Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)(84)

Evidentially, I’d used Brent as my sounding board one too many times. Thankfully I never said Victor’s name, so I guess he thought my rants about men were all about Gabe. I tried not to laugh at that thought.

“No. Definitely not.”

“Oh, good to know,” he said with a smile. “Maybe we can have dinner one of these days.”

“Sure. I’m running late though, so I’ll have to get back to you.”

“Of course,” he said, stepping away from the car. We waved at each other and Marcus drove away.

“Good thing you didn’t invite him,” he said after.

“Funny.”

We were quiet on our way to the party, which was at Victor’s parents’ house. Even that made me nervous. I’d be seeing them again, and I really, really liked them. The funny thing was that this was reminding me of a divorce in itself. A divorce where instead of the dog, I wanted shared custody of his family. The gates were open for us to drive in without ringing the bell, and we were able to pull up to the door. I stayed in the car for a while, breathing in and out.

“Call me when you need me to pick you up,” Marcus said.

I took one last long breath before stepping out of the car and telling him that I would, then walked up the steps with the bottle of wine I’d brought along and rang the doorbell. My heart pounded and shook in my chest, and when Victor opened the door, I was pretty sure I was close to fainting. I swallowed, registering the look of surprise on his face, his gaze skimming over me slowly. I felt the charge everywhere, and realized that despite the time we’d been apart, nothing had managed to numb what I felt for him, let alone make it vanish.

“Hi,” I managed to say, clearing the croak in my throat.

“You look beautiful,” he replied. My heart leaped again. I was finding it impossible to breathe with the way he was looking at me.

“I . . . thank you. You look . . .” My eyes followed the length of his body. He was wearing a legit pirate costume.

“Ridiculous,” he said. “I know.”

I smiled. “I was going to say hot.”

He tilted his head a bit and smiled. It was so sexy, and real, and unexpected, that it made my heart squeeze in pain. “I’m glad that wasn’t lost under this ridiculousness.”

I laughed as he stepped aside for me to walk in. The house was decked out in pirate paraphernalia. I felt like I was on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. “You guys really know how to throw a party.”

“Yeah, my mom and sister have no life.”

“I heard that,” Estelle said, appearing from where I knew the dining room was. She looked like a sexy Captain Hook, with a hook on one arm and a parrot on her shoulder. She walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. “Hi. Oh my God. I love your costume; did you make it? I’m so glad you came.”

Victor’s lips twitched when she said that, and I found myself smiling as my stomach flip-flopped again. I wanted to stop looking at him, but I couldn’t. I knew I missed him, I guess I hadn’t realized just how much until I saw him again.

“I made most of it,” I said. “Pulled an all-nighter.”

“Vic, can you help me get this?” a woman said, and when she walked in wearing her own sexy pirate outfit, I recognized her as the blonde in one of the pictures I’d seen of him. My smile instantly vanished and I started to feel like I couldn’t breathe.

“Victor,” she said again, more demanding.

“Chill out, woman. I’m coming,” he responded, looking at me momentarily. “I’ll . . .” He walked away without finishing his sentence, and I didn’t even know what to feel. I just knew my heart felt like it was too big for my chest and would possibly climb up my throat and spill out of my mouth at any moment.

“They’re planning something for me,” Estelle said in a quiet voice. “They think they’re slick, those two.”

I tried to smile at her, but couldn’t, so I just nodded. “Everything looks great.”

“Thank you. My mom did most of it,” she said.

“And me,” the blonde said, coming back to where we were still standing. “I helped. A lot.”

“You did a good job,” I said, catching Victor’s gaze over her shoulder.

He was looking at me with an intensity that wasn’t appropriate while out in public, much less with his girlfriend standing right there. However, I felt the heat of his gaze everywhere.

“Oh my God. I’m sorry. I’ve been staring at you since you walked in and haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Mia,” she said with a huge smile.

“Nicole. Nice to meet you,” I said, returning her smile, though mine was much smaller, not as excited.

“Hey, can you help me carry the drinks outside?” Estelle asked Mia.

Mia gave her a sharp look. There was an exchange in their gazes, and Mia finally seemed to get whatever it was that Estelle was trying to tell her. I felt another pang in my chest. They were really, really familiar with each other. Clearly Mia had either been a part of their life a lot longer, or really hit it off with Estelle, much more than I had.

“I’ll see you later,” Mia said, shooting one more smile my way before she turned around and punched Victor in the arm playfully. He rolled his eyes at her before looking at me again.