Seventeen
I could’ve told Julian everything in the car—spilled the whole ridiculous sequence of events with Sienna right there in traffic. But that would’ve meant giving him two opportunities to take the piss out of me: once in the car, and again when we arrived.
One round of humiliation is more than enough.
So I waited.
And now, here I am, sitting on Wes’s back deck, bracing for impact.
Julian lounges beside me, Rosie in his lap, her tiny fingers smooshing his cheeks like she’s molding clay. He just lets her do it, barely flinching.
Across from us, Wes drapes an arm over his chair, a beer dangling from his fingers.
He levels me with a look of disbelief.
“So let me get this straight,”
he says slowly. You agreed to date a woman you had a one-night stand with, who then ran out on you… and then you bumped into her at the airport?”
I drag a hand over my face. “When you say it like that, it sounds bad.”
Julian peels Rosie’s hands off his cheeks long enough to chime in. “That’s because it is bad.”
“You don’t even know the full story yet,”
I fire back.
He pries Rosie free of his nose before she can latch on again. “I know enough. She sat down at the bar, seduced you, and vanished before sunrise.”
I exhale through my nose. “Are you two done?”
“Not even close,”
Julian says, voice muffled as Rosie goes back for his cheeks.
Wes leans forward. “So she strolls into your life again, and you decide, ‘Sure, let’s make it a thing’?”
“It’s complicated.”
Julian finally sets Rosie on her feet, and she toddles straight to Wes, tugging at his leg until he scoops her onto his lap.
“Complicated is code for ‘I have no idea what I’m doing,’”
Julian says.
“Or ‘I’m trying hard not to admit I’m in deep shit,’” Wes adds.
I tilt my head back and stare at the sky. “You two are assholes.”
Julian shrugs. “We’re not the ones playing fake boyfriend with a woman who ghosted us.”
“She didn’t ghost me. She left.”
Wes deadpans, “Oh, well, that’s much better.”
I fight the urge to chuck my beer bottle at them. This is exactly why I didn’t tell Julian sooner. He’d pounce the second he smelled blood, and Wes? He’d gladly help.
I rub my hand over my jaw. “Look, this wasn’t planned. I just… made a decision. It’s good for business.”
Julian arches a brow. “Crane’s going to love it, so I’m not complaining.”
Wes nods. “I’ve seen you handle tough negotiations, but this might be your boldest move yet.”
Truth is, I still can’t explain why I signed Sienna’s contract. Part of me blames adrenaline; the rest remembers her eyes locking on mine. I was intrigued enough by her to know I was never getting off that flight without my name on the damn napkin.
“Yeah, let’s move on.”
I reach for Rosie, and she squirms into my arms.
They groan. “Ah, come on, man. Don’t use the baby.”
“How about your uncle?”
I ask Rosie, ignoring them and bouncing her on my knee. “He have any women sneaking out before dawn?”
Wes snorts and takes a swig of beer. “Rosie’s the only woman in my life, right, kid?”
I glance at him, recalling how we used to skip class and smoke behind the bleachers. Now he’s raising his niece alone while Julian and I juggle million-dollar deals. Sometimes, it feels like the world spun too fast for us to catch our breath.
We met young, the kind of childhood friendship that stuck even as we grew into different people. Julian and I always chased the next big thing, while Wes kept his head down. He could rip a car apart and rebuild it by fifteen. We were making money; he was making something tangible with his own hands.
Years later, he opened his own shop, doing it on his terms. Then, three months ago, Amber died, leaving Rosie behind. Wes lost his sister and brother-in-law overnight and stepped in as a father.
No one knows how to help. Wes never complains, but I see how it wears on him. We’re just here to lighten the load in any way we can.
Julian picks up a toy block from the deck. “When are you going back to the shop?”
Wes rubs his jaw. “Soon. The guys have it covered for now. I want Rosie settled first, in some routine. Then I’ll get back to work for my own sanity.”
Julian nods. “You need a nanny.”
“Oh, do I?”
“Yeah, and not a hot one. Hot nannies are trouble.”
Julian waggles the block. “Get a good, reliable one who’ll teach Rosie to become a corporate prodigy someday.”
I roll my eyes. “So we’re training a toddler for finance now?”
“Gotta start young,”
Julian says, grinning as Rosie stacks blocks on my knee before they topple.
Wes reaches over and pats Rosie’s back. “She’s one.”
“And has a bright future,”
Julian fires back.
Rosie claps, oblivious to our plans for her life.
Wes looks at me pointedly. “So, about impressing your future in-laws, or whatever this is with Sienna…”
“It’s business, and it’s just for a week.”
Julian and Wes exchange a look that makes my hackles rise.
“Famous last words,”
Julian mutters into his beer.
I cover Rosie’s eyes and flip him off.