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“I once had a client who went from posting videos on YouTube one day to signing a multimillion-dollar contract with a major recording label two months later,” Sloane said. “Trust me.A long wayisn’t as long as you think.”
“Publishing moves way slower than that, but I appreciate the support,” I said with a grin.
Alessandra raised her glass. “To chasing dreams and kicking ass.”
Cheers and laughter mingled with the clinks of our glasses. Warmth fizzed in my chest. I might not have a boyfriend or a concrete book deal, but I had my friends, and they were pretty fucking awesome.
I lifted my drink to my lips and scanned the room. People came and went, each one trendier and better-looking than the last, but a creamy laugh drew my eye to the entrance.
My heart plummeted to the ground.
Dark hair. Glasses. Crisp white shirt. Next to him, a familiar woman laughed again, the sound as elegant as her black designer dress and jewelry.
No. It can’t be.
But no matter how long I stared or how hard I wished them away, the pair didn’t disappear. They were real.
Kai was here. With Clarissa.
CHAPTER 40
Isabella
The noise from the rest of the bar dulled to a muted roar.
Kai and Clarissa. Clarissa and Kai. Here. Together.
The thought replayed in my head as I tried to process the sight before me. They hadn’t seen me yet—my booth was tucked in a corner next to the entrance, and they cut straight to the bar without looking around.
Half-digested tequila sloshed in my stomach as Kai bent his head and said something to Clarissa. Their backs were to me so I couldn’t see her reaction, but they made a good-looking couple. Same elegance, same refinement, her willowy height a perfect complement to his.
A fierce wound reopened, sending a deep ache through my chest. I was freezing despite the alcohol and the body heat drenching the bar, and shivers snuck through my body in tiny, rattling waves. I tried reaching for my coat, but my limbs were as heavy and unresponsive as concrete blocks.
Alessandra noticed my silence first. Her brows dipped. “What’s wrong?”
Nausea trapped my response in the back of my throat, rendering me mute, but my friends were smart enough to follow my gaze to the bar. Kai’s hair, build, and clothing were unmistakable even from the back.
A shocked silence wiped our earlier gaiety clean.
“We can leave,” Vivian said after a long, tense pause. “There’s another bar a few streets over that’s supposed to be good, or we can head back to Man—”
“No.” I finally regained control over my faculties. “We’re staying. We were here first, and there’s no…there’s no reason why we can’t be in the same room at the same time.”
Besides the fact that I feel like someone is taking a sledgehammer to my heart.A shift of his body. A turn of his head. Blow after unerring blow.
I forced oxygen past my tight lungs.
Kai and I were broken up. I’dtoldhim we should see other people when I ended things and that he was better off with Clarissa. I had no right to get mad.
Still, seeing them together so soon after our breakup hurt. So fucking much.
Sloane motioned for our server. “Another round of margaritas, please,” she said. “Extra strong.”
Compassion darkened Alessandra’s eyes. “Is this the first time you’ve…”
I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat. Of all the bars in all the world, he had to walk into this one.
Once upon a time, I thought it was romantic how the universe kept throwing us together. Now, I wanted to wring its skinny cosmic neck.
