Page 5

Less than an hour later, the five of us are crowded around Josie and Bryce’s dining room table, a whole spread of food laid out on the table in front of us. Wine has been poured, small talk is still happening all around me, but my focus is firmly planted on my best friend’s boyfriend.

“Is there a reason you’re staring at us all like you’re about to recite some epic monologue?” The unimpressed look he gives me takes me right back to the conversation we had less than ninety minutes ago in his kitchen. “I’m really starting to hate this look on you, Clark.”

Bryce glares at me from where he stands at the head of the table, waiting for the other four people in the group to take their seats. I simply grin back at him, taking a sip from my recently refilled wineglass as I hold his gaze.

“Maybe there is,” he relents once everyone is seated. “Or maybe I have an announcement to make.”

Involuntarily, my eyes dart to the left hand of my best friend.

I relax when I realize it’s bare. While I’m pretty confident Bryce will include me in the proposal process, or that I’d at least be one of the first to know, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from these two.

They always have a way of surprising me .

“Well”—I motion around the table with my wineglass—“by all means, please proceed. Your captive audience is waiting.”

Across the table, Josie gives me the exasperated eye roll I’m used to getting from her.

Whatever happened earlier in their kitchen has left us and we’re back to normal.

Normal means I’m enjoying one of my favorite past times: irritating the hell out of her boyfriend.

It’s a special talent of mine, and one I take rather seriously.

So seriously, in fact, that I put it on the résumé I gave Bryce and Carter as a formality when they hired me to do the marketing for their swim club, Adair Swimming.

Carter had laughed so hard it took him nearly fifteen minutes to calm down, Bryce had glowered at me as he stuffed the résumé in a file folder with my name on it.

With the exclusion of Carter’s girlfriend, Kat, I’ve known everyone at this table for over a decade.

Though our lives weren’t always so intertwined, I’d gotten to know how to push everyone’s buttons, and there are certain people I’ve always enjoyed messing with more.

That just so happened to always be Bryce.

Bryce clears his throat, which only makes me snicker. Josie lightly kicks me beneath the table.

“As you all know, Adair needs to hire another coach, so I can have time to focus on running the business,” he begins. “Carter and I have been talking to several of our former teammates to make a decision. The contract has been signed, and our new coach starts in two weeks.”

Excitement bubbles up in me at the prospect over them adding another elite swimmer to the coaching roster.

We already have two Olympians; adding someone else of the same caliber will be an amazing marketing opportunity.

It can also do wonders in helping us be taken seriously enough to host a professional meet.

A club ran by a trifecta of Olympians and elite swimmers. Who wouldn’t take an interest in that ?

“Well, don’t leave us in suspense.” Josie laughs gleefully. My mind, however, is already running through a bunch of different ways to make the announcement. “Tell us who it is!”

First thing Monday morning, I’ll get with Carter and Bryce to start strategizing—

“Ronan O’Brien.”

My brain screeches to a halt as soon as the name registers. I blink up at Bryce. “I’m sorry, what?”

Everyone turns toward me, surprised by my reaction.

A cold sweat settles on the back of my neck; the thumping of my heart against my chest is anything but pleasant.

I’ve done everything I possibly can to not think about that man and now they’re telling me we’ll be working side by side? This is fucking fantastic.

“Why do you look so surprised?” Josie wears a frown. “I think Ronan will be a great addition.”

Well, now I have to come up with an excuse, fast.

“I’m confused how this happened. I mean, why him? He’s been out of the sport since 2017. I don’t understand why you’d trust him with something like your business.”

That’s not entirely false, which I pat myself on the back for.

To me, it’s a gamble to trust someone as flaky as Ronan O’Brien with the well-being of their business.

The same man who fell off the face of the Earth and only announced his retirement when allegations of him doping surfaced.

He hasn’t been seen or heard from since, that I’m aware of.

