I sighed. “I know. The whole thing was all kinds of fucked up.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“No you didn’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t know what I thought.”
I crossed my arms. “Babe, if you really thought I was dead, you would have stormed every funeral home in order to get the last word in or do something nasty to my corpse.”
Her mouth twitched and I could tell I’d hit a nerve.
She sighed, leaning against the railing protecting us from falling onto the rocks. “Who’s Lyric?”
“She’s the woman who saved me.”
“Aw, honey, did she really?” she rasped.
I nodded. “Not sure how it happened, but she did.”
Aspen’s eyes filled with tears again and she rushed me. I caught her, pulling her close and hugging her as she wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you. Oh my god, you deserve to be happy. Finally.”
“She’s pregnant, Aspen.”
She pulled back and met my eyes. “No shit?”
“No shit.”
She grinned. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
Pulling away, she wiped her tears. “God, she must think I’m a total crazy bitch.”
I smiled. “Obviously not enough to follow us out here and demand answers.”
“Is she good to you?”
“Better than I deserve.”
“You deserve a lot, Doom,” she said.
“How about you?” I nodded to her left hand which had a rock the size of Houston on it.
She smiled. “I met the man of my dreams and married him before he could run. I’m actually on my way to meet him.”
“You’re not staying for dinner?”
“No. I needed to drop something off to Andi, and get my arms around her since she just flew in. It’s our tradition.” She smiled. “I refuse to let more than twelve hours go before seeing her when she flies in, even if it’s just for a hug, then we set up a girls’ day.”
“I love that you make your friendships a priority, Aspen. I’m sorry I took that for granted.”
“Oh, you didn’t take it for granted, buddy. You broke it, then stomped the shit out of it.”
“Guilty.” I grimaced. “Will you forgive me?”
“Of course I’ll forgive you, you idiot. But you owe me.”
“I figured.” I smiled. “If you feel like you don’t need to hit me again, maybe we can go back in.”
