Page 10 of Wish You Were Mine
“Hence why I didn’t want to flirt with other guys that night,” I replied, shaking my head. The situation still felt like a tangled mess I didn’t know how to navigate.
I mean, I still cared about Josh. I knew he was a good guy deep down. But I also deserved to move on and be happy. And continuing to get sucked into his drama was not going to help me do any of that.
Nora nodded, her expression softening. “And since he messed up our attempts to get you that hot bartender’s number, it’s only right that you find someone else to have fun with tonight.”
“I did notice your brother’s hot tub is all set up out back.” I smirked. “At least one of us should put it to good use.”
Nora chuckled. “I like the way you’re thinking.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I mean, if Miles doesn’t show up to make that steamy dream of yours come true, there’s always my brother.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Nora shook her head. “You didn’t tell him that I thought he was cute, did you?”
“I think the exact phrase was ‘Major Hottie,’” I teased.
She glared at me.
I laughed. “Of course, I didn’t tell him.”
“Good.” Nora fluffed her hair, adding volume with a quick push of her fingers. “But speaking of your brother, do you think Theo is here yet?”
“I would think so. I’m pretty sure he said he was leaving Eden Falls around five.” I grabbed my phone tocheck the message Theo had sent earlier, but a frown crept across my face when I saw he’d sent another text that I hadn’t seen. After reading it, I sighed and said, “Looks like he’s not coming after all.”
“Really?” Nora’s face fell.
I nodded. “He said Charlotte ended up with a fever, and with how quickly hers can spike, he decided to stay home with her instead of leaving her with Alisha’s parents in Manhattan.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Nora’s expression softened. “But that’s good he’s being a good dad. Tell him we hope Charlotte gets better soon.”
“I will.” I quickly typed out a message to my brother. Once my message was sent, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My bleached-blonde hair was in soft waves around my shoulders, and the strapless burgundy dress that I’d picked out on a whim—the one that made it look like I actually had some cleavage—looked good on me.
“You ready to head down?” Nora asked with a grin, eager for the night to begin now that we were officially glammed up and forty-five minutes late to the party.
“Yeah.” I nodded, taking in my reflection one more time. “Let’s go see if we even know anyone here.”
With that, we both headed out of the room to go downstairs.
We made it to the main living area of Ky’s beautiful home a minute later and weaved through clusters of people, all of them much taller than Nora and me.
At just five feet one, we both fit the gymnast stereotype perfectly—short and strong. But with most people a head or more taller than us, it almost felt like we were wading through a sea of long legs and high heels.
I recognized a few faces as we walked around. Alessi Holland, the singer who opened for Ky during his Europeantour, was standing by the fireplace chatting with some of Ky’s backup dancers.
“So, does Ky just spend all his time off with everyone he takes on tour with him?” I asked, genuinely curious since I still wasn’t used to the whole “celebrity lifestyle” her famous brother lived.
“Pretty much.” Nora shrugged, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I think it’s hard to know who to trust when everyone wants something from you, so he keeps his circle a bit smaller these days. Mostly people he either works with now or the group of guy friends he’s been close to since high school.”
“Makes sense.” I nodded. When Nora invited me to her brother’s New Year’s Eve party, I’d imagined a huge, glamorous bash, packed with every type of famous person imaginable. But walking around the main level of his house where most everyone had congregated in the large living room, I saw that there were only a couple dozen people here.
“Wanna see what kind of food he has in the kitchen?” Nora asked, her eyes sparkling as she glanced around the room.
“Sure.” I smiled, my mouth already watering.
We made our way to the kitchen, and the moment we stepped inside, my eyes were drawn to a familiar face and broad shoulders standing by the kitchen island. He was loading up a plate with chicken wings and veggies, looking completely at ease.
“Looks like Miles got the night off after all,” I murmured to Nora, nodding toward the famous quarterback she had a crush on.
Nora froze, her eyes widening as she stared at him.
