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“Working usually is.”

“I suppose some people enjoy being busy.”

The comment was polished, dismissive, and delivered while she stood beside a man who had spent the entire trip carrying her luggage, arranging her travel, defending her behavior, and making himself smaller every time she treated his love like an inconvenience.

Briggs finally took the stool Cade offered. He smiled when Bliss asked about the flight, though none of the warmth reached his eyes.

Lyric lifted her champagne and looked at me again. “Maybe Briggs can introduce your boutique to some of the athletes coming to the wedding. Their girlfriends probably spend a lot on clothing.”

Briggs’s face changed. “Charm doesn’t need me to get her customers.”

“I didn’t say she needed you.”

“You implied it,” I said.

Her gaze snapped toward mine.

I smiled over the rim of my glass. “I’m learning from you.”

Easton laughed without attempting to hide it. Aura leaned back against him while Rider muttered something into his beer about this being better than television.

Lyric’s expression cooled. “I was trying to help.”

“You were trying to remind me that you’re standing beside a professional athlete with access to people you believe I need.”

“That’s a strange interpretation.”

“It was fairly obvious.”

“Maybe success has made you defensive.”

“My success made me busy. You managed the rest on your own.”

Ryan shifted beside me.

The movement was quiet, but I felt the moment his restraint ended. He set his beer against the bar and looked past me toward Lyric with an expression that removed every trace of humor from his face.

“You’ve been here less than an hour,” he said. “You insulted Briggs in front of everyone, complained about hearing Spanish, criticized Charm’s hair, treated her work like a failure, and tried to make your relationship useful by offering access that isn’t yours to give.”

Lyric stared at him. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”

“That has never stopped me.”

“Ryan,” Briggs warned.

He didn’t look away from her. “Your girlfriend came to my best friend’s wedding and decided the first woman she met needed to understand her place. She picked the wrong one.”

“I asked questions about her business.”

“You sneered at the life she built because you think money makes a person interesting.”

Lyric’s face flushed. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough.”

“You hated me before today.”

“Today confirmed my instincts.”