Before she can request further clarification, I hear Gemma's voice call out from the other side of the room.

"Hey, Zoe! Come meet Chase!"

"And Mark!" I hear Chrissy call from somewhere down on the carpet. "Also the kids, if we can get them to stop running around like trolls."

"And my invisible husband, who promised he'd be here two hours ago." Shelby takes another swig of punch and gestures to the empty chair beside her. "Isn't he handsome?"

"Very," I call back dryly, smiling despite myself.

"Babe, I'm gonna go say hello to Knox, Theo, and the rest of the boys. You good?" Luca asks quietly.

I force myself to smile. "I'm good. I think."

"Oh, she's fine." Phoebe plants both hands on Luca's shoulders and gives him a push. "Off with you."

And then, before I can say another word, I'm thrust full-force into the party madness.

"So, Zoe, what's the deal with you and Blaze?" Chrissy asks, glancing over at the men. After a short introduction, Chase and Mark abandoned us to join them. That was almost a half hour ago - I'm surprised I've lasted this long, buffeted on all sides by girl talk.

"Yeah, are you guys together?" Gemma chimes in. "He keeps an eye on you, that much is obvious. And he's mega hot."

"I would not mind getting with that." Shelby nods appreciatively. "Not a damn bit."

"You're married," Phoebe reminds her.

"Theoretically." Shelby shrugs. "But the only thing that's been up close and personal with my lady business in the past five years is a pair of Spanx."

Phoebe and Gemma bust out laughing.

"Wait!" Chrissy interjects. "No tangents. The kids are finally asleep; I have maybe a thirty-minute window before one of them starts screaming again. I want to hear Zoe's answer about whether she's getting any from the sexy redheaded fighter."

"No," I say, shaking my head adamantly. I go to take another sip of my whiskey and find my glass is empty. Damn. "We're friends. Family, practically. We look out for each other, that's all."

"I know someone who'll be happy to hear that." Shelby grins. "Speaking of Lila, where is she?"

"God only knows what that girl does with her time." Chrissy snorts. "Does she even work? Or does she just professionally juggle boyfriends?"

"Hey! No tangents! We'll never get the truth out of Zoe if we keep getting distracted." Phoebe swings her head to me. "So, are you dating anyone?"

I rattle the ice in my glass. "I really need more whiskey if I'm going to continue this conversation."

"I need a refill too," Gemma says, nabbing the glass from my hand. "I'll grab you one while I'm in there."

"Thanks," I murmur.

She winks and walks away.

"So?" Phoebe persists. "Boyfriend? Fuck buddy? Husband? Crush?"

You mean, including your brother or...?

I shake my head, fighting the blush threatening to stain my cheeks. "No. None of the above."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not," I lie.

"She totally is," Shelby says.

"So, who is he?" Chrissy asks, leaning in.

"No one! There's no one." Where the hell is Gemma with my refill? "I'm definitely, one hundred percent single. And I'll probably be that way forever."

"Uh huh." Phoebe's grin is wider than ever. "That's what I said about two seconds before Nate and I got together."

"And what I said just before Chase swept me off my feet," Gemma adds, stepping back into our circle and passing me a full glass.

"Tall pour, much?" I arch my brows at the whiskey filling the tumbler nearly to the brim.

Gemma grins. "Figured you'd need it."

"Zoe." Phoebe snaps. "Back to the hot boy you're in love with."

"Listen, you've got things all wrong." I swallow a sip. "I'm not in love with anyone. I don't even date. And even if there is a guy I like - and I'm not saying there is! - I really wouldn't talk about it with you guys because A. I barely know you and B. there's no real chance of it going anywhere."

"So there is a guy." Phoebe claps excitedly. "Who is he?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?" I ask incredulously.

"Would we know him?" Gemma pesters.

Well, you do share DNA with him...

I gulp my drink and fling my hand in the general direction of the couches, where I saw the Three Stooges sitting not too long ago. "It's more likely I'd fall for that guy over there than actually find true love."

"That guy?" Gemma asks.

I nod and take another sip.

"You sure?"

I glance at her and find she's smiling huge. "Yeah, Moe-"

"You mean Parker," Phoebe corrects, laughing. "Our brother."

I snort whiskey through my nose. "What?"

"You said the guy over there and pointed..." Gemma's voice drops to an amused whisper. "That would be our brother."

My gaze flies toward the place I just pointed and, sure enough, I see Parker's familiar broad shoulders striding through the archway from the kitchen, a Christmas sweater even uglier than Phoebe's covering his muscular chest - emerald green with two red embroidered ornaments on the front, accompanied by the word BALLS in elaborate, glittery cursive.

Where the hell do they find these sweaters?

