Brian sat at the bar, fingers wrapped around a half-empty bottle of beer, staring blankly at the condensation pooling on the wood. The divorce papers were signed, finalized, and sitting in a drawer somewhere back at his place. It should’ve felt like closure. Instead, it just felt like something had been ripped out of him, leaving nothing but an empty space where Mia used to be.

“You look like hell, man.” Roman slid onto the stool beside him, flagging down the bartender before turning back with his signature smirk. “Been sittin’ here all night feelin’ sorry for yourself?”

Brian huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “Not in the mood, Rome.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the problem.” Roman clapped a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “You need a distraction. A quick rebound. I mean, you’re single now—time to remind yourself there’s still a whole lot of fish in the sea.”

Brian rolled his eyes, taking another sip of beer. “Not looking for a ‘rebound.’”

“That’s ‘cause you ain’t looking at the right people.” Roman nodded toward the other end of the bar, where you sat, scrolling through your phone, completely unaware of the way Brian’s gaze lingered a little too long once he finally looked.

You weren’t the type he expected to notice—someone younger, untouched by the kind of weight he’d been carrying. Maybe that’s what made you so damn magnetic. You had that energy, that spark, something that made his chest tighten just looking at you. He didn’t realize he was still staring until Roman nudged him with an elbow.

“There you go,” Roman said, grinning. “That’s the look of a man who just found his next mistake.”

Brian shook his head, but he didn’t look away.

“She’s too young.”

“She’s grown,” Roman countered, raising a brow. “And she just caught you lookin’.”

Before Brian could talk himself out of it, you glanced up, catching his eye. A slow, knowing smile spread across your lips. And just like that, the idea of a rebound didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.