“I’m guessing it’s their sex life that is miserable,” Abby said as she went into the bathroom. “Being a lesbian and sleeping with a guy has got to be difficult.”

Nic walked to the open door, watching as Abby brushed her teeth. “Is she gay or is she bi?”

Abby rinsed her mouth before answering. “If you asked Holly, she would probably say she was straight. If you ask me—and by what she said to me earlier today—I’ll go with gay.”

Nic raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“When she indicated she wanted to sleep with me, I asked if the sex wasn’t good enough with him.” Abby stopped and shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, no. What did she say?”

Abby looked away. “She said he wasn’t me.”

Nic smiled. “You’re that good, huh?”

Abby blushed and moved past her. “I’m not answering that.”

Nic was still smiling when she went into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She heard Abby in the bedroom, presumably changing as well. Much like last night, Abby was already in bed with only the lamp on beside the bed. Unlike last night, they weren’t both dog-tired.

When she got into bed, Abby made no move to turn the lamp off. Instead, she rolled to her side.

“Did you have a good day?”

“It ended well, yes. I like your family. Your mother especially.”

“Wanna tell me what you told her about Holly?”

Nic gave a quiet laugh. “Don’t be mad. It just came out.”

“Oh my god! You told her we slept together last year?”

“No, I didn’t tell her that. I told her Holly wanted to sleep with you this year. I told her I caught you in the kitchen.”

“Oh god,” she groaned. “How did she take it?”

“She blames Holly.” Nic moved her hand under the covers and found Abby’s. “If we were real girlfriends and I’d walked in on you like that, I would have been pissed as hell.”

“She kinda blindsided me.”

“And if I hadn’t been there?”

“I don’t know. Right then, at that moment, I didn’t feel anything for her. There was no underlying attraction that I was trying to fight. But I don’t know. If you weren’t here and she did that to me three, four, five times—I may have gone along with it. I would hope not, but…”

Her voice trailed off and Nic wondered what she was trying to say. “But you’re lonely?”

Abby surprised her by turning the question back to her. “This morning, you said that you were lonely. Have you ever been in a relationship, Nic?”