“I cannot believe that Ryan is Jason’s friend! This is insane! The two of you really seemed like you were hitting it off.”

I shake my head and take another sip of champagne. “I can say with absolute certainty that we weren’t. How do you know what we looked like anyways?”

“Um, because I was stalking you guys from across the room the entire time, obviously. Where did Ryan go? I lost him in the crowd.”

“He’s talking to your work friends,” I say, nudging my head in their direction.

Cristina peers around me, tracking them with her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have invited those two. They’re more or less midrange prostitutes.”

“Fantastic, then they should be perfect for him.”

“Never mind them. New plan—what are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow? Nothing, I think.”

“Good. The four of us are going out to dinner. You, me, Jason and Ryan.”

“What? Why?” I feel the floor tilting beneath me as the adrenaline of seeing Ryan evaporates in my chest.

“Why? Kara, your college ex-boyfriend just walked back into your life and is somehow the childhood friend of my fiancé. Did you honestly think I wouldn’t force you guys together at every turn? Have we met?”

I can’t think straight. I take a deep breath, but it doesn’t help. Ryan is back and so are the ghosts of our relationship, twitching and howling as they claw to the surface after a ten-year sleep. I can feel the all-too-familiar stab of guilt starting to throb again, but I compartmentalize it and push it down. I always do when I remember what we did.

“No, I don’t think this is a good idea at all,” I say.

“Of course, it is. It’s an awesome idea. I just watched your whole interaction and he legit stared into your eyes for ten minutes straight. Plus, Jason said he was completely shaken up when he found out you were going to be at the party.”

“Well, he wasn’t shaken up in front of me, that’s for sure. He had all the calculated confidence of a serial killer.”

“Okay, are we maybe overreaching now?”

“Maybe,” I concede.

Cristina looks me over with a curious expression. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this combative side to you before. I have to admit, it’s very interesting to witness.”

“That’s because I’m not combative,” I say, taking a frustrated breath. “Something about Ryan always turned me into a raving lunatic.”

“Fine, yes, I did sense some tension between you guys, but it was nothing definitive. I couldn’t tell if you were going to tackle each other to the floor in a good way or a bad way.”

“Definitely in a bad way.”

“Agree to disagree. Anyways, he was probably being confrontational because he hasn’t seen you in years and he needed time to adjust.”

“I doubt it.”