Her Heart at His Pace

Prologue

ASHLEY

Tonight might be the last time we do this.

We share a pitcher of beer at our go-to off-campus hangout, the Barking Frog, and watch the venue fill up: Ashley and Sebastian in their natural environment, perched on dingy seats, venting about papers and exams and roommates over loud pop music and clinking glasses.

Around us, fellow students are out for one last hurrah before the end of our university term, to dance and drink and sweat and ogle each other until the stress of exams sloughs off.

My friend is unexpectedly subdued, like he feels the heaviness of the moment too. I turn to him. “You’re quiet tonight, Bash.”

“Keeping a low profile. Too many old hookups are here tonight.” He pushes back a dark tendril from his brow and gestures at the dance floor.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. He’s always boasting about his success with women, then complaining about the inevitable aftermath when they realize he wasn’t kidding about being a one-and-done guy.

“Sure, sure. The campus Casanova.” The disdain drips off my voice.

“No, really. I already see at least three girls I’ve slept with.

It’s a good thing we’re graduating soon.

” Cocky bastard. He ducks his head when someone else enters, most likely another girl who’s stayed overnight in the apartment he shares with a fellow student who spends more time in the engineering library than at home. “Oh shit, four.”

I shake my head, strands of fine blond hair falling loose and sticking to my face. “You could at least try to date someone. You never know what might happen.”

“But I do know,” he replies. “I know how these things go.”

I wonder how he’s managed to become so jaded by twenty-two, but I’m distracted by him elbowing my side. He leans in close, his breath in my ear as he says, “Five o’clock, navy polo. Didn’t you go home with him a few weeks ago?”

I cover my face and swear under my breath. That was an unfortunate evening, starting out with promise, then falling flat. He was pretty hot, but he couldn’t hold his liquor. I snuck out of his place after he’d emptied his guts in a bathroom that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. Yuck.

“You were going to lecture me on one-night stands?” His deep brown eyes twinkle. It should be illegal to be this hot while also so smug about it.

Sebastian has always had an unnerving combination of boyish charm and playboy swagger, even the day I met him at dorm orientation when everyone else was trying to find the balance between not trying too hard and “please, God, let someone like me.” Or maybe that was just me.

I can still feel the anxiety of that moment, fresh from being a lowly chorus member at my arts high school and wondering if everyone in Saugeen Hall could tell I was only pretending to be cool and collected.

Yet for some reason, he asked my major, then charmed me into being partners in stats class.

And here we are, still friends since that one night when we split a pitcher after a hard assignment.

I laughed in his face when he tried to flirt because I’d already seen what he was offering and wasn’t interested in being another name in his little black book.

I sigh. “Hey, I’m an optimist at least. I haven’t given up on finding love. It just never seems to find me. I’m not trying to break a record for hookups like you are.”

“That’s not my goal, but if it happens, it happens. But speaking of true love …”

My stomach suddenly fills with butterflies, even though I have no idea where he’s going.

Despite turning him down, it’s not like the idea of him and me hasn’t crossed my mind.

We’ve spent a lot of time together, and he’s not unattractive, but I know how he feels about relationships.

This can’t have changed in the few minutes since he reiterated his non-dating stance.

I rush to make a joke before my mind takes me someplace it shouldn’t. “Bash! Is this where you tell me I’m the One? I’ve been waiting four years for you to say those words.” My attempt at an expression of doe-eyed affection fails when I can’t stop giggling.

He pretends to be annoyed, but I see his mouth twitch. “Very funny. No, I was going to ask you to be my date to a wedding.”

Oh. It was silly to even think this could have gone in a different direction. Still, the invitation takes me aback. We have a few friends in somewhat serious relationships, but none getting hitched. “A wedding? Someone our age is getting married?”

“Not exactly. It’s my dad.”

I can’t keep up with the romantic exploits of Sebastian’s father. He goes through girlfriends like people go through underwear. “Didn’t he just—”

He tops up both of our glasses. “Split from his live-in girlfriend right before Christmas? Yes. But apparently, it’s true love this time. They met in an airport shuttle in Cancun.”

I attempt to keep my voice neutral, but this is a lot. Sebastian has never wanted any of his friends to meet his wayward father. “And you want me to come to a family wedding? Won’t they think I’m your girlfriend?”

He runs a hand through his dark hair, suddenly vulnerable. “Does it matter? It’s not like relationships last long in my family. I just want someone there who won’t expect me to be happy or optimistic about this woman who’ll be gone soon anyway.”

“Of course, Bash. I’ll go.” I pat his hand then raise an eyebrow. “But this better not be an excuse to add me to the hookup list.”

I shouldn’t have said it, shouldn’t have gone there. It’s started a stirring in the tiny sliver of my brain that gets hot and bothered whenever he flashes his charming smile, the part of me that suppresses the urge to walk away instead of listening to yet another of his romantic exploits.

His answer is swift and hits me in the gut. “Oh no, you’re never going on the list.”

I reel for a moment. It’s not that I want to be added among the many women he’s slept with, but it would be nice to know the idea isn’t repulsive to him. He hasn’t been particularly selective.

“Oh gee, thanks, Bash. I’m flattered,” I reply, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

He puts an arm around my shoulders and uses his other hand to clink his glass with mine. “Ash, you’re not going on the list because then I’d have to start avoiding you, and I like you too much for that.”