Ashton Scott

“Holy. Shit. No.”

“Yes, he is.”

“What the actual fuck? Why did he kiss you the other night if he’s married? And how did we not know this about him?”

“Before you get carried away, he’s getting a divorce… Well, at least I think he is. They’re not together, so there is that.”

“You need to give me more here, Callie. None of this is making much sense.”

“I can’t. I need to talk to Luke first and make sure he’s okay for me to share more.”

“Ugh. You drive me crazy with your refusal to share stuff,” she mutters.

“Yeah, well you like it when it’s your private stuff I don’t share.”

“You are a pain in my ass, chick. Why did I have to find the one best friend who has the morals you do? Why couldn’t I have found a loose-lips bestie?”

“Stop your grumbling. You adore me.” I pick at the sandwich sitting in front of me. I only ordered it because I felt I should eat. I’m not really that hungry.

“So if Luke’s getting a divorce, did he kiss you again?”

I sigh. “We had sex, but—”

Before I can go on, she cuts me off. “Oh, my God, you finally broke that drought! And with Luke-fucking-Hardy.”

“Well, I may have broken the drought, but he left pretty damn fast afterwards. And I really think that the personal shit he’s got going on could get in the way of any more action between us.”

Personal shit?

More like a personal mess of epic proportions, Callie. Don’t go getting your hopes up that this is going to end in an easy happy-fucking-ever-after.

“I’m really going to have to find a computer and google the shit out of him.”

“Please don’t do that.” I’m almost begging. “It really is private stuff, and I’m pretty sure if Luke wanted everyone to know, he would have told us by now.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “You really like him, don’t you? Like, this isn’t just a casual shot at something here, is it? You want more with Luke.”

My tummy flutter

s as I think about what she said. “Yes, I really like him.”

“Okay, I won’t google him, but I want you to know this is going to be hard for me. I have to work with him tonight, and it’s going to take all my willpower not to say anything about all this. You better be ready to shower gifts or some shit on me for being a good best friend.”

A smile spreads across my face. Meeting Avery the first week after I moved to Brisbane three years ago was destined. She took me under her wing and made me feel like I hadn’t just made a bad decision by packing up and leaving my home in Melbourne. And she hasn’t let me down since. She’s always got my back. “I’ll be sure to stock up on Chupa Chups. They’ll fit in my budget.” They’re also her favourite lollipops.

“Has the café cut more hours from you?”

“It’s so up and down at the moment. I’ve worked heaps of hours the last couple of days, but I have hardly any scheduled now for the next week. More might come up at the last minute, but I’m having to dip into my savings and I hate doing that.”

“You could ask Luke if he’s got any hours. We had a girl quit the other day.”

“God no. I don’t want to work for the guy I just slept with. That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

“It really is.” She sighs. “Just ignore me today, I’m not with it.”

“What’s going on? Do I need to be worried about you?”

“No, I’m okay, just really tired. My eBay shop has been really busy the last week, so I’ve been working heaps to get the orders out. And on top of that, Helena is having a bad week, so I’ve been trying to talk her off the ledge. I just need a week of sleep and a good lay to get me back to normal.”