The door burst open and in stumbled Jared and a woman who appeared to be sucker-fished to his face.

Jared’s hands were tangled in her hair as he turned her to the door, pushing her up against it, lifting her so that her combat boots dangled on either side of his hips.

“Dude!” Quentin said, standing up from the couch and glancing toward Lara.

Lara’s face was white as she slowly stood up, her eyes glued to the amorous couple.

“Dude!” Quentin called again when his first attempt failed at getting his cousin to stop dry-humping in the living room. “JA-RED.”

Jared looked back over his shoulder after Quentin called his name and did an almost comical double-take. His eyes were bleary and his lips swollen, his mussed hair tumbling over his forehead. He blinked at his ex-girlfriend.

Slowly, the woman he was kissing slid back down to her feet and peeked around Jared’s body, her face a grimace of chagrin once she realized she had an audience. Then recognition dawned over her face and she buried her face in her hands.

“Sylvie?” Cat gasped.

“So,” Quentin said as he rocked back on his heels. “I guess you went to the Jarhouse to pick up girls and you ran into Sylvie, huh?”

“Sylvie Peters?” Lara said, her hands on her hips, looking back and forth between Jared and Sylvie. “From middle school?”

“Oh, my gosh.” Cat—horrified—peeked through her fingers. “I can’t believe you all went to middle school together. This is—Wow. This is really something.”

She glanced at Lara again and saw a very familiar expression on her face. Just like that, Cat was back in the ice cream aisle, watching her ex-boyfriend suck the lips off her oldest friend. Even when a relationship was officially over, this wasn’t necessarily something you wanted to walk in on.

The drama was just heating up. The color was quickly returning to Lara’s face. Cat did not want to stick around and see just how red those cheeks were going to get.

Cat twisted on her toes and pecked Quentin on the cheek. “I’m gonna go. I’ll let you all, um, figure this out.”

She bolted toward the door, reaching for the door handle. “Um. Sorry,” Cat said as she danced one way and Jared and Sylvie danced the other. Nothing was more awkward than that let’s-get-past-one-another shuffle.

She drew a deep breath as she stepped into the hall. She’d never felt that trash-compactor scene quite so viscerally before.

“Cat,” Quentin said as he joined her in the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him. “Sorry about the...mess.”

She laughed. “It’s totally fine. I just thought that I didn’t need to be there, in everyone’s business. I’m not exactly a key player in that drama.”

“Me either.”

“Well,” Cat ribbed him. “It’s your drama a little bit. Jared did kinda steal your girl. I guess Sylvie had a crush on your cousin too.”

She expected him to laugh but his face just kind of shut down. “They usually do,” Quentin muttered. “Ah, look, Cat, have a good night, okay? See you around.”