I leaned back in my chair and listened to the sounds of the bay.Water lapped gently against the dock and the shoreline, the boats knocking against the docks.Crickets and other critters chirped their songs to each other.A dog barked somewhere in the distance.The fire popped more.
“You’re already asleep?”Ashlyn snapped, laughing as she reclaimed her seat next to me.
I sat up in a hurry and cleared my throat.“I wasn’t sleeping.I’m good.”
Ashlyn twisted the top off the bottle of wine with a snap as the seal broke.She took a swig and handed the bottle to me.“You were snoring.”
“I was not,” I said, knowing it was a lie, and brought the bottle to my lips.The wine was sweet and crisp and chilled.The bubbles tickled my nose, and it went down smooth.Too smooth.I could drink the entire bottle.
“Tell me about Landon and the pregnant wife,” Ashlyn said, taking the bottle back.
I sighed and took another bite of cake before I answered her.“They’re perfect together.He looks at her in a way he never looked at me.She wanted another kid, I guess.It’s everything he’s ever wanted.”
“But it’s not what you wanted,” Ashlyn said gently.
“I know.And I don’t wish things were different.I loved Landon, but we held on too long.I kept hoping I’d change my mind and want kids.I should have ended things a long time before he did.”
“I know the feeling.”
I wasn’t in the mood to talk more about my ex.We’d been over for years.There was nothing left.I wanted him to be happy, and he was.I was jealous of it, not because I wanted him back, but because I wanted someone who was as perfect for me as Casey was for him.He was the one who was brave enough to end our relationship, and he was rewarded with a new one that was just right for him.
I had little hope I’d find the same, and rehashing it over and over wouldn’t change anything.
“Tell me what happened with Rob.Why did it all go to shit today?”
Ashlyn sighed and took a long slug of the wine.She wiped her hand across her mouth and handed the bottle to me.“I don’t even know.I think that’s what bothers me so much.He came over for lunch, and we were talking about this weekend.He got irritated and said I’m asking too much of him.That he doesn’t owe me all his free time, and he needs time for himself, too.”
“I thought you two only saw each other once or twice a week.”
“We do!That’s what threw me off.I’m not one of those demanding girlfriends who has to know where he is at all times and who wants to spend all our time together.I have a job, and I have friends, and I didn’t ask that of him.”
“Is he cheating?”I asked, hating that I was saying the words but knowing they had to be said.
She shook her head.“I don’t know.That was my first thought, too.He didn’t like that.”
“You asked him that?”
“Yeah.I’m not going to dance around this.If he’s screwing around on me, I deserve to know.”
“What did he say?”
“That was when he said he didn’t think he ever loved me and didn’t want to see me anymore.”
“Fuck,” I breathed, knowing that was the answer.He was screwing someone else and blamed Ashlyn for the relationship ending.
“Yeah.I’ve been trying to figure out who it could be, but I have no idea.”
“We need to burn something,” I said, getting to my feet and letting the blanket fall to the chair.“What do you have that was his?”
She shrugged.“Not much, actually.I thought I had a few things, but I think he’s been taking things home over the last few months.”
“You know what?That’s good.You deserve so much better than him, and you don’t have to go through the hard part of extracting him from your life.”
“I guess.”She picked at the blanket, rubbing it with one hand.
“He gave you that blanket, didn’t he?”
“What?No.”
