Madigan’s phone rang, startling her, and Marly’s name appeared on the screen. Finally. She had left Marly a message last night after Tobias had dropped her off. Guys suck. Want to boy bash with me? I have ice cream. But shortly thereafter, another of their close friends, Sidney, Madigan’s cousin Gunner’s fiancée, had called and invited her over for pizza with their friend Steph, whom Gunner and Madigan had grown up with.

Gunner and Sidney had served in the Marines together, and now they ran Wicked Animal Rescue and lived in a farmhouse on the premises. Steph owned an herbal shop and volunteered at the rescue. The three of them wouldn’t be at the July Fourth festivities. They would be staying with the animals, so Madigan had joined them last night, expecting to have a girls’ night and talk about Tobias. But Gunner had stuck around. She loved her cousin, but she didn’t need him getting on her case about a guy who she would probably never see again after she picked up her Vespa, so she hadn’t mentioned Tobias. When she’d gotten home, she’d left another message for Marly, hoping that talking about the way Tobias had acted might put an end to thinking about him.

But once again, he was the star of her every naughty fantasy.

Madigan sat up, answering on speakerphone. “Hey.”

“Hi. Sorry I didn’t call you back last night. I was out with Blaine.”

“All night?” Marly and Blaine hung out often. Madigan wondered if there was something going on between them, but Marly denied it, and if there was, that was a secret Madigan didn’t want to keep, which was why she quickly said, “Wait. Don’t answer that.”

“Would you stop? He was in a bad mood over something that happened at work.” Blaine and Maverick owned a stone distribution and stonemasonry company. “We took his boat out and decided to spend the night on the water.”

“I don’t want details.”

“That’s good, because there are none to give. Baz and Evie were with us.” Madigan’s cousin Baz and his best friend since childhood, Evie Lawrence, worked together at Baz’s veterinary clinic, on the same property as Wicked Animal Rescue. Baz lived above the clinic. “I’m sorry I didn’t see your messages last night. We started playing Cards Against Humanity, and Evie brought wine. You know how that goes. But I would love to boy bash with you. Who are we bashing?”

“I don’t want to boy bash anymore, but maybe you can help me figure something out. You won’t believe what happened yesterday. You know how my Vespa was acting up?” Still in her pajamas, she padded out to the kitchen to make coffee as she told Marly about her encounter with Tobias. “I don’t get it. Why do you think he turned me down like that?”