Page 255 of Hot Mess
If he said the word about some other dude, Amber would get it. She’d hear what he had to say, and she’d fucking respect it.
So would Katie or Maggie or Dylan’s sister, Julie, or any of the other women I knew who were in serious relationships with my friends. Because they had arelationship.
They had a fucking bond.
Trust.
Security.
And everything about Danica’s little speech just tweaked my insecurities.
“Hey, Danica,” I growled out. “Why the hell was your ex-boyfriend at your birthday dinner?”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. I thought that was family only.”
“I didn’t say it was family only. But—”
“I guess I was wrong,” I said. “Honest doesn’t go hand-in-hand with nice.”
Instead of getting mad, she softened. “I just… I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, Ash.”
I made this ugly laughing sound that made her cringe. “So you lied to me to be nice, is that it?”
“No. I just… I didn’t know how to tell you he was coming without making you feel… left out. So I just didn’t mention it.”
“And that’s better?”
“No.Shit.I’m so sorry I wasn’t honest with you.” She put her face in her hands for a moment. Then she shifted closer, looking up into my face. “The truth is, I didn’t even want him to come to the dinner. But I knew he was already coming when you and I talked about it yesterday. Margot and Jacob hosted the dinner at their place, and Carter works with Jacob. That’s how I met him in the first place, at one of their dinners. They invited him to the birthday dinner without asking me first, and that was back before I even met you. And honestly, I didn’t particularly want you to run into him again. You didn’t get along so well the first time.”
“You thought I was gonna cause a scene at your family birthday dinner or something?”
“No. More like I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t do something obnoxious, and I thought it might reflect badly on me. Like maybe… you’d think less of me?”
I blinked at her, processing that. “You think I’m gonna judge you for who you dated in the past, even if he was a fucking douche, when I told you all about my exes, the good, the bad, and the ugly?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I totally screwed up.”
I stared at her.
She did seem sorry. It did feel like she was telling the truth.
I was still fucking annoyed that he was there, though—with her family, at her birthday dinner, and I wasn’t.
Because I wasn’t invited.
She sighed. She looked upset, and I’d never really seen her upset before. Plus, she was definitely drunk. I really didn’t want to ruin her birthday party for her.
But I was pissed off.
“I’m really sorry if I hurt you, Ashley,” she said softly. “I definitely never meant to.”
“Okay.”
“Are you okay?” she asked, searching my face.
“I don’t know. Give me some time to figure it out.” I turned and headed back toward the door.
