“Where’s Simon?”

“He had a last minute meeting.”

As I took my seat, his security guard set a rose bouquet and a note between us.

“For you, Miss Penelope,” he said. “From a Mister Gaines.” He pulled a receipt from his pocket and handed it to Hayden. “Also, he uh, prepaid for the two of you to have brunch today.”

“How very kind of him,” Hayden said, and we sat in silence for a few seconds after the guard walked away.

“How was the rest of your night with Simeon?” he asked.

“It’s Simon.” I picked up a fork. “It was good. How was the rest of yours?”

“Good … You didn’t call me when you made it home.”

“I didn’t think you were still awake. We went on a joyride in his Ferrari, and he didn’t drop me off until three.”

“Since when do I not answer late night calls from you?”

“Right.” I swallowed. “Look. About last night—”

“What about it?”

“I don’t think I ever told you that I wanted to see Wicked,” I said. “I kept thinking about it over dinner, and I feel like I should’ve. Would you have sat through it with me?”

He gave me a look that answered that rhetorical question.

“I think we should spend some time together. I feel we haven’t hung out that much lately.”

“We haven’t.” He tapped his fingers against the table. “My apology tour and gala planning has picked up, though. That’s probably why.”

“Oh, yeah.” I’d almost forgotten about the gala. “Well, Simon is taking me down to Miami this week to hang out at Sunny Isles Beach, so how about the day after we get back?”

“I took you to Sunny Isles last year.”

“He’ll never know.” I smiled. “I play dumb like you said, whenever he suggests something I’ve already done with you before. It’ll be my first with him, right?”

“Right.” He downed his coffee.

“He hasn’t asked me to be exclusive yet,” I said. “We’re just dating.”

“I know.”

“It was a question.”

“I didn’t hear the inflection.”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Is it a problem that he hasn’t asked me to be exclusive yet?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I know you two have a history, but it’s only been a few weeks. You should give it a few more. You should also remember to hold up your half of our deal.”

“I have.” I pulled a few letters from my bag. “Thirteen, for all the members of a street symphony that you insulted for playing love songs you didn’t like. You asked for Taylor Swift’s ‘Clean’ and they played ‘Blank Space.’ In all fairness, I probably would’ve lost my shit, too.”

A smile spread across his face, and the strange tension between us slowly dissolved.

“That’s not what happened,” he said. “But thank you.”

“I’m not sure I want to know anything else about what you were doing during our Cold War.” I picked up a beignet. “You were always pretty petty, but each set of apologies is getting crazier and crazier.”

“The only thing you need to know about our Cold War is that you started it.”

“No, you started it.” I pointed my finger at him. “But I forgive you.”

He laughed and sipped his coffee. “Your brother is coming into town. Want to bring Simon along for lunch?”

“Never.” I rolled my eyes. “The earliest I’d introduce him to Travis is at the fight in Vegas, where he’ll be too distracted to grill the hell out of him. That’s why I’m glad I have you. You’re far more understanding about guys than Travis will ever be.”

“I see,” he said. “That’s what best friends do for each other, right?”

I wasn’t sure why, but it sounded like there was a bit of grit in his voice when he said, ‘best friends,’ and I felt like he didn’t really mean that.

A part of me—one I couldn’t deny or explain, didn’t want him to mean it.

“Dinner tomorrow night at Central Park?” I said, shaking away the thought.

“How about the next night? Lawrence is making me do a mock deposition and I don’t know how long he’ll make me stay.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Central Park. Tuesday night.”

Fifteen

Present Day

Hayden

Tuesday night

“You really need to get better at disguises,” a familiar deep voice said from behind. “Like, I knew it was you from miles away.”

I turned around to see Travis in shades and a hoodie. “No, I just need to fire Sarah for always letting you slip by.”

He laughed and sat next to me on the bench. “When you finally fire her, let me know so I can make her an offer to work for me.”

“You can’t afford her,” I said. “Why are you in town so early?”

“All the hype in Vegas is getting to me.” He pulled off his shades and sighed. “All this buildup and training for the fight is a bit overwhelming, you know? I feel like I can retire after this one, though.”

I didn’t bother responding to that. Every one of his fights was the one where he could “retire after this,” and there was no way he was giving it up without a good reason. Or death.

“I want to personally give you something,” he said. “Where’s Crown?”

With Simon. “Running late as always.”

“I should’ve known.” He pulled a few glittering lanyards with sparkling badges from his pocket. His face was on one side, and “The Punisher, Forever Undefeated” was on the other. “These are for you, Crown, and her roommate that shall not be named.”

“Tatiana hated you in the past, too?”

“Rightfully so.” He smiled. “You can each bring a plus-one if you like, but you have to get their names on the list a week before or they can’t come.”

“Noted.”

“I’ve heard about your apology tour.” He crossed his arms. “Will I receive one from you anytime soon?”

“You can have it right now,” I said. “I’m sorry you ever think that I’m apologizing for shit to you.”

We both laughed.

We sat on the bench talking for hours, as if things were how they once were, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

“Shit.” He looked at his watch. “I need to get back to my hotel. Are you allowed to go out or are you still on punishment with Lawrence?”

“It’s not punishment. It’s image-rehab.”

“Whatever you say.” He stood to his feet. “Come over for lunch when you have some free time this week. I’m here through Saturday. Should I assume that Penelope isn’t coming at this point?”

“Probably.” I stood up, too.

“I should’ve asked if she had a serious boyfriend before coming into town,” he said, laughing. “I guess I can hang up seeing her before Vegas.”