little. She’d already let her hair down, at my dick’s expense, and she deserved some fun. I wasn’t sure how she was going to do it with this crowd, but she sure looked like she was trying. Maybe it was easier when she already expected them to be assholes or women with their claws out.

No wonder she’d gotten Miss Turnbuckle to buy me at an auction. Going into this alone would have been a nightmare. I could handle it because I wasn’t emotionally invested, but this was her family. Her people.

Well, maybe not her people. Because Eddie was a waste of space. I knew nothing about Franklin Pierce, but if all her mother thought him good for was to be paired up with her daughter, then he was a dud. All the other guys in the room too.

None of them knew the real Astrid, or wanted to. They were here for her bird-bones sister.