“I’m yelling because she gets hard of hearing when she’s drunk.”
“I’m not there yet,” Maya protested. “Besides, I’m not drinking because I’m angry. I’m drinking because I’mhungry. Where the hell are my cookies?”
“Cookies and wine. Yum.” The combination clearly indicated the trio’s lack of sophistication. Just the way they liked it.
Ann settled beside Maya on the couch and watched Riley work. She looked more like a model than an actual baker, with cocoa skin, bright brown eyes, straight black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a face that could have made millions in advertising.
Tonight, Ann felt uglier than usual around her friends. She sighed. “Geez, Riley. Do you ever sweat?”
“You want my bodily fluids in your food? Really?”
Maya grimaced. “Christ. I’m drinking here. Do you mind?”
Riley snorted. “Whatever. Just make sure you use a coaster.”
“Yes,Mein Fuhrer.”
Riley flipped her off with a dough-covered finger.
Apparently done riling the cook, Maya tugged Ann to face her. “So, my day might have been bad, but yours is gonna get a whole lot worse. Get some wine in you.”
Dreading the bad news Maya looked all too gleeful to share, Ann fetched herself a glass and sat back down. “Go ahead. Shoot.”
“Drink first,” Riley ordered from the kitchen. “You’ll thank me later.”
“So you know too?” Ann took a sip and eased into the couch. Better to be relaxed when getting hit by a mental two-by-four, in her opinion.
Maya blew out a heavy breath and announced, “Jack’s back.”
Ann faltered a moment, then took another sip. A big one. “Jack Bloom?” As if Ann cared about any otherjack-off. She mentally high-fived herself for the pun.
Maya regarded her with concern. “You okay?”
“I teach his nephew. I expected to hear about him at some point from his family. I mean, Josh is in my class.” She shrugged, trying to appear casual. “So he’s back in town visiting?”
“Back in town to stay, or so the rumor mill is spinning.” Maya finished off her wine, then started on the cheese plate.
“How do you eat so much and stay skinny?”
Maya shrugged. “Bad genes.”
They chuckled. It was no secret Maya had issues with her long deceased mother. Old wounds took a long time to heal, a lot like Ann’s emotional quagmire anytime she thought about Jack Bloom. “He’s back.”
“That’s what I said.” Maya watched her. “So?”
“So what?”
“So vent a little. Remind us all again what a stupid, lousy creep he was for breaking your tender heart at sixteen.”
“Seventeen. And we’ve been through this too many times to count.”
“Come on. He’s a loser and a shithead for getting you pregnant and dumping you in the same breath. For choosing Selena Thorpe of all people, a girl with breasts bigger than a pair of Goodyear Blimps.” Maya was on a roll. “For taking back his ring whenhehad the nerve to—”
Riley cut in from the kitchen, “Let’s be fair. Ann didn’t even know she was pregnant before suddenly she wasn’t. A blessing in disguise, I’m thinking. And it’s not like he dumped her because he found out. He never knew.”
Jack had never known about it, and she planned to keep it that way. A senior in high school planning to go to college, she hadn’t eventhoughtabout having a child. That nature had decided she wasn’t ready helped ease the grief she’d had over the incident. It still didn’t seem quite real, as if the experience had happened to someone else long ago. A faint memory, a bittersweet relief.
“But he ruined you.”
