Page 34 of Sloane

I felt guilty as fuck for having left him, so I didn’t hesitate to resume petting him once we walked inside.

“Don’t fall for his neglected act. Josh picked him up this morning, and they spent the day at the beach. He just got home about thirty minutes ago.”

“Wait,” I heard Ashley say. “Josh Kennedy? Did he go to Verde Canyon?”

Ryan angled his head suspiciously. “We both did, but we’re six years apart. Why?”

“I think he and I went to school together.”

“Oh yeah? Was he a jerk?”

“Not to me. He was always friendly and really smart in all of my science classes. If I remember correctly, he went to Pepperdine?”

“Yeah. But he dropped out and started his own company making laundry detergent that comes in biodegradable packaging he developed. It was for a project in one of his chemical engineering classes, and he ran with it.”

“That’s amazing. Good for him.”

“How did you remember he went to Pepperdine?”

“Because I got accepted there, too.”

“But you didn’t go?”

“No, I went where I got the most scholarships—”

“Cal State Long Beach,” I supplied, trying not to puff my chest out that I knew that. “Where you’re also getting your doctorate.”

She looked at me with a smile. “You remembered.”

I returned her smile. “Of course I did.”

For a moment, as Ashley and I looked into each other’s eyes, we were the only two people in the room. Then Ryan broke the spell when he proclaimed louder than necessary, “Anyway, I hope you two are hungry.”

“Starving,” we proclaimed in unison, then turned back to grin at each other.

“You two are disgustingly adorable,” Ryan grumbled, then turned on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

“Your place looks great, dude,” I observed as we followed him into a gourmet kitchen with what appeared to be new cherry wood cabinets and shiny new appliances. Ryan took Ashley’s dessert and sat it on the new grey-flecked granite countertop, next to a basket of bread. On the island stovetop sat a pot of something boiling. Ryan turned the knob down.

“Thanks. It’s been a labor of love, of sorts.”

“Really? I thought it’s been keeping your mind off love.”

“That, too.”

“I can tell the cabinets and counters are new, but something’s different. What did you do?”

“I took down the wall that divided the two rooms”—he pointed to where a half-wall of cabinets now stood—“replaced the flooring and added a new island and range hood.”

“So, when you’re not working on your house, you’re working overtime to pay for all this,” I said with a grin. I was sure that copper range hood cost more than my first car.

“Pretty much. It keeps me busy.”

“And out of trouble.”

Ryan nodded solemnly. “That’s the goal.”

I looked over to find Ashley with quizzical brows, so I filled her in. “Ryan called off his wedding to Lauren—on the morning of—when he realized he was in love with Grace, whom he’d met the night before at his bachelor party. Except, Grace won’t date him until he’s been single for a year.” With a glance at Ryan who was glaring at me with his mouth open, I asked, “Did I forget anything?”

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