Chapter 27

Avery’s POV

Loud grating noises fill the air, and I look up from the trays I’m arranging to see Nick lugging two metal bins in one hand each towards our door. Weird. He hates the sounds those things make when dragged across the floor.

Blinking back down at the ornate gold and silver-coated trays I’m stacking, I continue with the task at hand when another noise snatches my focus. It’s not as loud as Jamie’s, but it makes me stare all the same, and I see that it’s a very sour-faced Cheryl glowering at her feet. Or rather, at the mess of spilled drinks and upturned trays at her feet.

Her thinned-out lips mouth, “Motherfucker,” as she crouches down to start cleaning the mess.

Seems like everyone is in a mood.

I quickly finish my work and push the utensils to one end of the counter where Jamie—the only seemingly calm one, is carefully restocking the bottles of drinks. I sit on the stool and watch the rest of the partially empty room, where a handful o