Perfectly Toxic (Sterling Shore 9)

“I want to come raid your closet.”

“Come on. I think I accidentally brought some of your things with me, so feel free to take some of mine with you. You’re not getting that black strappy shirt back. It’s my favorite.”

My heart clenches in my chest, and I fight back the surprising emotion. I didn’t realize how much I missed having Allie living with me until this moment. I’ve been trying my damnedest not to think about it.

“Keep it. I’m about to borrow one of your fancy dresses. I have a date with a Sterling.”

Chapter 10

ETHAN

“What the actual hell are you doing here?” Kade Colton asks me as he walks up holding a glass of wine.

I glance down at my watch, noting it’s almost eight, and there’s still no sign of the elusive Bella. I’m starting to think she actually sent me here as punishment, knowing I’d show if she gave me her location. It makes sense. Why else would she tell me where she was going to be? Then again, she doesn’t think I can afford something like this, so… Hell, I’m confused.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him instead of answering.

He shrugs, taking in the scene. “Raya wanted to come, and her father was coming. He does a lot of charity stuff as penance or something. So here I am.”

Of course. Always about a girl.

We’re animals without fur, everything revolving around a game of sex.

I snag a glass of champagne from a passing tray, and I eye the door again.

“Can’t believe I’m seeing you in a tux,” he goes on, smirking.

“Really? I can’t believe you haven’t seen me in one. The past decade has been nothing but shit like this and business meetings. It was rare I was ever in anything but a tux or a suit.”

I make a dramatic gesture at the pristine tux I’m confined in, rolling my eyes as though it’s annoying. It is annoying. I hate a tux almost as much as I hate suits.

He shakes his head. “That was Chicago. Not Sterling Shore,” he points out. Which makes sense. I never dressed for work when I got to come home.

I check my watch again, noticing it’s now fifteen after eight, and my eyes dart back toward the door. Then I do a double take.

Fuck… Me…

Bella is finally here, but she doesn’t look like herself at all. She looks… incredible. Her silver dress has a small slit that runs up her leg to her hip, and her hair is curled and pinned up, only allowing small tendrils to float down. Did she dye her hair? Why does it look like she has a little blonde in it?

It takes me too long to realize she’s holding the arm of a guy, and my jaw tics when I see it’s Dale Sterling.

So that’s why she’s not interested. She’s looking for money, and she thinks I’m a broke bum. Unbelievable. I’ve been chasing a gold digger?

“Hey, Dale’s here,” Kade says, oblivious to the fact I’m secretly fuming.

“With a date,” I bite out.

“That’s just Bella. She won’t date anyone in the group, so I’m sure she’s just here as a favor to Dale.”

My head is going to explode.

“What?” I ask him incredulously as I turn to face him.

“Bella doesn’t date within a group if she’s friends with them.” He shrugs as though it’s no big deal. “She’s friends with everyone, and doesn’t want that kind of drama. Not that anyone has asked her out, but she and Raya were talking about it one day when we were all hanging out.”

Swallowing down my earlier anger, my eyes flit back to her as she smiles and graciously shakes the hands of people Dale introduces her to. So not a gold digger. She’d have her pick in that crowd… My crowd. Shit.

Now I’m back to chasing, and there’s another obstacle in my way.