Everything was perfect fifteen years ago.Cassiopeia Aberra had her whole life ahead of her, and Talien, her snarky high school best friend, had finally kissed her. But that happened so long ago.Cass couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had a real conversation with Tal. In college, they’d almost connected again, but Talien had a talent for keeping everyone—or maybe just her—at arm’s length.Now, she’s headed back to town after finding her ex in bed with his trainer, and Talien is the first one—okay, the only one—she texts for a ride home from the station. He responds immediately, like he always does when she gathers the courage to reach out, and she lets that little blossom of hope bloom in her chest again.Maybe this time, they can find their way back to what they’d lost so long ago or, at least, find out why they lost each other in the first place.Talien Vale has been in love with Cassiopeia since she first brushed Niles aside in the cafeteria and plopped down next to him at lunch freshmen year.He knew then that she was out of reach. The daughter of the most prestigious Zara family in the city of Dhalia, let alone the country, and though his family was well-off, Tal doesn’t have a drop of magical blood in his family line. Nope. Prova, through and through. But that hadn’t stopped him from falling. Hard.After college, he tried to move on, tried to cover up the hole in his chest, tried to tell himself that it’s not from losing her, tried to fill every waking moment with something to make the emptiness go away. But it doesn’t help. It never has.And now, he’s on his way to pick her up from the train station, and he knows things will be easy. They’ll spend the ride to her family’s home talking like old friends, flirting harmlessly—as they always do—and that will be that. That’s all it will ever be.A forbidden romance between lifelong friends that will keep your pages turning through to the end.