“Before, I had the cutesy little pink girl’s bike with those frilly things hanging from the handlebars. This was a real road bike with lots of gears and I thought I was hot shit when I took it for a spin around the neighborhood.” Abby laughed again. “And then I fell and scraped my knee pretty bad.” Her smiled faltered a little. “Aaron saw me. He carried me back home.”

“So, you used to be closer?”

“He’s four years older than me. We were closer when we were kids, I think. As we got older, we seemed to drift apart. Not sure why, really. He was already in college when I got into high school, and he didn’t come home all that much. He worked in Houston while I was in college, so we rarely saw each other except for holidays.” She waved her hand. “And then the whole Holly thing.”

“Is she your age?”

“No, she’s three years older. And we were only together for about six months. I had known her several months before we went on our first real date.” Abby glanced at her. “She’s very attractive and charming. Or she was. After a couple of months, she announced that we were officially a couple, which was fine by me. I’d told myself I was falling in love with her, so it all seemed perfect to me.”

“Yet months later—”

“She’s sleeping with my brother. But they’ve been together for two years now, so I guess it’s the real thing. I should be happy for them.”

“How real can it be if she slept with you last Christmas?”

“You’re right. Truth is, I don’t feel happy for them. Mostly, I feel sorry for my brother. I know how she is, and I also know she was most likely the one who initiated things between them. And it speaks volumes as to mine and Aaron’s relationship that he would sleep with her.” Abby waved a hand in the air once again. “And I know how that sounds considering I slept with her last year.” She glanced over at her. “It’s a complicated mess and I’m almost sorry you’re being brought into it.”

“Oh, it’ll be fun to mess with her.”

Maybe fun wasn’t the right word, but she certainly wouldn’t feel any stress by being there. She wouldn’t ever see these people again. Whether she made a good impression on them or not was beside the point.

Abby glanced over at her. “You know, I think it will be kinda fun. Even though you and I don’t know each other, I’m really glad you’re with me. And if Holly wants to play games, we can play them too. You seem like the type not to take any shit from her.”

She laughed. “I can hold my own, I think.”