NORA
I was curled up on the worn leather couch after getting home, scrolling through the internet for ideas to keep energetic preschoolers entertained, when the front door opened and Lucy walked into the apartment she and I rented on the top floor of an old Victorian home.
“Hey,” Lucy said, toeing off her shoes as she stepped onto the threadbare carpet of the living room. “How did babysitting my adorable niece go today?”
“It was great.” I sat up straighter, my gaze flicking to Owen as he ducked through the door behind her, waving my way before carrying their takeout containers across the peeling laminate floor of the kitchen and sliding them into our aging fridge.
“A bit tiring. Spending the whole day with a three-year-old was way more demanding than I’d thought. But it was good.”
“Charlotte has always been a little tornado.” Lucy laughed as she dropped onto the worn couch across from me. “Even as a baby, she was demanding. Pretty much never let Alisha or Theo put her down.”
“I believe it,” I said, smiling.
Owen shut the fridge with a careful nudge, then came over and settled beside Lucy, stretching his arm along the back of the couch behind her.
A section of wallpaper above them had been torn away long ago; the plaster underneath rough and crumbling, like a reminder of how old the place was and in need of a good remodel.
“But it was okay today, right?” she asked, leaning into him. “You think you’ll survive a whole week with her?”
“I think so.” I nodded. “She has a play group at the park tomorrow, so I’m hoping she’ll like that.” I lifted my phone and added, “And I’ve been looking up different activities for three-year-olds, so I think we’ll survive.”
“Well, I’m sure Theo appreciates it,” Lucy said. “I felt bad when I couldn’t help him this week.”
“You were smart and picked the right summer gymnastics program to work for,” I teased.
“If only I’d known about Mr. Romeril’s embezzlement charges a month ago.
” I shook my head, glancing toward the window where our garage-sale air-conditioning unit hummed valiantly, probably one power surge away from disaster.
“But really, it’s been fun. Who knows, maybe I’ll even teach Charlotte some tumbling tricks while I’m at it. Think Theo would be okay with that?”
“I’m sure he would.” Lucy smiled. “She’s already mastered the somersault, so a few lessons from you and she’ll be on her way to the Olympics.”
“At least one of us might make it there,” I joked. Both Lucy and I had come close to making the women’s gymnastics team during our elite days, only to fall just short. But Lucy had gone on to become the NCAA all-around champion this past spring, which was a pretty fantastic consolation prize.
Meanwhile, I had taken eighth overall.
Not terrible. But when you grew up in the shadow of a Grammy-winning older brother, eighth place felt like a participation ribbon.
I pushed my thoughts away and looked at my best friend’s college professor boyfriend. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the night? I assume you’re going to steal my best friend away again.”
“I totally am.” Owen grinned. “We’re actually heading to my friend Romeo’s place. He’s having a garden party tonight. It should be fun.”
“Actually…” Lucy perked up. “You should come with us.”
“Yeah, you totally should.” Owen nodded. “You already know most of the people who’ll be there.”
“Who’s going to be there?” I asked, unsure it was something I should actually tag along to since I didn’t really know Romeo or his wife very well. “Is it a bunch of happy couples?”
Because Owen was close to thirty now, which meant most of his circle was already hitched or heading in that direction fast.
“There are definitely a few couples,” Owen said. “But I think Miles, Bash, and Alessi will be there, too.” Owen looked at Lucy. “And your brother Theo should be there, right?”
“I think so.” Lucy nodded. “Unless he decided to back out of it.” She turned her blue eyes to me. “He may have texted me this afternoon to complain about Romeo’s wife trying to set him up with one of her friends tonight.”
“He has a lot of friends and family playing matchmaker for him, doesn’t he?” I laughed, thinking about all the times Lucy’s mom had mentioned one girl or another that she was trying to introduce Theo to.
“He definitely does.” Lucy nodded. “But really, it will be a lot of the same people who were at your brother’s New Year’s Eve party. If hanging out with Owen and me isn’t appealing enough, surely seeing Miles again might be fun, right?”
My ears perked up at her mention of New Year’s Eve and Miles Hawthorne—professional quarterback and my brother’s best friend.
One I actually had a tiny crush on.
A slightly more practical crush than the one I had on Theo.
And unlike any interaction with Theo, I had even successfully flirted enough with Miles the last time we were together to land a kiss.
