“I promise you can trust me to be confidential. If you don’t want anyone to know, I won’t breathe a word.”
“I need another drink for this,” I say, snatching a second can of vodka cranberry from the refrigerator and dumping it into my glass. At this rate, we’ll both be drunk before any of our friends even get here.
We move into the living room, and I glance at the clock on the wall, wondering if there is enough time to explain.
“We can get party-ready in record time, and all the food and drinks are done,” Ash says, reading my mind.
I flop down beside her on the leather sectional. “Does the name Reeve Lancaster mean anything to you?” I ask, watching her brow creasing.
“The actor?” she says, still looking confused.
“Yeah.” I wipe my clammy hands down the front of my pajama pants. “Reeve is my ex. He’s the guy who broke my heart.”
Her eyes pop wide, and I can almost see the light bulb going off in her head. She hops up. “No fucking way! You’re the girlfriend he cheated on with that tramp Saffron Roberts?”
I exhale heavily. “Yep. That sucker would be me.” I take a healthy glug of my drink.
“I don’t usually pay attention to Hollywood gossip, but I heard mention of it in an online Facebook group, only because I’m a massive fan of theRydeville Eliteseries. I didn’t see any details though, so I don’t know the specifics.” Wincing slightly, she adds, “Twisted Betrayalis coming to the cinema here in a couple of weeks, and I was actually going to ask you to come see it with me.”
“Hard pass,” I drawl. “If I never see that bitch’s face again, it’ll be a happy day.”
She sinks onto the couch beside me. “What happened?”
I give her the CliffsNotes version of how it all went down. She listens intently without interruption, reaching out to hold my hand during some of the harder parts. “He’s a cheater, a liar, and a coward,” she seethes when I tell her about that awful Christmas Day. “I am so sorry you went through that. No woman deserves to be treated like that.” She rubs my arm. “I probably shouldn’t admit I had a little crush on Reeve at first. But as soon as I heard that stuff online about him being a cheater, he got added to my shit list.”
“Mine too.”
“Cheating is a deal breaker for me.”
“Same here. As soon as it was confirmed, I ended things, even though it killed me.”
“You were right,” she says.
“About what?”
“Wearekindred spirits.” She slings her arm around my shoulders. “I think you and I were meant to find one another. Maybe together, we can help ourselves to fully heal.”