The Anti-Hero (The Goode Brothers, #1)(84)

As we approach the party, I spot my mother at the front of the gathering. She’s surrounded by women, who all seem to be holding a cordial conversation with her.

Scanning the crowd, I spot my father in the corner, a mass of men standing around him.

My teeth clench as I force my eyes away.

“Hello again,” Briar, my brother Caleb’s wife, says as we approach her, standing by the bar.

“Hey. You look amazing,” Sage replies, going in for a hug.

Briar looks momentarily taken aback by this gesture but wraps her arms around her anyway.

“Thank you. So do you,” she says in response, letting her eyes cascade up and down Sage’s dress. I can tell she’s a little surprised by how appropriately she’s dressed this time.

Caleb and Lucas approach a moment later, and we repeat the greeting process with them. Then the five of us fall into a casual conversation. The entire time, I’m struggling to hold back my satisfied grin because this all feels so goddamn perfect. We started as a ruse, but we somehow became the most real thing in my life. And she fits in so well, laughing with my brothers like she’s part of our family now.

In some way, I guess she is.

My hand slides across her lower back, and I tug her against me. Lucas notices, his gaze dancing down to where I’m holding her and back up to my face. As our eyes meet, he gives me a subtle smile, and I wish I could tell him just how good this feels. How he should try harder to find someone like this. I’ve never even known him to date. But I know it’s because he struggles with expressing himself. He’s not as outgoing or as social as Caleb or me. He’s devoted to his work at the university, and that’s it. That’s his life.

When we reach a lull in the conversation, I find myself glancing around the event space. I’m getting restless already and desperate for a quiet corner, somewhere to take my hot-as-fuck date to. Just the thought of lifting her dress and fucking her senseless has me itching to ditch this party already.

This is the effect she has on me. I never considered myself so sex-crazed before. But being with Sage has opened my eyes in ways I couldn’t imagine. Sex isn’t just sex anymore. It’s harnessing a part of me that feels natural and liberating. We

play roles, tap into a deeper part of ourselves, and connect with each other all at the same time.

And I’m fucking addicted to it.

But that mood is quickly killed as soon as my mother finds us all standing together. I shove the sex thoughts away as we all congratulate her. She looks so happy, and it makes me feel like a monster for both holding secrets from her and eventually revealing them.

“Go take your seats,” she tells us in her gentle, motherly tone. “You need to eat before you all drink too much and make fools of yourselves.”

“Us?” Caleb asks as a joke before looking at Lucas, who only shakes his head with a furrowed brow.

“Not us,” he replies.

My mother rolls her eyes and turns her attention to my date. Taking Sage’s hands in hers, she gives her a warm expression that makes my heart melt.

“I’m so glad to see you again, Sage. You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” she replies. “Congratulations on such an honorable award. You deserve it.”

My mother smiles, tears welling in her eyes. “Thank you.”

Then she pulls Sage into her arms, hugging her tight for a moment longer than the rest of us. My mom might be the kindest person on earth, but this display of affection for my girlfriend is real. I can tell.

And I am renewed with purpose.

I will make this right.

When their hug ends, I take Sage under my arm and walk with her toward our table. With my lips pressed against her head, I mentally prepare myself for the man we’re about to face. But I’m not afraid or nervous, and judging by the confidence in her step, neither is she.





Thirty-Eight

Sage

T ruett Goode barely looks at me as I sit down at the table across from him. He merely glances at his own son, offers a barely cordial greeting, and then spends the next two hours focused only on his drink, his food, the table, and the trees.

His attention is almost never offered to the people seated around him, but I guess that’s on brand for him at this point.

The tension between him and Adam is thick.

I know I’m not the only one who feels it, and yet, no one will speak about it. The family would rather smile, sweep their feelings under the rug, and pretend Adam’s reputation isn’t actively ruining his father’s career. Of course, none of them truly know how much Truett deserves it. But it’s still so ridiculously odd to me how they will go about their small talk and pretend that none of this is happening.

Truett Goode is looking ragged. His eyes have heavier than normal bags under them, and his cheeks are a little more gaunt. Not to mention, he’s had two drinks delivered in the time I barely sipped down one glass of red wine.

He’s not doing well, but no one else in his family seems to be as concerned.

And that gives me satisfaction because that’s exactly what he has coming to him.

Adam keeps his promise and holds me close to his side all night. Even when I have to use the restroom, he sends Briar with me, giving her strict instructions not to let me out of her sight. She takes it as a romantic gesture rather than a real concern for my safety—which it is.