“Oh, shit. I didn’t know. Are you happy about it or?—”
I assumed, but I never knew for sure.
“Yeah, I mean it sucks. No one gets married thinking they’re gonna end up divorced, but I’ll be glad when it’s final and I can put it behind me.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “Before you ask, he cheated,” she says, shaking her head as her face falls. “I just keep falling in love with men who can’t love me back.”
“Ash—”
“Don’t. I was there, remember? I know exactly what you said to me that night. You can play the nice-guy role all you want now, but it doesn’t change what happened.”
She’s right. Nothing I do now can make up for the pain I caused her. The longer she’s around though, the harder it is to keep telling myself I made the right choice.
“You’re right. Nothing I say will make up for it.” I thread my hand in hers. “But what I did and what he did, it’s not on you. It’s not because you’re not worthy. It’s because we’re idiots, okay?”
She stares at our hands before pulling hers away.
“Right. Well, he was shit in bed anyway. At least maybe this way the next one will be better in bed.”
It’s such a change from her previous attitude that ittakes me a minute to process the words before bursting out laughing.
“Jesus. Ash, what the fuck?”
“What? It’s true. I tried to give him pointers, but it was like talking to a brick wall.”
I shake my head, rubbing a hand over my eyes.“Okay. Well, good to know, I guess.”
Her eyes graze over me before landing on mine, and our laughter fades. We sit staring for a moment before I pull mine away.
“Look, I know you don’t want to hear it, and that’s fine, but I am sorry. There hasn’t been a day in six years that I haven’t wished things were different. Ash, I?—”
That’s true, I do wish things had been different, but I can’t go back, so telling her anything else will only hurt both of us. “I’m just fucking sorry.”
Nodding with her eyes not leaving the bar top, she’s silent for a beat before saying, “Thank you.”
She starts to say something before JT walks in.
“Did somebody call an Uber?”
She lets out a fake laugh, hopping off the stool. “Wow, if I knew I’d get such a hot driver, I’d have worn something else.” She walks toward him.
I scowl, and she sticks her tongue out.
“Baby girl, you know you could make a garbage bag look good,” JT says, throwing an arm around her shoulders.
I point my finger at him. “Hands off. The last thing we need is for Shane to come home to that shit show.”
24
ASH
AUGUST PRESENT DAY
Shane stopped by this afternoon when they got home. After catching up with my brother, Nik dressed me in a blue-and-white floral sundress with tan woven heels before we all headed to the clubhouse.
As we stroll in, JT shouts, “Wow. Forget the garbage bag, baby girl. You should only wear that dress from now on.”
A smile spreads across my face, and my cheeks heat.
“Hell, no. Another one of you fuckers hits on my sister, and I’ll kill you. I’m not going down this road again,” Shane says.