Why would Bryce want a reputation like his associated with Adair?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mia. He only took about two years off; he’s been actively involved in the sport since early 2020.” My brows arch at Carter’s words. “Just because he hasn’t been competing doesn’t mean he hasn’t been around. ”

Bryce quickly picks up where his best friend leaves off. “We’ve talked to a lot of people, Mia. Ronan was always our top pick. He’s going to be an excellent addition to our team.”

I still think they’ve lost their minds, but it’s quickly becoming clear I won’t be able to make them reconsider.

According to Bryce, everything is in motion, and they have officially hired Ronan on.

I’ll have to find a way to ignore him, no matter how difficult that will be.

I’ll have to hope that Ronan does something to mess up this opportunity.

“This has been in the works for months before the decision was official. Bryce started talking to him at Trials and then more over the Olympics. He had a couple of things he needed to take care of, but he’s signed on, and we’re excited about where this can go,” Carter explains.

Apparently, I’d been in the same room as Ronan O’Brien, multiple times, and had never even known.

My gaze drifts between Carter and Bryce, and I let out a small sigh. “Obviously, you don’t have to convince me. It’s your business and your decision.”

Carter frowns. “But you’re part of the team, Mia. We don’t want you to be unhappy.”

I wave him off. “Do not worry about me when making business decisions. I’m perfectly capable of going with the flow.

” I’m not capable of going with the flow, and everyone at this table knows that.

Still, I’m grateful when they all choose to ignore it.

“I’m worried this might not turn out the way you want it to. I only want you guys to be successful.”

Bryce gives me what I’m sure he thinks is a comforting smile. “Trust us on this one, Mia. We know what we’re doing.”

With a smile, I nod, and raise my glass. “Congratulations, guys. ”

Everyone around the table cheers, but I can’t help worrying about how horrible this is all going to go.

The last thing I want is for Bryce and Carter to have to stand back and watch as the future of the club blows up in their faces.

If there’s one thing Ronan O’Brien is good at, it’s ruining other people’s plans.

The night at Bryce and Josie’s might have ended up with me finding out I’d have to face the one man I swore I’d never think about again, but at least I didn’t have to go back to the conversation about my lacking love life. And I’m in the business of loving small blessings right now.

The minute I left their house two nights ago, I forced myself back to never, ever , thinking about Ronan O’Brien again and I’d been quite successful until this moment.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Kat.” I frown, stabbing away at something on my tablet. “If you’re so curious about him, ask Carter.”

I had arrived at her small office less than an hour ago, on time for our bi-weekly meeting on marketing for her design and renovation company, Effervescent Renovations.

Watching Katrina walk away from the toxic company her stepfather ran and standing up for herself less than a year ago had been truly awe-inspiring.

I still use it as a reminder to myself that it’s okay to go after the things I want.

While I know she doesn’t necessarily see it, she does have it all—the doting boyfriend, the perfectly healthy relationship, and her dream job.

The last thing I expected, though, was for her to be the one to bring up my past. Especially because she’s the only one who wasn’t involved in that past. I know the other three well enough to know they suspect something happened.

However, they are all, thankfully, too scared to push me into telling them.

Either Kat hasn’t learned that about me yet, or she’s not scared of me.

“All Carter told me is that Ronan is a good guy and that they’ve discussed the concerns you’ve brought up.

” She says it casually as she flips through some tile samples.

“Although he did tell me he thinks something happened between the two of you, but he’s not sure what. That you and he used to be closer.”

There’s not a lie there. We had been closer once upon a time. Closer than anyone of our friends knew. I know Bryce doesn’t know what happened because he would have told Josie by now. And Carter would have told Bryce. Overall, this group is really horrible at keeping secrets.

And then Ronan ruined it. Ruined it in a way that shouldn’t have been surprising to me, but felt like a personal blow that I’ll never recover from.

Instead of focusing on the part about him and me, I focus on the first part of her statement. “What do you mean, they talked about the concerns I brought up?” She shrugs. “And they still hired him?”

“I don’t know what those concerns are, really,” she admits. “All Carter told me was that anything you might be worried about has been handled. I feel a little like I’m in limbo here and wish someone would give me something to go off of.”