Amanda brought over fresh bottled water and set it down at the station, then took the empty seat near the door. She had to finalize Dru’s schedule for the next few days before she left for Helene’s wedding.

She checked her email again, half paying attention as Webber started talking.

“It’s so weird seeing people like that out in the wild. She’s that glamorous. No makeup, nothing. She was an absolute ten.”

“Who are we talking about?” Dru asked just as she popped her fake fangs out of her mouth. Amanda didn’t miss the hint of jealousy in her voice.

“Helene Sawyer. I saw her last night grabbing takeout from Lux. It was a real Celebs Are Just Like Us moment.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dru said. It was a struggle for her to sound gracious. Even with years of professional training. “She is so beautiful. Great actress too.”

“Head-to-toe athleisure wear and she looked like she’d just come off the runway.”

“Oh that reminds me,” Tally piped up. “You will never guess who I saw the other day, walking down Melrose.”

“Who?” Webber replied.

“Sam Pleasant.”

Amanda froze, glancing up from her phone. It wasn’t strange to hear people talk about her best friend. Helene was a huge star now and she was gorgeous. People talked about her all the time.

They talked about Sam Pleasant all the time too, and a week ago, Amanda wouldn’t have batted an eyelash at the mention of his name. But that was before the mind-blowing night they’d spent together. Since then, Sam Pleasant had done nothing but invade her thoughts. She was mature enough to handle a one-night stand, but that didn’t stop every detail of their time together from playing over and over again in her mind. Hadn’t stopped her from conjuring thoughts of Sam’s body moving over hers before she slipped her hand between her legs every night since it happened.

The whole thing had been a fluke, and she knew in a few months the memories would fade, leaving her with her own You’ll Never Guess Who I Slept With a Hundred Years Ago story to blurt out in front of her grandkids one day. In the meantime, Amanda was desperately in need of a real vacation, and Sam Pleasant had made her realize how much sex had been missing from her life too. That’s all this bizarre infatuation was. Exhaustion and sex deprivation. She’d get over both eventually. Eventually. For now though . . .

Amanda fixed her face and looked back down at her phone, ignoring the way her ears had suddenly gotten hot.

“He is so fine,” Patience went on.