[First chapter coming soon!]

Chapter 1- Sloane

Sloane felt like a coil ready to spring as she stared at the face of her past. Mike, the man with the stunning dark curls, sat at the bar. He wore black slacks and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The buttons were undone on his shirt and revealed the dark hair beneath. Sloane remembered running her hands up his toned chest. He sipped the amber liquid, oblivious of her presence. Good\!

Sloane's heart pounded.

She wasn’t ready to be claimed. Not yet\! She'd tried hard to ignore the vision she'd gotten of her brother. It was hard to ignore her ex-boyfriend sitting at the same bar she frequented. She clenched her shaking hands into fists.

Shots, I need a shot or ten, she thought.

Another man had taken notice of her. He was staring, drool forming at the corner of his mouth. When their eyes caught, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip, his look turning downright salacious. "What the hell are you looking at?" Sloane snarled.

She glanced over to Amy. “What’s this guy’s deal?” Sloane turned away, flipping a cascade of black hair over her shoulder.

Amy rolled her eyes. “You're being ridiculous. No one is staring at you. I know this may be a news flash, but the entire world doesn't revolve around you." Amy gave her a once over. She could feel the judgment in her eyes. The chains running from Sloane’s ripped black jean shorts clattered against the metal stool. Sloane's all black was a sharp contrast to the flower sundress Amy chose. Minneapolis was going for a record at ninety-nine degrees today. The heat made them both bitchy.

“Amy, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm amazing." She fluttered her lashes, stealing a glance across the bar. “Okay, so don’t look, but one of my exes is sitting across the bar.”

Amy immediately looked over at Mike. Sloane grabbed her arm. "Stop looking over at him. I’m hoping he doesn’t know it’s me. I haven’t seen him in years." Sloane waved her glass at the bartender. He was helping a young blond man at the end of the bar. He nodded toward her.

"Can we please get back to why we're here? You seriously need to lighten up." Amy rolled her eyes. "I took you to happy hour, hoping you would cheer up a little. You've been so on edge lately. I don't understand why, and you won't talk to me about it." Amy placed her hand over Sloane's. Sloane had been distancing herself from everyone. After the recent visions of her brother, she’d been walling herself off. It hadn’t helped that she’d lost yet another job.

Sloane rattled the ice in her whiskey sour. "I'm light, see here I am, enjoying my lovely drink, basking in the view of this fine establishment." Her eyes met Amy’s. "Are you happy? I'm as light and carefree as a bird." She held her hands out to her sides and flapped her wrists. Amy rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it. I'm fine or at least I will be fine soon. Maybe I'm not the one who needs to lighten up." Smirking over at Amy, she downed the rest of her drink. The bartender was still helping the guy at the end. How many drinks did he order?

Sloane thought back to the day she met Amy. One jock they went to school with had been pulling on the back of Amy’s hoodie in the lunch line. Amy asked him to stop, but he continued to torment her. Sloane stood behind them. She tapped the jock on the back. When he turned, she slugged him in the nose hard enough to make him bleed. He went to strike back, but a teacher stopped him before he got the chance. Sloane got detention, but from that day on, they'd been best friends. Sloane shook her glass a little more forcefully this time.

“Sloane, just talk to me.” Amy slumped in the chair. Talking about what was bothering her broke all the rules. It would put Amy in immediate danger. No matter what, she couldn’t talk about it. Not talking to her best friend in the entire world about what was bothering her was damn near impossible.

“I’m just irritated by my ex staring at me. Why is he even here? This is my spot.”

"Why don't you go over there and break his nose? That will teach him to look at you with that deep, penetrating stare." Amy rolled her eyes.

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