Amelia blinked rapid-fire, like a machine gun of disbelief. “But you hate him. We hate him.”

“And I used to like Luke. Funny how things change, huh?”

“I—” She faltered.

Jill’s white Apple Watch vibrated, and she looked down, frowning. “I have to take this.” She rushed back upstairs, ponytail bouncing as she took the carpeted steps two at a time. Something was off.

“Is she fighting with Mendez?” I asked Amelia.

Jill and Mendez had been dating for over a year, but their relationship had been volatile from the start. They were both crazy jealous and prone to toxic behavior like flirting with other people and ghosting each other. In the spring, they’d gone through an especially tumultuous patch where they fought every weekend, complete with dramatic blowouts, door-slamming, and phone hang-ups. There were a lot of alcohol-soaked tears on her part. And sometimes his. But things had been more stable with them lately. Slightly.

Something flashed across Amelia’s face that I didn’t quite catch. “Er, no. They’re fine. I think it was about work.”

At nine o’clock on a Sunday? Jillian worked at a swimwear boutique, and they didn’t even open until noon. Plus, she was a sales associate, not management. It didn’t add up.

“Stop changing the subject.” Amelia retrieved a black mug from the cupboard and filled it from the pot of coffee I’d brewed earlier. “Seriously, B. Chase Carter? Do I need to be worried about you?”

“No, I’m fine,” I said brightly. “Peachy.” I did feel pretty good, all things considered. Earlier this week, Zara told me about a trick her old therapist taught her. Picturing the person who’d wronged you in diapers—because only babies or small children act that way, or something like that. I’ll admit, I was skeptical; it sounded silly, not to mention a little weird. But I tried it with Luke, and actually, it kind of worked.

He was a man-child.

Despite the horrible way it had come about, I was starting to think I was better off. A huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. No more walking on eggshells, no more trying to please him, and maybe, most of all, no more worrying about what he was doing behind my back.

Being attached to someone wasn’t the same as being in love with them, but I hadn’t quite realized that before. That’s not to say the fallout from the breakup was easy to deal with. My social circle was crumbling around me, and I had a hunch Luke was putting on the pressure with his friends to speed the destruction along.