I shook my head. Ben was her latest live-in boyfriend. He was perfectly fine, perfectlydull.
“Whatever you say.”
“Don’t. It’s not like that with Malcolm. You know that.”
“Mhm.”
“We’re friends.”
“Sure.”
“Oh,fuck you, and tell me who put that pussy in a coma.”
I snorted. “Wow. Please never say that again.”
“Okay, okay. But seriously, Sash, what happened to you? One minute you’re at the reception, the next, poof, you’re gone.”
I downed the rest of my wine, wiping my lips with my fingertips. “I left with Luca Moretti.” Tapping my fingers against my lip, I finally said in a breathy whisper, “He may very well be a sex god. I don’t know that I’ve ever been this sore.”
Ashley was quiet for a minute. “Wow. You must be in love.”
She laughed, and I fell back into my pillows with a groan. “It would’ve been perfect, but he wanted to take me to lunch. Who wakes up from a one-night stand and is like, ‘You know what? I could really go for abolognese. You in?’ It was weird.”
“You know, some people are just polite. Who knows, maybe he wanted to carbo-load for round two.”
“No, not this guy. If you want energy for another go, you order room service. He wanted a post-bang date.”
“Why is that so bad?”
“It’s not. I’m just not that girl. After Beth, I realized I don’t have the time orattention spanfor a real relationship. It’s not fair to the other person.”
Ashley sucked her teeth. “Beth was a high maintenance princess. No amount of time was ever going to be enough for her. Don’t let that train wreck color your opinion on dating. Also, dates don’t equate to marriage,Sash.”
Squeezing my hand into a fist, I tried to keep my temper in check. “I fucking know that, but I also know that I would rather not have another Beth on my hands. That started as a casual thing and ended up being a fucking mess. I still feel guilty.”
Ashley cleared her throat.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be pushing you into things you aren’t ready for. Consider my lips zipped.”
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, and I picked at a loose thread on my duvet cover. Opening my mouth to speak, Ashley beat me to it.
“So,you’re really not going to see Luca again? Even with his freight train sexual prowess?”
So much for zipped lips.
“I don’t plan on it.” I shook my head. “It’sa shameLuca couldn’t be down with lots and lots of sex with no commitment.”
“We all can’t be like you.”
“You’re just jealous.”
Ashley sighed dramatically. “You’re right.” There was some rustling on Ashley’s end, like wrappers being opened.“It might be time to end things with Ben. We haven’t had sex in two months. Two fucking months! I’m going crazy.”
“Two months? That’s . . . I . . .”
“You sound like I told you I have cancer.”
“Sorry. I just can’t imagine going that long while living with my partner.”
Another sigh. I knew Ashley was miserable, but what I didn’t know waswhy she kept trying to make it work. “I know. I can’t believe this is my life now. Malcolm asked me if I had stock in Energizer. Dick.”