He stiffened at her shrewish tone. “I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be, but I haven’t been screwing around on you. It only happened once.”

Libby desperately wanted to believe him, but how could she? He’d hidden an affair and a child from her, which meant he was hiding a lot more. “That’s not what Jess told me. She says you’ve always been friends with benefits.”

“Well, she’s lying,” he said quickly. “She does a lot of that, Libs. We just didn’t realize.”

We? One small word that used to represent love, marriage and teamwork now flayed her like a whip. “So you’re saying you never had sex with her before you dated me?”

“That’s right.”

The words felt like rods of cold steel sliding into every bone of her body. “So you’d stand up in a court of law and swear to that?”

He hesitated, guilt flashing white and bright in his eyes. “Mostly.”

“So, she didn’t lie. You’re lying. Again.”

“I’m not. This is semantics, Libby. I was eighteen and she gave me a BJ in the dunes behind the surf club.”

Which meant she and Jess had been fifteen. Back then Libby hadn’t even seen an adult penis but Jess had been running wild and Libby had soaked up every salacious story. “And?”

“And I was inexperienced. I shot my load in about a minute and a half.”

“And?”

Tiny beads of sweat broke out along Nick’s hairline. “Jesus, Libby. It was years ago. It’s not important.”

“Of course it’s important! You had sex with her before you met me, but you’ve never told me. She’s never told me. There’s a reason both of you hid it from me and now you have a child together! What else aren’t you telling me?”

Agitated, he swilled more champagne. It was surreal knowing Nick was upset and she didn’t want to do a single thing to ease his distress.

“It’s only going to upset you.”

She snorted. “That horse has well and truly bolted. Just tell me.”

He was quiet for a moment and then he sighed. “It happened a few other times.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know.”

“How. Many. Times?”

He shrugged. “Three or four, I dunno. Maybe five.”

His evasiveness only exacerbated her suspicions he was withholding information. “Where did these three, four, maybe ten times take place?”

“It wasn’t ten!”

“The fact you can’t remember isn’t doing anything to reassure me.”

“I’m doing my best.”

She snorted. “Not even close.”

His hand snagged in his curls. “Okay, fine. I can’t remember the exact number. But I promise you it only ever happened at parties when I was filthy drunk.”

Detecting another lie, she squinted at him. “You never drink until you’re drunk.”