“Shay, you’ve noticed your symptoms lately, haven’t you? The queasiness? Aversion to alcohol? The constant exhaustion?” She points to the toilet. “The puking.”

I wipe my forehead one last time then my mouth. “It’s the stress. It jacks with my stomach.”

“But you weren’t using condoms.”

I wave a hand. “No worries, Mom, I’m on the pill.”

“But—”

“And I haven’t missed a period.”

Her lips buzz with her dramatic exhale. “Thank God. Sorry, that’s the first place my mind goes.” Her smile falls away. “But you do know you should get tested for STIs, right? Just in case?”

I wipe my face again. “I know. I’ll call my doctor.” My purse vibrates from the middle of the bathroom floor, and I frown at it.

Teagan arches a brow. “Is that your phone or a malfunctioning sex toy?”

I roll my eyes but then lose my smile. “I’m afraid it’s Easton. I said some pretty shitty things to him, and I’m not ready to be a mature adult and apologize.”

“Given that he threatened you with kisses and was coerced into wall sex, maybe it might be a decent idea to cool off before you talk.”

I nod. This is reasonable. But I’m staring at my purse, willing it to do that buzz, buzz, buzz thing that happens when someone sends one text after another. But it was just the one.

“Do you want me to look?” she asks. I nod again and watch with way too much anticipation as she pulls my phone from my purse, unlocks it, and opens my texts. Her forehead wrinkles as she reads.

“Is it from him?”

“Yeah.” She turns the phone to me so I can read.

Easton: I never chose Scarlett over you. She would lose that matchup every time. I chose my daughter over myself.

My breath whooshes out of me, and the nausea comes roaring back.

“Okay. So there’s still a lot I don’t know about you and Easton, it seems,” Teagan says. She takes my hand and squeezes it. “You know you can tell me the truth, right? I won’t judge you if . . .”

“If I was Easton’s mistress? If he cheated on Scarlett with me?”

She grimaces, probably because of my word choice. “I understand better than most people that many situations are more complicated than they appear on the surface.”

“Like with you and your ex?” I don’t know everything about Teagan’s past—I guess we both have secrets—but I do know she and Carter got together when he was pretending to be her boyfriend to protect her from an old flame.

“Something like that,” she says.