“Noted.” Kincaid’s gaze followed Ash to the bar.

“So,” Liv continued, drawing Kincaid’s attention back to her. “How complicated is complicated? Because, whoa…hot.”

“Hey,” Finn said with mock offense as he dropped into the seat next to his wife. “Literally right here.”

Liv snorted. “Shut up, gorgeous. But seriously, how complicated?”

“Astrophysics complicated,” Kincaid replied.

“Married?” Rebecca asked.

“God, no.” If he were, this wouldn’t be a conversation. She wasn’t her mother. “He just broke off an engagement, though. Also, once upon a time, he broke my heart into a million pieces, and we never even dated.”

“Ouch.” Rebecca winced.

Wes looked to the other two men at the table. “Guys, do you get the feeling they’re having a conversation in code right now?”

“Yep,” Finn said with a nod. “We’ve got no shot. So…how ’bout them Cowboys?”

Liv rolled her eyes and then zeroed back in on Kincaid. “I say sleep with him.”

Shaw choked on his beer.

“What?” Kincaid asked, feeling the shock twist her expression. Her friends were supposed to give her rational advice. She depended on that. She was the one who needed to be reeled in. “That’s not what you’re supposed to say.”

Liv shrugged and took a sip of her beer. “It’s the advice you would give me if the situations were reversed. He’s only here for a little while, right?”

“A couple of months at most,” Kincaid confirmed.

“See, built-in safety net,” Liv said, as if it were the most practical perspective in the world. “I love you, but you’re bad at taking your own advice. How many times have you told us all work and no play is no good for us? You’ve got way too much on your plate.”

“I—”

“She’s right about that. We’ve all noticed it lately,” Rebecca said, interrupting her. “You’ve lost some spark, girlie. You’ve been downright serious.”

Kincaid frowned.

“And a serious Kincaid is not a happy Kincaid. Plus, you’re going to need a little fun to get through that haunted house renovation,” Liv said. “Why not have it with him?”

She stared at her friends as if they’d been taken over by pod people. Where were her reasonable, cautious counterbalances?

“Because…reasons,” Kincaid said, slapping the table lightly.

Rebecca smiled as she set down her glass. “Reasons?”

Kincaid threw up her hands. “Yes. We were best friends since we were kids. We worked at the bookstore together. He was close friends with…Graham.”

Rebecca and Liv both frowned. Kincaid had confided in them about what Graham had meant to her.

Ash stepped back to the table, hands full of drinks. He set them each down in front of the right person. Kincaid smiled as her margarita appeared in front of her. “You carried those like a pro.”

Ash’s lips kicked up at the corner. “You don’t become a published writer out of the gate. I waited more than my fair share of tables in college.”

The information was simply conversational, the story of so many college students, but it hit her in a weird place that she didn’t know about that time in his life. After high school, there was just a big blank space where Ash was concerned. As if he’d been surgically removed from her life. She picked up her drink and took a long sip.