She lifted an eyebrow. “Awful? I know he’s your friend, but he’s always been arrogant and a bit of a jerk. Especially toward women. He never liked me.”

“Rafe has changed. I know it sounds weird, but after his accident he did a one-eighty. Anyway, he and Bryony are back from their honeymoon and they’re coming into town in a few days to put his apartment on the market.”

“He’s moving?”

That shocked Kelly. Rafael was an urbanite through and through. He loved the city. Loved to travel. She couldn’t imagine him anywhere else.

“Yeah, he and Bryony are going to maintain a residence on Moon Island.”

“Wow. Rafael must really be in love.”

“Amazing what men in love will do for the women they love,” Ryan said softly.

Kelly didn’t meet his gaze and concentrated instead on her soup. Lobster bisque. After six months of bland diner food, she savored every bite. Her taste buds were all simultaneously orgasming.

She’d eaten more in the past week than she had in all those months in Houston, and she was going to balloon like a blowfish if she kept this up. She’d even closed her eyes when they’d weighed her at her doctor’s appointment the previous day, not wanting to know how much weight she’d gained.

“He wants us all to get together.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Define us.”

“Me, you, Dev and Cam and, of course, Rafael and Bryony. I also thought it would be good to invite Mom so you’d have the buffer of other people. We can get it over with in one clean sweep.”

It sounded like an evening from hell, not that she’d admit that to him. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being surrounded by Ryan’s closest friends, who of course all had been told that she’d cheated on Ryan with Jarrod. She nearly bared her teeth in response to that thought. And then there was his darling mother. All the evening lacked was…Jarrod.

“And Jarrod?” she asked icily.

“He won’t be invited. I wouldn’t do that to you, Kell,” Ryan said quietly.

“When is this supposed to take place?”

“Next week. Probably at the end of the week. They’ll be busy organizing his apartment. We’ll eat at Tony’s. You like it there. It’s nice and casual. We can leave at any time and there won’t be any obligation to stay and visit.”

She sighed. She had to hand it to him. He was working hard to make things as easy for her as possible. The least she could do is be accommodating. His friends were important to him. His mother was important to him.