I remembered the day, of course I did. I’d watched The Fast and the Furious again and pretended to be Letty because she was the most badass character I’d ever seen. I still had the result of my bicycle-drifting mishap on my leg, exactly where Ash had touched me, a smooth scar he’d always said looked like Lake Erie.

“I made you promise not to tell Mom because I didn’t want stitches,” I whispered, the excitement of something about the two of us coming back so intense, it almost made me want to throw up. I couldn’t lie, wouldn’t pretend he was mistaken or it wasn’t true. This memory was different. It was about him and me.

“Small things are coming back all the time,” Ash said. “I’m getting little glimpses here and there. I don’t tell you about all of them—”

“What?” I stared at him, blinking hard as my stomach lurched. “Why?”

“Because they might not be real. How many times have you told me I’m mistaken?”

“But you’ll only know if you ask me.”

“Or Lily,” he added.

“Yes, her, too,” I said, forcing a smile as the rest of my cheerfulness evaporated at the mention of her name. I couldn’t be happy while she and Keenan kept disrupting our lives and messing with Ash’s head. It was time to problem solve, tackle things full-on. “You’ll be okay, right? I have to go out for a while, but I won’t be long. You wash up and we can make dinner when we get back.”

“About that,” he said. “I invited Lily over.”

“That’s great,” I said, and before he had a chance to answer or see the expression on my face, I headed for the door. Once outside I got in my car and made the short trip to Keenan’s. He stood in the garage, his head bent over the engine of his car, a pack of tallboys by his feet, two discarded crumpled cans lying by an overflowing garbage can. When I got out of my car and he turned around, a smirk spread over his face.

“How’s the patient?” he said. “Bled to death yet?”

“Stay away from him, Keenan.”

“What is it with you women? First Fiona gives me a hard time, now you. He had it coming, he still does.”

“Stay away from Ash or—”

“Or what?” He waved his hands around in mock terror. “You and Ms. Hetherington are going to gang up on me? Help me. I’m scared.”

“Who?”

“Lily, your new BFF.” He raised his eyebrows and let out a long whistle. “So, you had no idea she changed her name? I did wonder...and tell you what, with her dubious past she’s the perfect match for your asshole of a stepbrother.”

I stared at him, watched his grin widen. “What are you talking about?”