Scott:

Once Nina leaves, I look at my friend. “What the hell was that about, Zane?”

He lifts his chin up. “I realized something when Nina was here,” he says. “I want her back.”

“What the hell?” Where did that thought come from? Sure, the idea of being back with Nina is appealing. The eighteen months we were together were the best months of my life, but Zane’s insane if he thinks we have a shot with Nina. Did he miss how much she seems to hate us?

“She’s right, you know.” Zane sits down on the couch and stares blankly at the fireplace. “We took her for granted. It was all about Evolving Whistle. The next tour. The next album. Whatever stupid thing Chris wanted us to do. For eighteen months, she put her life on hold and followed us around, and what did we give her?”

I sigh heavily. Chris Muller, our band manager, had booked us on tour after grinding tour, driving us to exhaustion. Every night, we’d stumbled back to our rooms, utterly drained of energy, and the only thing that made our lives bearable was the knowledge that Nina would be there, her body soft and warm, her smile bright, her green eyes shining with desire as she reached for us…

“We gave her nothing, Zane,” I reply angrily. “I get it, okay? I’m not an idiot. But that doesn’t change anything.” As much as I want to, I can’t go back in time and fix what we did. “We have no business toying with her. I shouldn’t have told her I was planning to buy her building, and you shouldn’t have suggested this insane game. We had our chance with Nina, and we blew it.”

Zane holds up his hand. “Hear me out,” he says. “Nina seems to hate us, right?”

My throat tightens, and I nod mutely.

“What’s the opposite of hate?” he continues.

Is this the time for Zane to be cryptic? “The opposite of hate is indifference.”

“Exactly.”

Comprehension dawns on me. “You think she still cares about us.” I don’t know if I’m optimistic or wildly delusional, but when I think of getting her back, my heart hammers in my chest and hope fills my lungs.

“Do you want her back, Scott?” Zane gives me a serious look. “I’m not doing this for sex.”

No, of course not. What we felt for Nina was so much more than sexual attraction. We had an intimacy that people go a lifetime without finding. What we had was real.

“Yes.” The moment I say those words out loud, a weight lifts off my chest. “I really do.”

There’s just one problem. We only have five nights to make this happen.

* * *

Nina:

I spend most of Wednesday morning waiting for the phone to ring. Scott and Zane didn’t tell me when the first of the evenings were. “We’ll have to set things up,” Zane had said with infuriating vagueness when I asked. “We’ll call you.”

“I can’t drop everything to be at your beck and call,” I’d snapped back. That’s not true though. The sooner this stupid game starts, the sooner it ends. I’m not going to be at ease until I know that Scott and Zane are safely back in New York.

At four in the afternoon, I head to the bar. Lucas and James, my two bartenders, were scheduled to open the Merry Cockatoo, and sure enough, I find them behind the counter. “What are you doing here?” James asks as soon as he spies me.

Lucas frowns. “You look like hell, Nina,” he says frankly.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I admit. “I was going stir-crazy in my apartment, so I thought I might as well come downstairs and help out.” I look around at the almost-empty bar. “Not that you need it at the moment.”

“It’ll fill up soon enough,” James replies. “Lucas just set up the sound for Open Mic Night. We’re good here.”

“Okay, I’ll go check on Sophia and Reagan in the back,” I reply. It’s almost time for happy hour, and the kitchen is going to be jammed soon.

James clears his throat and exchanges a glance with Lucas. “Before you go, Nina, can we ask you something?”

My first thought is of the Merry Cockatoo. “Tell me you aren’t quitting,” I say, my mouth dry. It’s not easy to find good staff, and James and Lucas are the best. “I know there’s a couple of bars opening up, and I’m sure they’re sniffing around, but I don’t want to lose you. I will increase your hours, pay you more, whatever it takes.”

Lucas chuckles. “Nina,” he says gently, “of course we’re not quitting. You gave us a job when we desperately needed one. We wouldn’t leave you in the lurch. No, this is personal.” He takes a small jewelry box out of his pocket. “We’re thinking of asking Cassie to marry us,” he says. “I mean, I know it won’t be legal or official, but I thought we could do a small ceremony.”

“Oh my God,” I squeal loudly, “what a great idea. Let me see the ring.”

Lucas tosses me the box, and I open it. The ring is beautiful. Three diamonds nestle together in a triangle, and the shape reminds me of a clover. “Cassie’s going to be so happy,” I tell them, swallowing a lump in my throat. I’m not jealous of Cassie, I insist. I’m not imagining Scott and Zane asking me to marry them.

“She will, right?” James runs his hand through his hair. “I mean, our relationship isn’t exactly traditional. This isn’t going to remind her of how much she’s missing, is it?”

“You idiots,” I tell them fondly. “Cassie loves the two of you. She’s going to be thrilled.” I pull them into a hug.

Just then, there’s a pointed cough from behind me. “If we’re interrupting something,” Scott says, his voice frosty, “then we can come back at a different time.”

Of course.