I'm still spluttering like a fool, the alcohol stinging my sinuses, so Shelby smacks me on the back in a helpful show of support.

"You okay, Zoe?" She hits me straight between the shoulder blades. "You're white as a ghost."

"I'd be better-" I gasp. "-if you'd stop-" I wheeze. "-fucking hitting me."

"She's fine," Shelby announces, grinning. "Just having difficulty breathing over your hot-as-shit brother."

"Ew!" Gemma and Phoebe whine simultaneously.

Finally catching my breath, I look up in time to see something that makes my throat feel a bit too tight. Parker's leggy receptionist, Patricia, enters the room just after him, grabs hold of his arm, and pulls him to a stop beneath the mistletoe hanging in the wide archway. Before he can react, she pops up onto her tiptoes and lays a kiss on his cheek.

An ugly feeling stirs inside me.

"What?" Shelby shakes her head at her friends. "He's sex on a stick, without all the alpha-male damage. What more could a girl ask for?"

"Maybe someone who doesn't get more ass than a toilet bowl at Fenway Park?" I grumble under my breath, my tone murderous.

Four sets of eyes snap to my face and I realize perhaps I voiced my thoughts too loudly.

Gemma's blue eyes get sharp. "Why would you say that?"

"Wait... do you know Parker?" Phoebe asks, head tilting.

I don't answer, because suddenly there's another set of eyes on my face. Eyes I can feel burning into mine even from across the room. Hazel, hot, and maybe, if I let myself believe it... hopeful.

Like maybe he wants me here.

Like maybe he's happy to see me.

Except he brought a date. A tall, perfectly proportioned brunette who looks like Adriana Freaking Lima.

The thought has barely formed when I watch her sidle up to Parker's side again and wrap her arm around his. He doesn't pay her any attention - he's still looking at me, frozen in place like he can't quite believe what he's seeing. And I'm looking at her, pressing so close her boobs are laying on his arm.

They're a perfect fit. He's funny and charming. She's perky and preppy. There's not a single jaded, cynical, damaged bone in either of their bodies.

I don't belong here. I was a fool to come.

"I have to go," I say instantly, turning to thrust my empty glass onto the closest table. "Thanks for the whiskey."

"Wait!" Phoebe cries. "Zoe! You can't leave, you just got here!"

"We still have to play pin-the-balls-on-the-reindeer," Shelby says somberly. "A time-honored tradition."

"I'm sorry." I turn and head for the archway by the front door, as far from Parker as I can get, cursing Luca for dragging me here and cursing myself for actually having hope that maybe I could open up to someone.

As soon as I turn to run, Parker finds his voice.

"Zoe!" He shouts, starting after me. "Zoe, wait!"

I keep moving, leaving the living room behind and rounding the archway into the front parlor. I hear angry words break out behind me.

"Get out of my way," Parker growls at someone.

"Free tip - when they run away like that, it means they don't want to talk to you." Luca's voice is threatening. "She doesn't want you near her, you're not going near her."

"Step back." Parker sounds pissed.

"You have a death wish, rich boy?"

"You have a hearing problem, Blaze?"

I picture them up in each other's faces, ready to do battle at a fucking Christmas party for god's sake, and my feet falter. My hand drops away from the doorknob and I hurry back into the living room.

"Stop it!" I bark at the two idiots, drawing all fifty sets of eyes at the party to me. "Luca, back off him. Now."

He does - grudgingly. He looks about has happy as a One Direction fan when news of the band's split broke.

Parker's eyes are on me as he steps around Luca and closes the gap between us. I backpedal as he approaches, out of the living room, through the archway, until I'm practically pressed against the front door in the foyer. He keeps coming until there's a tiny sliver of space remaining between our bodies.

My eyes hold his. He's breathing too hard, looking down at me with so many emotions it's hard to know what he's feeling.

"I should probably go," I say after a minute, trying to catch my breath. "I've done enough damage here. I ruined Phoebe's party apologize to her for me, please."

"You're just gonna run again?" he asks, voice low. "Really, Zoe?"

I swallow. "I have to be somewhere."

"Where?" He scoffs. "Anywhere but near me, I suppose?"

I don't answer.

"Pretty strange, then, you showing up at my sister's Christmas party." His eyes narrow.

Before I can retort, there's a sound of commotion - whispers, footfalls, muffled curses - and then the entire damn West entourage bursts into the foyer, all wide-eyed and winded, jostling for positions in the archway, pushing each other for better views. I turn and see Phoebe, Nate, Mark, Chrissy, Gemma, Chase, Shelby, and Luca all staring at us. Nate's private security boys tower at the back, a head above the rest of the group. Even the Three Stooges are there, peeking around a corner to witness whatever's about to go down. And Boo is weaving between their legs like a cat, jingling with every step.