Sure, it had just been a quick peck at midnight on New Year’s, but it had happened. And he’d been a willing participant.
“What time does the get-together start?” I asked, trying to look casual.
“Seven-thirty,” Lucy said.
I looked at the time on my phone and laughed. “Oh, so like right now.”
“Yeah…” Lucy said, a guilty expression in her eyes. “We were just dropping off leftovers before heading over.”
“Well…” I glanced down at myself, not sure I was even presentable enough to face other adults, let alone Miles Hawthorne, after a full day of chasing after Charlotte.
I sniffed my armpit as discreetly as possible. Still fine. Mostly.
“We can wait if you want to freshen up,” Lucy offered, seeming to read my mind.
“Let me just change my clothes real quick and brush my teeth,” I said, hopping up from the couch. “Then I’ll be ready to go.”
“Are you joining Ky on any of his tour dates this summer?” Miles asked me thirty minutes later, his ridiculously hypnotizing brown eyes sliding over to meet mine.
We were sitting on the patio furniture in Romeo and Lia’s gorgeous backyard, Miles’s stepsister, Alessi, and their other friend Bash sitting across from us.
The party had been pretty relaxed so far. Lots of familiar faces—people I mostly knew through my brother since he’d gone to high school with a bunch of the guys and stayed in touch.
I was five and a half years younger than Ky, so I hadn’t hung out with his friends much growing up. I had always been at gymnastics practice when they’d come to our house, or I was out playing in the backyard with friends.
But once I started college, Ky finally decided I was mature enough to be seen with him, which meant I’d gotten to know his circle a little better.
And then last summer, when I joined him on the European leg of his tour, I’d gotten especially close to Alessi, who had been touring as his opening act at the time.
“I’m hoping to go to a few of his shows,” I said, meeting Miles’s gaze—which was hard considering how ridiculously beautiful and magnetic the man was. “But probably only the ones in New England this summer, since I’m hoping to have a more full-time job soon.”
“You don’t want to be a professional groupie for your brother anymore?” Alessi asked, a twinkle in her eyes.
“I mean, it was pretty fun last summer,” I said, remembering all the shenanigans Alessi and I had gotten up to during our downtime. “But no, I think it’s probably time for me to get an actual grownup job.”
“Eh…” Alessi waved a hand as she leaned in closer to Bash’s side. “Grownup jobs are overrated.”
“So true,” Bash said from beside her.
“Says the guy who’s spent the last several years in medical school,” Miles shot back at Bash.
“School doesn’t count,” Bash said. “Since I’m still pretending adulthood hasn’t started.”
And when the dark-haired future doctor set his arm comfortably around Alessi’s shoulders, I couldn’t help but wonder if they were a couple again.
At the New Year’s Eve party my brother had thrown at his Hamptons’ house this past winter, I’d learned that Alessi and Bash had dated about six years ago—back when she was a freshman at Eden Falls University and he was just starting medical school at NYU.
Was it possible that the kiss I’d seen them share in the hot tub that night had reignited the spark that had been simmering between them for the past several years, turning it into more of a flame?
And if so, dare I hope that there had been actual magic in the air that night, since Owen and Lucy were another couple who had hit things off that evening only to start dating a few months later?
If two couples had gotten together after sharing New Year’s kisses, maybe my delusions of someday dating Miles Hawthorne weren’t actually too far off?
“What kind of job are you looking to get?” Miles asked, hopefully unable to read my delusional thoughts.
“I’ve been looking for something related to exercise science since that’s what my degree is in,” I said. “But honestly, I’m still figuring it out.”
Which was code for: if I didn’t land a job soon, I might need to think outside of the box even more.
Possibly go back for my master’s degree since a lot of the jobs I’d been looking at seemed to require it.
At least Theo had given me something to do this week along with pretty great pay.
So as long as the two other princess parties I had planned this month didn’t fall through, I might even end up with enough money to make rent.
Yeah… the reality of not having an athletic scholarship and living in scholarship housing anymore was sinking in fast.
Rent, food, gas—being an adult—cost more than I realized. And the last thing I wanted was to move back in with Ky and live off my famous older brother’s generosity.
Or even worse, back home to Massachusetts with my parents.
I liked living with my best friend in Eden Falls. I didn’t want to leave.
Which was why I’d submitted a few more job applications while Charlotte watched cartoons for an hour this afternoon.