Page 136 of The Wingman

“Happy birthday, Darcy,” Hayden says, watching me with a smile, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand. “Make a wish.”

I close my eyes, think about the past few months with Hayden, and wish that itwillwork out in the end.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” Hayden asks as we walk home hand in hand.

I laugh. “A few times.”

“Only a few?” His mouth curves but his expression turns watchful and serious. “How are you feeling about your birthday?”

Right. My goal of figuring everything out by my birthday.

“Great, surprisingly.” I take a big breath and gather my thoughts. “I think I always dreaded my birthday because deep down, I knew I was on the wrong path. The wrong job, the wrong guy.”

I don’t have everything figured out, especially not with Hayden, but my life feels a lot better than it did this time last year.

“I wish I could go back to myself a few months ago, give her a big hug, and tell her everything would be okay.” With a little smile, I nudge him. “I guess you did that.”

“You didn’t believe me?” His eyes glint.

“I wasn’t sure. I needed to prove it to myself.”

“And you did.”

I hum a happy acknowledgment, taking in the man beside me, heart squeezing with something warm and intense. “Yeah. I did. I’m so lucky to have you.”

He stops walking, holds my gaze, and swallows. It looks like he wants to say something, but instead, he glances behind me.

Oh. We’re at the entrance to the small side street where the Filthy Flamingo is.

“Let’s get a drink, birthday girl.”

I nod, smiling. “Sure. Let’s go say hi to Jordan.”

Hayden pulls his phone out and sends a quick text, then he takes my hand again and leads me down the alley. When we reach the bar with the unmarked door, he holds it open, but it’s dark inside. I hesitate in the doorway.

“I think it’s closed.” On a Friday night? That’s weird. There are no windows in the bar, so I can’t see a thing. “Did Jordan forget to lock the front door? We should call her.”

“Turn the goddamned light on,” someone grumbles in the dark, and I jump out of my skin. It sounds like Alexei…

The lights flick on and my jaw drops at the bar full of people and balloons.

CHAPTER 64

DARCY

“Happy birthday!”they shout, and Hayden wraps his arms around me from behind, hugging me to him.

I stand there, blinking. The entire Vancouver Storm team and their partners fill the bar, and everyone is in costume.

“We were going to do the party next week, when everyone has time off.” I sound dazed, and a little breathless.

Hayden shrugs, smiling. “Wouldn’t be much of a surprise then, would it?”

Most of the women are in long, flowing medieval-looking dresses, except for Hazel, who looks like Robin Hood with a sword strapped across her back and a scar drawn down the side of her face. Pippa beams at me, her long, wavy hair sprayed white and her eyelashes coated in frost. Tiny sparrows are pinned into her hair. Georgia wears a long emerald-green cloak, her hair piled on top of her head and arranged around a diadem. In the middle of the diadem, a ruby sparkles.

Wait. I know that costume.

“This is aNorthern Sworddress-up party?” I ask Hayden, eyes going even wider.

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