SeducedByTheAntiHero Read Online Free Page A

Chloe’s enthusiastic shout from inside the house
drew Emma’s reluctant attention away from Ben. “I wondered what had taken you
so long. I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
    The smile that graced her face then was genuine. Chloe was
always giving her a hard time for her perpetual lack of respect for
punctuality. Most of the time, Emma was late on purpose just to goad her. “You
know me, always like to be fashionably late.”
    Chloe laughed. “Yeah, I don’t know about the fashionable
part. C’mon, I want to introduce you to everybody.”
    “Okay, give me a minute.” She turned back toward Ben only to
find that he had already walked away, moving toward a truck at the end of the
driveway.
    Facing Chloe once more, she threw her friend a pointed look.
“I rest my case.”
    Shaking her head, Chloe waved that away as she grabbled
Emma’s arm and pulled her into the house. “Don’t take that personally. He sucks
with people. Doesn’t mean I’m not right.”
    “If you say so.” She laughed, refusing to feel slighted by
someone she didn’t know.
    They hung a right immediately after the main hallway and
found themselves in the kitchen. There were bottles of alcohol lined up on the
counter with bowls of chips and pretzels close by. Tyler was standing by the
sink talking to a blond man Emma didn’t recognize.
    “Emma.” The lopsided smile Tyler gave her surely must have
broken more than a few hearts. “I’m glad you made it. Want a drink?”
    “Thank you,” she said returning his smile. “Red wine?”
    “Sure.” He nodded and moved to pull a glass from the
cupboard.
    “Ah, so you’re Emma,” the blond said with dancing blue eyes
as he extended his hand. “Chloe’s told me a lot about you. I’m Brian.”
    “Ah, so you’re Brian.” Emma laughed and shook his hand. “I’ve
heard a lot about you as well.” And some of it is downright seedy.
    He chuckled. “I can tell by the look on your face exactly
what kinds of things you’ve heard. Don’t worry, surprise is a common reaction.”
He winked and right then she decided that she liked him.
    “Well, I have to say, I was sort of expecting a hulked-out
meathead with sleeve tattoos and maybe a scar on your cheek just for flavor.” While
that was slightly exaggerated, she hadn’t been expecting this personable,
almost preppy-boy with his washed jeans and striped polo shirt.
    “You know,” he said and clicked his tongue, “I can’t tell
you how many times I’ve heard that exact thing. Maybe I need to toughen up my
image. What do you think, babe?” He looked at Chloe.
    “I can help you with the scar part,” Tyler offered with a
grin as he handed Emma her wine.
    The feminine growl filling the room made Emma laugh. “Don’t
you dare, or I’ll give you one to match,” Chloe spat. “Then Mina would never
speak to me again and it’d be your fault.”
    There was a pause as he pretended to think about it. “Actually,
that might make my life a little easier.”
    Folding her arms over her chest, Chloe narrowed her eyes at
Tyler then rolled them over to Emma. “You see what I’ve been putting up with
since I saw you last?”
    Emma smiled. “Yes and I know you love every minute of it.”
    Brian laughed and pulled Chloe’s hand into his. “I like her.
She calls you on your shit, babe.”
    Chloe playfully punched him then tugged him toward the kitchen
door, which led to the backyard. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go sit by the fire.”
    The backyard, Emma found, was where all the people who
belonged to all those cars were, gathered around the fire pit. Ben, she was
surprised to see, was part of the crowd. He must have only gone out to his
truck for a few seconds before coming back to the party through the door in the
privacy fence that surrounded the property. Though, to say that he was part of
it might have been too generous. More like he was there but was decidedly separate from everyone else.
    A prompt introduction to the remaining Serano