So, I took Bowie for a short walk around the block, hopped in a quick shower to wash the layers of sex off of my skin, and then made myself a breakfast sandwich. As I sat down to eat it, I checked my phone to see if Harley had texted.

No luck.

But I had a ridiculous amount from my sister.

I scrolled through a couple of them before rolling my eyes and giving up, shooting her a text to let her know that, yes, I was alive.

I tossed the phone back onto the counter, finished my sandwich, and went about getting ready for our kayaking trip. I was in the garage, attaching my kayak to the top of my Subaru Forester, when I heard Bowie barking from inside.

A smile came to my face. That must be Harley.

I headed back inside, only to find my dog not with the girl I’d been daydreaming about, but with my sister.

“Ashleigh, what are you doing here?”

She scooted her toe at Bowie. “You still haven’t trained it to not jump on people.”

“First of all, his name is Bowie. You can use his name. And second, he’s still a puppy.” I laughed as she tried to scoot away from him and he jumped on her again.

“See!” she said.

“Also, running away from him is only going to make him more playful.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re insufferable.”

“You were the one who got me the dog,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d let him jump on me.”

“He’s a dog, Ash. What did you expect?” I shook my head at my prim and proper sister.

She was in a beige Chanel suit with pink heels and had clearly had a fresh blowout for her shoulder-length blonde hair that was parted perfectly down the middle. Not a hair out of place.

“What are you doing here anyway? And how did you get in?”

She sidestepped Bowie. “I made a copy of your key.”

I sighed heavily through my nose. God, if that wasn’t the epitome of my family. “Lovely. Guess I’m having the locks changed.”

“You’re too lazy to do it,” she said, unbothered by my threat. “Anyway, I’m here to discuss the wedding.”

She plopped onto my leather couch. The one where I’d gone down on Harley the night before. A smirk came to my lips at the memory.

“What? Why do you look like that?”

“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about the wedding.”

“But I saw her dress!” Ashleigh said, pulling up her phone. She shoved it toward me. “How gawdy. If she’d married you, I would have picked out something way better. And these bridesmaids dresses.” She gagged.

“She wasn’t going to marry me,” I said with a shake of my head. “And her dress was perfect. You’re just being catty.”

Ashleigh reared back, pulling her phone to her chest. “Well, excuse me. Since when did you get over Annie Donoghue?”

Last night.

Well, no, that wasn’t true. It had been puttering out for years. Ever since she’d started dating Jordan. But it was last night when I realized that I’d been hanging on to nothing. Neither of us wanted it. Neither of us had ever really stood a chance. And it was better this way.

“A long time ago,” I told her. “I don’t want to bitch about the wedding. And I have plans, so if that’s all you’re here for, you should go.”