Chapter 1
. . .
Vesper
Early October
Iam done.
So done.
Imagine the most final ending to something you have witnessed and then double it.
Because I am finished with Kane Giles and, fuck me, does it feel good.
So good, in fact, that I could almost forgive myself for entertaining his sorry ass for as long as I did.
Back and forth I went for almost a year following our official split as, time and again, I believed his bullshit lies, telling me he’d changed and that he couldn’t move on from me, no matter how hard he tried.
The incessant phone calls were allegedly a “testament” to his love for me.
Each time he lost his temper and yelled was because our relationship was fueled with passion and he was scared of losing me.
Our relationship was full of toxicity, and I was an idiot to believe that a man like Kane could ever be humble enough to change his ways.
Two years of my life were wasted while we were together, and another eleven months were spent lying to my friends that we were through, just so I could avoid the truth they already knew.
Kane Giles is a deadbeat boyfriend and a piece-of-shit person, and last night marked the final time I will sleep with that guy again.
Because I. Am. Done.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the glass can’t get any drier.
” With a sassy grin on her lips, my best friend’s eyes drop to the towel and glass in my hands.
“Although it might disintegrate altogether if you keep rubbing at it like that.” Drew raises a finger in thought as she sits at the bar.
“On second thought, keep rubbing at it. Perhaps a genie will materialize and grant you three wishes.”
I scoff and set the glass on the shelf behind me. I freaking love working at Riley’s Bar. Quite honestly, it’s been my only constant this past year. A safe haven, where I can socialize with customers and do what I love—mix wild new cocktails.
“Seriously though”—Drew sets her elbows on the bar, chin resting in one palm—“if you could have three wishes, what would you choose?”
I toss the towel down on the bar top. “Aren’t you supposed to keep your wishes a secret? Otherwise, they won’t come true.”
Drew waves a hand at me, the massive rock her new fiancé, Will Jones, gave her sparkling beneath the lighting.
Like many of the good people in my life, I met Drew in this bar, and our friendship has never looked back.
I wouldn’t be where I am today—or have a decent roof over my head—if it wasn’t for this girl right here.
To see her so happy makes my heart sing.
“Ugh, let’s ignore that part and skip to the good stuff.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I blow out a laugh, drumming my fingernails on the dark wooden bar.
“First, I’d ask for a week’s vacation on a deserted island every year. Obviously, I would want supplies to be covered, but the thought of nothing but me, the sun, sand, and ocean sounds blissful.”
Drew gazes off into the distance. “Will booked Mauritius last night for our honeymoon.”
I hold up a hand. “Wait. Did I miss the part where you set a wedding date?”
She rolls her eyes. “No. We’re currently locked in debate over that.
Will wants to get hitched in the bye week this February because he can’t wait much longer to marry me, and I want to wait until July when we can have a summer wedding and then fly straight out for two weeks to lie by the Indian Ocean. ”
“So, you’re getting married in February then,” I clarify, knowing that Drew’s husband-to-be will absolutely get his own way.
Last year, he pursued her relentlessly despite her being his coach’s daughter and his publicist. Waiting has never been Will’s strong point.
Picking up her Manhattan, Drew takes a long sip and sets the glass back down. “Yeah, we’re basically getting married in February.”
I chuckle and step away to serve customers, rejoining Drew a few minutes later as she pulls out her laptop to start working.
“You know, I think you’re the only person I’ve ever met who comes to a bar on a Friday night just so she can get her rocks off over updating spreadsheets.”
She lifts a shoulder and begins typing. “I’m replying to emails and still waiting to hear your final two wishes.”
I groan, not wanting to play this pointless game. It’s not like any of them will ever come true, whether or not I say them out loud.
“Do we have to?”
“Wish number two, please,” Drew presses, straightening the collar on her white blouse.
Her hair is pulled into a tight, low bun today, and coupled with her sparkling blue eyes, I can totally understand why she had an NHL star falling over himself to make her his.
I think for a moment. “A lifetime supply of seafood. Specifically shrimp because I freaking love shrimp in whatever way it’s cooked.”
“All right, Bubba Gump,” Drew teases. “Tell me you’ve been to Pike Place Fish Market.”
I balk at her. “Of course. Where do you think all of the fish sticks, clams, and shrimp came from when we lived together those months before you moved out to live with a boy? The refrigerator didn’t magically make them appear.”
She pokes her tongue out at me, and I pull a face back. We’re women in our twenties, but apparently, we haven’t developed beyond kindergarten maturity levels.
“For your final wish, I want you to make it a serious one.”
My shoulders slump. Here’s the thing about me: I’m not good at having serious conversations, and I’m even worse at opening up to people.
