“That was it? She asked you to take her back, you said no, and she left?”

“Pretty much.” Abby pounded her thigh again. “Can you believe she asked me that? I’m still floored over it.”

“Do you think it has to do with love, or is it just the sex part?” Nic asked hesitantly.

Abby smirked. “Holly doesn’t know what love is. And sadly, neither does Aaron apparently.” She squeezed her arm. “And I don’t want to be in the middle of it.” Her cell rang, and Abby smiled. “That’s my mother.”

Nic took another piece of pizza as Abby answered.

“I’m having pizza with Nic.” A pause. “Really?” A shake of her head. “I’ll call you tomorrow. You can fill me in then.” Abby met her gaze and smiled. “I’ll tell her. Bye.”

Nic arched an eyebrow when Abby put the phone down.

“She said she’s looking forward to seeing you again. At the wedding.”

“Oh?”

“Aaron called her. They’ve set an earlier date. In April. Here in Dallas. I’ll get the details when I call her tomorrow.”

“So, you were right. She struck out with you so she’s going forward with Aaron.” Nic looked at her, holding her gaze. “I think you should tell him.”

“Tell him what? That his fiancé propositioned me? That we slept together Christmas before last? That he doesn’t excite her in bed? What should I tell him?”

“If it was me, I think I’d want to know.”

“Oh, Nic, I don’t want to be that person. For one thing, he probably wouldn’t even believe me. And secondly, it’s none of my business. It’s their thing, not mine.” She took another slice of pizza. “Besides, I doubt he’s going into this blindly. I mean, she was sleeping with his sister when they met.”

“Are you going to tell your mother?”

“Oh god, no.” Then she paused. “Do you think I should?” Then she shook her head. “No, no, no.” She took a bite of her pizza, then looked at her as she chewed. “Will you stay tonight?”

She should go. They’d been together nearly every single night and it was becoming too…too comfortable. Too familiar. So she should go.

“Please?”

“It…it kinda feels like we’re dating.”

Abby smiled at her. “But you don’t date.”

“No. But you do.”

“Well, I think we agreed that you and I weren’t going to date. Right?”

“Those are just words, Abby.” She could feel panic starting to set in and she stood, needing to…to what? Escape? Run? Hide? And to that, hide from what?

“Nic? What’s wrong?”

She held her hand up when Abby would have come closer. “I should…I should go.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not dating,” she said firmly.

“Is this where you run? Is it getting too real, Nic? Are you starting to feel things?”