Page 22 of Homewrecker

“You’re so nice.” Ashley leaned against Elizabeth as they stood at the bar, waiting for the bartender to get to them. “Why are you so nice?”

“Why not?” Elizabeth laughed. “I’m just glad you came out with us this time!”

It was true. Elizabeth had invited her before, but Ashley had never gone. She got along well enough with her co-workers, but…

“I was betrayed by my best friend.” It sounded very dramatic when she said it out loud like that. “She’s on her honeymoon right now… with my dad. Whose divorce from my mom finalized right before their wedding.”

“What?” Elizabeth gasped, her eyes rounding. “How? Oh my God, no wonder you haven’t felt like going out!”

No wonder.

And no wonder she’d had trouble making new friends once she’d needed them. How was she supposed to trust someone again after that?

But Elizabeth seemed nice, and Ashley was… Ashley was lonely. Needy. The best human interaction she’d had recently was sleeping with a married man, the father of her former bestie, and what did that say about her? Nothing good, probably. Especially since she’d spent every night afterward masturbating while thinking of him before she could fall asleep.

She’d even renamed her favorite vibrator Mr. Black.

How sad was that?

“I wouldneversleep with your dad.” Elizabeth slung her arm around Ashley’s shoulder, and Ashley burst out laughing.

“Thank you. Back at you.”

“How is that not girl code 101?” Elizabeth shook her head. “It’s okay. We’re friends now. We’re going to make tonight awesome. You don’t need her. You need to get your mind off things. We should talk to those guys over there.” She pinkie waved at a couple guys farther down the bar. They were pretty cute. One of them winked, and Elizabeth giggled.

Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to hook up with a bar rando. After all, she’d already hooked up with a semi-stranger at the wedding. That was way more messed up than hooking up with a guy her age who she didn’t know and wasn’t related to her, even tangentially.

Oh, wow. She hadn’t even thought about that.

Was Mr. Black like her grandfather-in-law now?

She started to giggle hysterically. Elizabeth gave her a strange look, but Ashley wasn’t drunk enough to sharethatthought. Especially after Elizabeth’s comment about ‘girl code.’ Did Ashley get a pass on sleeping with Rebecca’s father since Rebecca had done it first? Or was this one of those times when she was supposed to be the better person? Better not to tell Elizabeth and find out she thought it was the latter.

Ashley needed new friends.

Thankfully, the guys from down the bar had already moved closer.

They really were cute, though neither of them was doing it for her. Not the way Mr. Black had, but then they weren’t forbidden fruit. Might not be a fair comparison.

“Hey there, ladies. Having a good time?” The darker-haired one smiled at Elizabeth. He might be as hot as Mr. Black, given a few years, but right now, he looked kind of… unfinished. Like a bourbon that needed a few more years in the barrel.

“Fantastic.”

“Can we buy you a couple drinks?” The other one wasn’t blond, but he wasn’t a brunette, either. He was somewhere in between, with startling blue eyes that were focused on Ashley.

She smiled at him.

“Sure.”

A drink didn’t mean anything. When not-blond raised his hand, the bartender hurried over, much faster service than she and Elizabeth had been getting on their own.

Everyone put in their orders.

“I’m Theo,” Not-Blond said, holding out his hand.

“Ashley.” She shook his hand, but then he didn’t let go, and she laughed a little as she tugged it away. “We’re not at the hand-holding stage yet, Theo.”

“Yet.” He winked at her. He was very winky, which wasn’t entirely unappealing.

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