“Well, not everyone’s as lucky as me.” Ashley had meant it to sound lighthearted, but her words came across with an edge that caught Jessica’s attention and she frowned.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Ashley shook her head. “Oh, no, nothing.” She didn’t want to bring Jessica down from her euphoria of starting a relationship with someone special.

“Don’t do that. I can see it in your eyes. What happened?”

Ashley frowned, her hand tightening around the warm coffee cup in front of her.

“When I was at Dare’s last time, it got a bit … tense. Not between him and me, but…” She shook her head, her cheeks heating. “Helen showed up.”

“Showed up? So she caught you at Dare’s house again?”

Ashley sucked in a breath. “She caught Dare and I … together.” She hadn’t intended to tell Jessica that. It had just slipped out. But Jess was her best friend and she knew if anyone could make her feel less crappy about the situation—less mortified—it would be her.

“Oh, God, that’s … awkward.”

Ashley nodded. “You have no idea.”

“What did she do?”

Okay, there was no way Ashley was going to give her details.

“Well, she didn’t just leave. She was just…” A shiver raced through Ashley as she remembered. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to talk about that, but…” She stared at her coffee cup. “I think she’d been drinking.”

Jessica nodded. “Did you know she used to drink in high school?”

Ashley gazed at her friend. “Well, sure, we all used to sneak one sometimes.”

“No, I mean, she used to drink in school. She carried a flask around in her purse.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I caught her one day and she made me swear to secrecy. Her parents—well, her mom and Dare—were going through some rough times, leading up to the divorce. They didn’t tell her they were getting divorced until after graduation, but I suspect Helen knew it was coming, or was afraid it was, anyway.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Ashley felt a little hurt.

Jess shrugged. “I wouldn’t have told her if you had told me something sensitive and swore me to silence.”

Ashley nodded. “Of course. Sorry.”

“So right now life is kind of sucky for you. You’ve got an awkward situation with Dare, since Helen is in the picture, and it’s got to be tense with you and Adam. How’s that going?”

“We have sort of an unspoken agreement to give each other space in the office and he suggested that we suspend our usual running and movie night for now.”

“I can’t imagine that’s going to last long. I’m sure he’s going to make another move soon. To convince you to change your mind and start seeing him.”

Ashley shook her head. “I just wish everything wasn’t so complicated.”

Jessica smiled. “Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you get involved with these older, dominant types,” she teased. “They turn your world upside down.” She took Ashley’s hand and squeezed. “You know, I think you should just have sex with both of them. Preferably at the same time.”