Page 21 of Wish You Were Mine
“Dang,” Bash said. And then, not so discreetly, took a sip of his own drink as well.
“Wait,” Alessi asked, her jaw dropping. “You too?”
“It was in high school,” Bash said. “And to be fair, I didn’t know she had a boyfriend until after he punched me in the face.”
Alessi chuckled. “Well, I guess that’s okay. But Miles…” She tsked. “You should have known better.”
He rolled his eyes and said, “Oh believe me, I know.” It looked like he wanted to say more but seemed to have second thoughts. Instead, he skipped Alessi, Bash, and Ky’s turns and said, “Never have I ever had a one-night stand.” Then glancing across from him, he added under his breath, “Despite what the tabloids have been saying.”
Miles had taken some heat from the entertainment news reel this past June when he’d been visiting Alessi on Ky’s European tour in Vienna, only to be spotted going into a hotel with a mysterious blonde. No one had gotten a look at the girl’s face, and he’d never addressed the rumors, so the chatter had died down a few weeks later.
But this past month, it all came up again when a girl on social media, looking for a minute in the spotlight, told her followers in a live video that she was the girl he’d been spotted with in June and claimed that they’d hooked up that night, stating:Miles Hawthorne is just as impressive off the field as he is on.
Yeah…I did not envy my friends who had to deal with the drama that came from their fame.No, thank you. Living a quiet life as a chemistry professor and weekend bartender was definitely more my speed.
But, at Miles’s statement, curiosity rippled through the group as everyone wondered if anyone among us had their own one-night stands to confess.
And when everyone looked at Ky, expecting him to take a drink, given the number of groupies he had, he just held his hands up, saying, “Hey, believe it or not, I’ve been a good boy.”
“That’s impressive,” I said, holding my cup toward Ky to cheer him.
“Why, thank you,” Ky said, giving a little bow.
“Well, look at us,” Bash said, a proud, fatherly smile on his face. “Just a bunch of wholesome folks.”
“Only because Ian’s not here.” I chuckled, thinking of my best friend as I shot a glance around the hot tub, the steamy water swirling around us.
“But look at him now,” Alessi said. “Apparently, even our favorite billionaire playboy can change his ways for the right girl.”
“To Ian,” I said, holding my cup for another toast.
“Yes,” Bash said. “May we all be as lucky as him one day.”
We all clinked our cups together, taking a drink in his honor.
It was a little strange not having him here tonight. Ian and I had been inseparable since we were kids, running wild through the neighborhood together. But now, with him engaged to Maddie and stepping into fatherhood with her nine-year-old son, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being left behind.
He had exactly what I wanted: a beautiful woman to share his life with and an instant family.
And as much as Ian and his parents had included me in all their family gatherings after my own had fallen apart, it still wasn’t the same as actually being part of a real family.
I still had my younger brother, Asher. But he was living in New York with his wife, and that didn’t leave much room for the family moments I craved.
So with Ian all domesticated and spending most of his freetime with his future family, just having a girlfriend to share my weekends with would feel like hitting the jackpot.
We kept the game going, everyone shouting out their “Never Have I Evers” in a rush rather than taking turns.
When it was Lucy’s turn, she scanned the group before saying, “Never have I ever had a secret crush on a friend’s sibling.”
Was she trying to play detective, seeing if any of us guys had ever secretly crushed on Nora? I knew Miles had been flirting with her all night, but I didn’t think that counted as a crush.
But instead of any of the guys taking a sip, it was Nora who glared at Lucy before taking a drink of her own.
“I knew it,” Lucy said, laughing.
Nora shot her a look. “You keep targeting me with your Never Have I Evers, and I might have to reconsider your best-friend status.”
“Because you want to be my sister instead?” Lucy said, the cutest guilty smile lighting up her whole face.
