“Did you see Ashlyn? Where did she go?” Josh questioned as he hurried towards me.

“She went into that apartment.” I pointed and he took a hasty step away from me but stopped when my hand shot out and grabbed hold of his arm. “Josh I don’t think she wants to see anyone.”

“Fuck it! I knew this was a mistake. I fucked up yet again.” He ran his hands through his chocolate brown hair and began pacing the empty hall like he had the weight of the world on his broad shoulders.

“Has Ky arrived?” I asked, desperate to leave this awkward mess in the hall.

Josh stopped and turned back to me. The worry on his face not lost. “Ky arrived alright. He took one look at Lachlan and started going all caveman and throwing around shit.”

“What do you mean? Who is Lachlan?”

“Lachlan and Ashlyn have history, and Ky doesn’t like it. Thank fuck he left before he did something stupid.” Suddenly it seemed like everything dawned on him and he pleaded at me with his pale green eyes. “Can you go and make sure Ashlyn is okay? She won’t slam the door in your face.”

Everything that Josh had just divulged bounced around in my head. Who was Lachlan? Why did Ky care so much? Were Ky and Ashlyn secretly together? The feeling of being in the middle of some screwed-up game flooded me. Was I a pawn in a sick and twisted game? My mind went through every conversation I have had with Ky and Ashlyn but I couldn’t see any clues. Paranoia was a bitch that had become my evil sidekick.

“Please Eden,” Josh begged. “Go and see if she is okay?”

Nodding in agreement, I had no real choice but to say yes. I took a deep breath and made my way toward apartment 13C while all I could think about was Ky. I needed to know what was going on, but I knew that my first concern was Ashlyn. As I stood in front of the bright white wooden door, I hesitated briefly and shot a look back at Josh who smiled weakly at me before slipping back into his apartment, leaving me alone in the emptiness of the hall.

I lifted my fist knocking softly on the door and waited.

“Piss off Josh.”

“Babe, it’s Eden.”

The click of the lock turning filled my ears and slowly the door swung open and revealed Ashlyn. Her cheeks were streaked with shed tears and her eyes rimmed red. The usually happy and sassy Ashlyn looked completely distraught as she opened the door in silent invitation.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly. What the hell kind of question was are you okay? She clearly wasn’t. “That’s a stupid question.” I shook my head dismissively.

Her smile gave me hope. I followed her into the vast open space of her apartment and hesitated by the couch as she glided into the kitchen. Not surprisingly, she reached for the freezer and pulled out a bottle of vodka before collecting two glasses from the cabinet and pouring in the crystal clear liquid. She seemed to have one mission and that mission was to forget. As she came toward me, a frown tinged her lips. Accepting the glass, I followed her lead and collapsed onto the black leather couch that took up the majority of space in her living room.

“Men are fucked up,” she admitted, after she took a large sip of straight vodka. “If it wasn’t for their cock I’d become a lesbian.”

“You clearly haven’t got the right type of vibrator,” I shot back with a smirk.

Her laughter was like music to my ears.

“Are you going to tell me who Lachlan is?” I asked softly, deciding not to hold back.

“He is the one who got away.” Her response was lightning quick, spoken without a single thought.

“Oh.” I took a sip of the vodka and the feeling of the strong liquor floating down my throat excited me. “Do you want to talk about it? I have all night, and you have vodka.”

A sheer look of determination flashed over her face, and it was almost like I was witnessing her sass reignite. “I feel like I should go back to Josh’s and flaunt the fuck out myself in front of Lachlan. I didn’t even know he was back. You’d think after two years together that he’d tell me when he’d be back in town. Obviously Australians have a different understanding of what consideration means. Fucking kangaroo lovers.”

My laughter filled the room at Ashlyn’s brutal declaration of Australians. A knowing smirk flickered over her lips and then she tipped her head back and the vodka disappeared.

“So Lachlan obviously came on the scene after I left?”

“Yep, the year after I finished college. Met him out one night in the city, it was the accent that shot straight into my panties, and it stayed there for two years before he decided to go back to Australia without a word or even a fucking note.”

Ashlyn’s face dropped and the tough exterior she portrayed to the world slightly shattered with the brief quiver of her lip.

“Josh seems to be pretty upset about it,” I probed, trying to encourage her to dish out what was going on.

“So he fucking should,” she spat in response.

Josh was clearly a touchy subject. We fell into silence, and I swirled the glass and the vodka swished in front of me. I was so tempted to throw back the vodka, but I knew that would be a mistake. For far too long alcohol was my best friend, my mind and body numbing sanctuary. Thank fuck my parents didn’t see me then. I drank so much that all I had the ability to do was drink, pass out, and repeat. The first six months with Tori was spent in my bedroom, shielded by an oversized comforter and a bad relationship with vodka. It worked. I forgot about Jeremy; I forgot the feeling of his breath on my neck as he pounded relentlessly inside me without remorse; I forgot about the feeling of being torn and destroyed at the hands of another. I simply forgot. It was easier that way. I continued to focus on the vodka in front of me as I sunk into the depths of my memories; I was becoming that girl again, the girl who I had worked too long to forget. I couldn’t let Ashlyn see that girl. I didn’t want anyone to know that girl.

“Eden!” Ashlyn’s loud voice shattered my haze. I lifted my gaze and found her worried eyes staring back at me. Fuck. I forced a smile and shook my head. “Where did you go?”

“Sorry, got lost for a minute there.” I leaned over placing the glass on the coffee table in front of me. “So, how about it? Let’s get you cleaned up and back to Josh’s. Go in there and show Lachlan the confident, sassy, don’t give a fuck Ashlyn that I know and love. Don’t let any man make you feel like this. They don’t deserve it. This is why I am single.” I winked and stood from the couch, grabbing her empty glass from the table and taking them into the kitchen.

“If Ky has anything to do with it you won’t be single for long,” Ashlyn said softly. My head flew up at the sound of her words.

“We are just friends.” I nervously laughed.

“With benefits?” Ashlyn teased.

“He was very vocal when he said he wouldn’t be touching me.”

“I call bullshit.”

••••

Twenty minutes later Ashlyn and I left her apartment and made our way back to Josh’s. Ashlyn’s confidence was back, roaring like a lioness ready to show Lachlan just who she was now. I knew there was more to their story than she was willing to divulge but I had no right to push. With a steady hand, Ashlyn opened the door and we stepped in. Who the hell were these people? Wasn’t this meant to be a quiet dinner? The first person I saw was Josh and his eyes smiled when he saw me and Ashlyn. He had a stunning blonde attached to his neck, and he looked like he was enjoying every minute. When he saw Ashlyn, he pushed the girl away and strode across the room with Ashlyn set in his gaze. Ashlyn grabbed my hand pulling me beside her.

“I am so fucking sorry Ashlyn, I didn’t know he would turn up. I thought he would be the bigger person and contact you. I had no fucking clue.”

“Where is he?” she asked sternly.

“In the kitchen.”

Ashlyn left without another word, taking off on her heel and strutting through the crowd with confidence in every step she took. My eyes traveled with her, and I watched as she stormed into the kitchen and stood directly in front of a tall, tanned guy with shorn blond hair whose body language eased the moment she gave him a reluctant hug.