Page 56 of Sweet Like Whiskey

Slowly, Nicholas retakes his seat, angling his chair Ash’s way. “You left quickly,” he says.

I nearly wince. Strike one for the ex. Starting off with an accusation.

Ash stiffens next to me, and I give the back of his neck a squeeze, fingers sifting through the soft hair at his nape. There’s a distant part of me wondering what in the hell it is I’m doing, but the voice is easily ignored.

“That was my choice to make,” Ash answers calmly.

“But we didn’t get a chance to talk things through,” Nicholas responds, placing his palm flat on the table, almost like an offering. His eyes flit to me again before he says, voice low, “Does he have to be here?”

Ash’s lips tip up the tiniest bit, his smile sharper than usual. “You can ask him to leave if you want. I don’t control him.”

Nicholas’s eyes flick to me. “Could you give us some privacy, please?”

“No thanks,” I answer.

Ash huffs a laugh beside me as Nicholas frowns.

“Nick,” Ash says before making a soft sound and starting again. “Nicholas, I suggest you say what you came here to. I’m here. I’m listening. But I’m not feeling very patient.”

Nicholas lets out a breath. “I want you to come home.”

My hand flexes against the back of Ash’s neck.

“It’s not my home,” Ash answers. “And I’m sorry if you’re having second thoughts, but I’m not. We’re done.”

“Just like that?”

“There was nojustabout it,” Ash says, voice taking on a flintier edge. “We were roommates, Nick. For a long time. Do you even remember the last time we had sex?”

Nicholas’s face shutters, and he sits back in his seat, tension lining his frame.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be a criticism,” Ash says softly, letting out a sigh and setting his elbows on the table. I shift my hand down to his lower back, not wanting to let go. “It’s not about sex. There was no intimacy left between us, and you know it.”

“So—what?” Nicholas says, tone harsh. “You just ran and jumped into someone else’s bed?”

“Don’t,” Ash replies, his voice surprisingly calm. “We were broken up, and this”—he motions between him and me—“has nothing to do withus. Don’t try to twist this around on me. You had your chance to ask me to stay, and you didn’t.”

“Would you have if I’d asked?”

“No,” Ash answers simply.

I release a breath.

Nicholas looks off to the side of the bar, where a row of saddles are hung up along the wall as coat hooks. His jaw is tense, and I don’t know him well enough to tell if his expression is one of stubbornness or resignation.

Virginia takes that moment to return, setting four glasses with a finger each of what I assume to be whiskey down on the table before reclaiming her seat. She toys with her glass, looking around at the rest of us.

“What’s really going on here?” Ash asks, breaking the silence. “This isn’t like you, coming all this way just because I didn’t pick up the phone.”

“You can be impulsive, but I can’t?” Nicholas says, grabbing his glass. He sniffs the contents before downing it, trying to contain his small wince.

“Fair enough,” Ash mutters.

“I miss you,” his ex says roughly, setting his glass down with a clunk and staring resolutely at Ash. “I miss you, Ashley. The house is so…emptywithout you there.”

Virginia and I exchange a glance, and I do my best not to jump in—again—knowing I’ve already overstepped. As it turns out, I don’t have to do a thing. Of course Ash is perfectly capable of defending himself.

“I’m not a couch or a placeholder to keep your loneliness at bay,” he says seriously. “If you want company, adopt a pet.”

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