At twenty-four, I know I should be better, but I blame my parents’ divorce when I was ten—along with the distant relationship I have with them both—for most of my toxic traits.
“Are we talking career serious or general future goals?”
Drew narrows her eyes on me, and immediately, I don’t like where this is going. She might be all loved up these days, but I’m not. In fact, the thought of another relationship makes me sick to my stomach.
Truthfully, Drew only knows limited details about my relationship with Kane and absolutely nothing about the handful of times I’ve slept with him since we officially split last year.
Even though she’s never met Kane, Drew hates his guts—and for good reason.
Telling her that I stupidly let him back into my life, only for him to kick me out of bed and tell me the sex was shit, would probably have her fighting him in the street.
“How about your future love life? What do you wish for there?”
I try to swallow down the lump forming in my throat, but the tears pooling in my eyes are harder to hide.
Drew pushes her laptop away and catches my hand between hers. “Ves.”
The way she says my name just like Silas does whenever he’s worried makes me cry harder, and I drop my head down so nobody can see me. I’m the bar manager, and the owner only stops by on fleeting occasions. Still, I don’t want customers seeing me like this.
“Talk to me.”
A shudder of emotion racks my body when I recall the humiliation I felt late last night. What kind of man tells the woman he apparently loves that she was shit in bed, and why did I allow myself to sleep with him again when all he does is make me feel like crap?
I’m worth more than he will ever be able to give me.
“I slept with Kane last night.”
I can see the anger as it contorts Drew’s pretty features.
“Don’t be mad at me,” I say in a small voice. “I’ve learned my lesson and I’m genuinely finished with him for good.”
Drew wraps her hands tighter around mine. “What made you go back?”
I scoff at my own stupidity. “Believing him when he repeatedly promised me that he was a changed man and he wanted to make us work. I should’ve listened to your warnings and stopped unblocking his number and answering the door to him.”
Her eyes grow wide, and I feel bad for never telling her that Kane had been to the apartment. She might not live there any longer, but she has a right to know who steps foot on the property. She owns it after all.
“Kane only visited a couple of times, and he never saw beyond the living space. We only ever talked when he was there and—”
“I’m not bothered about him being inside the apartment,” Drew gently cuts me off. “I’m concerned about my friend and wondering what the hell happened last night for you to finally decide it’s over after all this time has passed.”
I shake my head, not wanting to revisit it or the way I cried all the way home in an Uber past midnight.
“The details don’t matter. But I promise you I’ve woken up, and I’m sorry for lying to you when I said that I was over him before.
At one time, I really did love him. Now … now I think I actually hate his guts.”
Drew looks almost proud, sitting up straight on her stool.
“You blocked his number?”
“Forever.”
She smiles, and I go to continue my shift, relieved that I’m not carrying the last twelve months alone anymore.
“Wait up.” Drew stops me before I can slip my hand from hers.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of the final wish that easily.
” She leans forward, smirking. “Think of me as the genie in this scenario. If you could place an order for the perfect guy to sweep you off your feet, what would he look like?”
I fall silent. This whole conversation just took a wholly inappropriate turn.
Drew looks almost devilish. There’s nothing innocent about the woman sitting in front of me, and there’s definitely a darker side to the good-girl persona she likes to portray.
“Would he be, say, six-five with light-brown hair and blue eyes and wear the number two on his jersey?”
I know I’m blushing. My inability to hide the physical attraction I feel toward Silas Stanton hasn’t gone unnoticed by my friend since the day she first uttered the Rogues captain’s name to me.
“No,” I answer firmly. “He wouldn’t be my ideal man because he is, in fact, my ex-boyfriend’s brother and the biggest pain in my ass since I once accidentally sat down on my phone charger.”
She snorts a laugh. “He’s only a pain because he cares about you and could probably see the shit way Kane treated you when you were together.”
True.
“He isn’t my ideal man,” I repeat.
“Hmm …” Drew sits back in her stool, studying me. “He likes you—you know that, right?”
I flush harder this time.
“Silas is a complex man, and he hates his brother. I think you’re confusing his misplaced sense of duty to keep me safe from Kane with a crush.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think I am. I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him too.”
I clear my throat, standing up straight and grabbing the towel. Not a chance in hell would I ever go there with Kane’s brother. I’ve made my quota of mistakes with that family to last me a lifetime.
“At least six feet tall, dark hair, brown eyes, and with a job in IT.”
“That’s your final wish?” Drew inquires, crossing her arms over her chest. “The exact opposite of Silas?”
I nod once. “Yes, it is.”
Drew closes her eyes like she’s working on granting me the wish.
She snaps them open, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Sorry, Ves, but no can do. Apparently, wishes don’t come true when you say them out loud.”