“Well, sometimes life brings us surprises,” I replied, thinking back to those early days. After Noah, I’d gone to the alternative high school and lived with Ruger’s mom. It hadn’t been easy. “I couldn’t give him up, so I figured it out. What doesn’t kill us, and all that shit.”

I waved my hand airily to illustrate the point.

Kimber burst out laughing, and it was just like high school again. God, I loved her. We made our way out to the backyard, sitting at a tile-topped table under a vine-draped pergola. Her backyard really was gorgeous. Totally different than Ruger’s wild acreage … Kimber had a perfectly manicured little Garden of Eden in the suburbs.

“So, you’re staying with Jesse Gray,” she said, arching a brow. I laughed.

“I haven’t heard him called Jesse since his mom died,” I replied. “He goes by Ruger.”

“Um, yeah,” she said, eyes drifting away from mine as she sipped her drink thoughtfully. “I don’t want to be negative, but is this a good thing? I thought you hated him. I mean, things got bad there before you left … It was an ugly time.”

“Um, ‘hate’ is probably too strong a word for Ruger,” I replied, taking a sip from my flamingo-themed glass. Ugh, way too much tequila. Yuck. She wasn’t kidding about packing in weeks of social life. I set it back down, eyeing the yard speculatively. When she went inside, I’d dump it on a shrub or something.

Did tequila kill shrubs?

“I’d say our relationship is a little tense, though,” I added. “He was kind of a jackass about me coming back to town, but I have to admit, it’s a good move for us. Things weren’t so great in Seattle.”

Kimber made a soothing noise and waved her hand at me.

“You’ll be glad you came back,” she replied. “If nothing else, now you’ll have me around to babysit for you. I promise—no drinking when I’m watching your kid. Scout’s honor.”

“They kicked you out of Scouts.”

“Only the Girl Scouts,” she mused. “Those boys always found room for me in their tents. Seriously, though, Noah’s a great kid, and it’s not like I get to go out and do anything these days anyway. Not that I mind—I’ve had my fun.”

I snickered at that. She didn’t even blush. I wasn’t entirely sure she was joking about the scouts and their tents.

“Speaking of fun …” she said slowly, swirling her drink. “I need to tell you something.”

I glanced over at her, and for the first time since I’d known her, Kimber looked embarrassed.

“What?” I asked, a little nervous.

Nothing embarrassed Kimber.

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to spit it out,” she replied, swallowing. “I slept with Ruger three years ago. It was a one-night thing, nothing special. I figured you should know, since I might want to come and hang out at your new place sometime. Full disclosure.”

I gaped at her.

“Why did you sleep with Ruger?”

She cocked a brow at me, eyes knowing.

“Seriously?” she asked, and I flushed. Of course I knew why. “It was before Ryan, so it’s not like I did something wrong. You were still living in Olympia and could hardly stand him long enough to let him see Noah. I thought I was in the clear.”

I looked away from her, trying to process. The thought of her and Ruger felt wrong. In fact, it made me kind of angry. And that was ridiculous, because it wasn’t like I had any business being upset. Not only that, it’d been three years ago. A full year after things fell to shit here, and not even Kimber knew all the details on that one …

Strong or not, I took a big gulp of my margarita, which blazed a nasty, fiery trail down my throat. My lungs spasmed in protest.

“You aren’t planning to do it again, are you?” I asked once I stopped coughing. She burst out laughing and shook her head.

“Of course not!” Kimber sputtered. “For one, I’m married. Remember? You were in the wedding, dumbass … But even if I wasn’t, he’s not a return-trip kind of guy. I mean, I’d have done him again, because he’s that good—trust me—but he’s definitely not the type to stick around. He’s fucked half of Idaho. It was fun, but I don’t get off on being one of many.”

“Do we have to talk about this?” I asked, squirming.

“No, not really,” she said. “But I wanted you to know, just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“Well, just in case I come over. It seems weird not to tell you, now that I know you have a thing for him. I didn’t know that when I fucked him, though. I swear. I thought you hated him as much as you hate Zach.”

“I don’t have a thing for him,” I said quickly.

“Don’t bother denying it,” she replied lightly, giving a theatrical shudder. “I can see it in your face when you talk about him, and I get it. He’s one of those guys you just want to shove down and lick all over. Which I did, actually. He’s nasty in bed, too, never tried some of that shit before. Pierced dick. I shit you not.”

My eyes widened and I took another gulp of my drink.

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “Does that mean—wait, no. No. I don’t want to know.”

She burst out laughing.

“The answer to your unasked question is yes,” she said, leering comically. “But you need to stay away from him, babe. No kidding on that one.”

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to be annoyed with Kimber, but you just couldn’t. She was too sweet and crazy to get pissed at.

“I live with him,” I said dryly. “I can’t stay away.”

Her smile faded.

“I guess that’s my point,” she said thoughtfully. “But you can keep your distance in other ways. You need to build your own life and cut out any fantasies of messing around with him, because it won’t end well. If you guys fall into bed one night, you better be ready to wake up and clear out before the next chick shows up. And the next one and the next one and the one after that. That’s just how he is.”

“I know. Pisser, hmmm?”

“Well, it’s not like you have to give up on sex,” Kimber said. “Like I said, I’m stuck at home all the time anyway. Might as well watch Noah so you can go out and get some. You’re hot—guys’ll be crawling all over you. In fact, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

“I don’t do setups,” I told her.

“You will,” she replied knowingly. “Trust me, when you see his picture you’ll be all over him. His name is Josh, he works with Ryan, and he’s loaded.”

She turned on her phone, flipped around until she found what she wanted, then handed it over.

Damn. This guy really was hot, in a pretty, clean-cut lawyer kind of way.

“Okay,” I told her.

She burst out laughing and I chugged the rest of the margarita. Ava squawked over the baby monitor and Kimber groaned.

“Fuck my life …”

As Kimber went inside to check on her, I pulled off my sarong and slid down into the pool, considering Kimber’s cute friend. Unfortunately, when I tried to imagine him kissing me, I thought about sucking on Ruger’s lip ring instead. Then I thought about sucking on other things, which wasn’t productive at all.

What exactly did a pierced dick look like, anyway? And how would it feel inside?

I shivered.

Kimber finally got Ava settled and came back outside, jumping into the water with me.

“So, have you started job hunting yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I replied. “Ruger wants to see if there’s something I can do with the club. I’m on the fence about that. Not sure I want to get involved.”

“Well, if your goal is to make good money, the best place to work is The Line.”

“The strip club?” I asked, widening my eyes. Everyone knew about The Line, of course, but I’d never been there.

“Yup. Totally paid for my degree that way,” she replied, leaning back into the water to wet her hair. I gaped as she came back up.

“You worked at a strip club? Stripping? Seriously?”

Kimber laughed.

“No, I worked there valet parking,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I stripped. Made really good money, too. I only had to work two nights a week. It kicked ass.”