Page 5 of Wish You Were Mine (Kings of Eden Falls #3)

LUCY

The hum of music downstairs drifted up through the floorboards, signaling that Ky’s New Year’s Eve party was starting to pick up.

Nora and I stood side by side in the bathroom attached to the bedroom we were sharing at her brother’s beach house in The Hamptons, putting the final touches on our hair and makeup.

“So, did Josh ever end up telling you why he punched Brody in the face?” Nora asked, adjusting the strap of her black dress over her shoulder. Her lips pressed together as she studied herself in the mirror.

“No.” I blinked, pausing my mascara application as I recalled the last message I’d received from him. “The only thing I’ve heard from him since Sunday was the ‘sorry for being a butthead’ text he sent me the next day.”

“Classic Josh,” Nora said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “At least he kind of apologized, though?”

“Do you believe Brody’s side of things?” I asked, genuinely curious if Nora believed what Brody had told her when she’d driven him home from the club .

“That Josh went ballistic just because Brody joked about asking you out?”

I nodded, meeting her gaze in the mirror’s reflection.

“I mean, it wouldn’t really be out of character for Josh to do something like that, would it?” Nora said with a shrug. “Even though you’re not together, he’s still pretty possessive of you.”

“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 to check 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 European tour, 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.

And I couldn’t help but grin. She’d been completely normal around him when we hung out here with him and Ky two summers ago. But apparently, one steamy dream and a few amazing football games later, she was suddenly starstruck .

“Come on,” I said, nudging her lightly. “Let’s go say hi.”

We walked over to him, and when he saw us, Miles’s face lit up. “Hey, ladies,” he said, that easy smile of his lifting his lips, his voice as smooth as butter.

“Hi Miles,” Nora said, her voice coming out more breathy than usual.

Yeah…she had it bad. Crushing on one of her brother’s best friends.

“Nora and I were wondering if you’d be here tonight.” I grinned as I grabbed a plate. “Does your coach know you skipped town for some fun?”

“Not exactly,” he said, shooting us a flirtatious wink. And I instantly understood why he had millions of Instagram followers. The man was a walking dream. “And as long as no one rats me out and I’m at the airport on time tomorrow afternoon, he doesn’t need to know.”

Two other guys approached the island then, both with dark hair and nearly as tall as Miles. One of them slapped Miles on the back, whispering something in his ear that made Miles chuckle.

“Sorry, ladies,” Miles said, clearing his throat. “Have you met my friends?”

I looked up at the guy on the left, and my heart skipped a beat. No way. It was the bartender from The Garden.

What was he doing here? Was he one of Ky’s friends, or did he just happen to tag along with these guys?

“I know Bash, of course,” Nora said with a bright smile, seeming to recognize the guy in the middle first.

“Good to see you again, Nora,” Bash said with a grin. Then, glancing at me, he asked, “And who’s your friend?”

“This is Lucy,” Nora said, putting a hand on my shoulder blade. “My roommate and best friend.”

“Nice to meet you, Lucy.” Bash gave me a nod, and I was caught off guard by how striking his eyes were—blue and clear behind the glasses he wore, standing out against his tanned skin and nearly black hair.

“And this is our friend Owen,” Miles added, nodding toward the bartender.

“We met you at The Garden, right?” Nora asked Owen.

“Yeah,” he said, his eyes flicking between Nora and me. “You two are friends with Theo, right?”

We both nodded.

“But you’re also friends with Ky?” Owen asked, looking like he was confused at how we’d know both guys.

“You could say that.” Nora smirked. “I mean, Ky and I fought all the time growing up, but well, he’s actually my brother.”

“Oh, really?” Owen’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t realize Ky had a sister.”

“That’s because he’s ashamed of me,” Nora said, but her smile gave away that she was just joking.

“And you’re Nora’s best friend?” Owen looked at me, his gaze lingering for a moment.

And man, if my body didn’t have the exact same reaction to him as it had on Sunday…

Geez. Those eyes of his. They were amazing.

But even though I felt slightly jittery under his stare, I thankfully managed to say, “Yes.” Then even added, “And how do you all know each other?” gesturing to the three guys.

“We all graduated high school together,” Miles said with a casual shrug. “Well, everyone except Owen since he’s old and graduated the year before us.”

Which would probably make Owen a year younger than my brother, Theo. Twenty-eight or twenty-nine…

Dang. I knew I’d been hoping the next guy I dated would be a bit more emotionally mature than Josh. But seven years was a lot older than I’d expected for some reason.

Not that Owen and I were dating—or would ever even go on a date.

He probably wasn’t even interested.

But when we made eye contact again, I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought about me. I was sure that after the whole Josh fiasco, the first impression I’d left him with on Sunday hadn’t been the best.

Though…since I was so much younger than him, he probably hadn’t really thought much about me at all. Our brief interactions probably hadn’t crossed his mind after I drove away in my drunk ex-boyfriend’s fancy car.