Page 77 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

“You talk a big game, considering you’ve denied me twice.”

Sienna’s mind flashed to the night when Beau had climbed through her window and swept her up in a tornado of hormonal nostalgia, leaving her still in it when he jumped back out to the yard.

Sienna watched how Beau’s jaw clenched. “Call me crazy for wanting to treat youright. How you should be treated.”

Collecting loose receipts, Sienna glared at him over his shoulder. “At this point, I’m wondering if you’ve joined a monastery and taken a vow of celibacy.” She thought Beau might laugh at her joke but turned and found him staring, eyes darkened.

“Do you want to know a secret?” he asked, beckoning her with his finger. “The things I want—I’ve dreamed of doing withyou,” Beau said when she leaned across the bar. “They’d get me a one-way ticket to hell if you asked a monk.”

“Is that a promise?” Sienna caught Beau’s finger between her teeth, smiling as she bit down.

Beau pulled his hand free, stifling a breathy laugh. “You’re trouble.”

“You don’t even know, Walker,” she flirted but quickly rolled her eyes when Dylan returned from the bathroom, calling her name.

“You got a leaky sink back there.”

Raising her head to the ceiling, Sienna groaned. “No way.”

“I’ll show ya.” Dylan beckoned her with his head.

She left Beau at the bar, feeling his stare beaming into her back with every step she took.

At the bathroom, Sienna pushed open the door, heading to the sink. “I don’t see anything.” She squinted, looking for traces of water on the floor.

“That’s because it isn’t leaking.”

“Dylan—”

“Walker? Seriously?”

Funny,Sienna thought.He thinks the same about you.“It’s not your business.”

“Come on, Sienna. Did he come back on his white horse to save you?” Dylan laughed at his own joke, his face growing red.

No. His motorcycle.

Moving toward the door, Sienna didn’t want to give Dylan any more of her time, but her body came to a halt when he grabbed her arm.

“Sienna, if you think he’s going to come here and whisk you off, he won’t. Fool you once, shame on him. Fool you twice, well... don’t get your hopes up, is all I’m saying. And people like Beau Walker don’t stick around Brookwood long.”

People like Beau Walker, she said to herself, wondering if Dylan or anyone at Maloney’s really knew who Beau was—a cocktail of a tortured but loving, selfless soul. He wasn’t perfect, Sienna knew that better than anyone. But Beau was a man who made eye contact while apologizing, who revisited his mistakes to fix them, no matter how hard that might be.

She thought of him sitting at the bar with his backward baseball hat, licking his thumb every time he flipped through a page of the Scrabble dictionary, and she wanted to instantly be across from him, polishing glasses and learning new words that broke all spelling rules. Sienna wanted to be anywhere except in the bathroom where Dylan had moved closer, so close she would have bet he could hear her heartbeat racing nervously.

“You and me,” Dylan said giving her arm a squeeze. “Westick around.Wehave a good thing going. Don’t turn it down because Prince Charming came riding back in on his white horse.”

“We?” Sienna asked, raising an eyebrow. “What wehad? Quarterly sex after we’ve had way too much to drink? We’refriendswho crossed lines. I’m sure you can find someone else to push boundaries with.” Her eyes floated to Dylan’s hold on her arm—firm but still gentle. “You’re a nice guy, Dylan. You’ve been a good friend. But don’t be the kind of guy who doesn’t take no for an answer, alright?”

Defeat crept across Dylan’s face, and he let go of Sienna’s arm. “He’ll be playing out in California in a few months. Saw ESPN talkin’ about it,” Dylan said. “He taking you with him? Gracie?”

Sienna shook her head and walked out of the bathroom, ignoring whatever nonsense Dylan was spewing. She stopped in the kitchen and lifted a heavy crate of clean glasses, taking them with her.

“Need a new sink?” Beau asked when she placed the glasses down, and Sienna quickly shook her head. “What?” he asked, and even though Sienna didn’t say anything and avoided eye contact, Beau stood.

“No, don’t,” she reached across, placing her hand on his, squeezing. “He’s not worth it.”

“You’re right, he’s not,” Beau said, keeping his eyes focused in the direction of the bathrooms. “But you are.”

---