‘He wants a threesome.’ She gulped down another drink as tears pooled in her eyes. ‘But not with him. He wants to watch me have sex – with two other guys. He got super mad when I told him no.’ She shook her head. ‘Maybe I overreacted. Maybe I should’ve at least considered it or listened to him anyway. I was just feeling a little hurt and shocked.’ Jersey grabbed her phone, and Sophie slapped it out of her hand.

‘For God’s sake, are you seriously going to text that jerk now? What is wrong with you?’

Holly stepped in before things could get heated. ‘Jersey, what Sophie is trying to say is that you did not overreact. At all. If it’s something you want, then fine. But I don’t think it is. And if you give in to this, what’s going to stop him from pushing you into doing other things you’re not comfortable with?’ She placed her hand over Jersey’s and gave it a squeeze. ‘Honey, you have every right to say no and mean it.’

‘And not to be pressured, and especially not bullied into a yes,’ Leigh Ann added.

Jersey rubbed the base of her neck, her body seeming to shrink in front of them. ‘Maybe I just need to hear him out. Maybe he was just embarrassed to ask and got mad when I didn’t listen.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Jersey. Has the way your father treats your mother taught you nothing about guys? Beau. Is. An. Ass. Accept it and move on. Or keep denying it, but stop whining when he treats you like a piece of meat.’

Sophie’s words were harsh, and both Holly and Leigh Ann sucked in their breath, anticipating a dramatic explosion.

Jersey shoved her plate away and slammed her hand down, almost knocking her drink over. ‘Why are you always so mean to me?’ Crimson crawled up her neck and into her cheeks while fat teardrops spilled down her face.

‘How exactly am I being mean to you, dear cousin? By speaking the truth?’

‘You don’t understand what I’m going through! First my grandma dies, then Mom and Dad announce they’re divorcing after thirty years! All I have is Beau!’

‘What do you mean all you have is Beau?’ Pointing, Sophie waved her arm in a circle around the table. ‘What about us?’

‘What Sophie means—’ Leigh Ann began.

‘What Sophie means,’ she snarled, ‘is that it is insulting for Jersey to tell us all she has is Beau when not only are we sitting right here in front of her, but we, not Beau, are always there for her – me, since we were children, Holly since we were twelve, and Leigh Ann since mid-freshman year. On the other hand,’ – by now, flames were shooting from Sophie’s eyes – ‘Beau has “been there” only as a condescending jerk for about six months. So, yeah, what Sophie means is that that was a crappy thing for Jersey to say.’