Page 2 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“Good morning,” Ashley chirped brightly, clearly not as hungover as I was. Although, come to think of it, I didn’t remember her doing any shots, unlike the rest of our foursome. And she seemed to be nursing only one drink all night.

“Is it?” I squinted at the bright sunlight, still blocked by the back of my hand.

“I come bearing gifts.” Ashley lifted a paper bag from the Dreamy Bean Coffee & Book Cafe and a beverage carrier holding two drinks. I stepped back, and she walked inside. “I just wanted to make sure you were alive today.”

“I honestly don’t even remember coming home.” I shut the door behind her as she handed me the bag before bending down to say hello to Peanut.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she asked as she stood and followed me back to the kitchen.

Seeing Callum Knight standing across the bar, I thought to myself. There was no way I was going to tell Ashley thatI’d imagined my ghost of exes past. She didn’t even know who Callum was. Ashley moved to Firefly two years ago. Callum left Firefly over ten years ago and hadn’t looked back. I didn’t have the emotional, mental, or physical bandwidth to explain the greatest heartbreak of my life right now.

“I don’t remember much after the ball dropped.” I sank into the kitchen chair as I set the paper bag on the table.

“I thought so.” Ashley slid a cup filled to the brim with some kind of green concoction over to me. “Lavender matcha oat milk latte.”

“Thanks.” I lifted it to my mouth and sipped cautiously. I knew I was one smell, one drink, one bite away from projectile spewing. Thankfully, the yummy goodness slid down my throat and instantly coated my stomach, easing my queasiness.

“Good?” she questioned.

I nodded and took another sip.

She pulled out a croissant and handed it to me. I sank my teeth into the light, flaky pastry, and after a few more bites and sips, I felt a little more human and asked, “So what happened?”

I was hoping to fill in the blanks since I wasn’t even sure how I got home. I’d been on a date with Will Patterson. He was new to town, but his aunt and uncle were long-time residents of Firefly and owned a roofing business, Will was being groomed to take over the business. Normally, I would drive myself on a date with someone I met on an app, which is how I’d connected with Will, but since I knew his family, he picked me up. I’m not sure if he dropped me off, though. I had no memory of it.

Instead of answering my question, Ashley pointed behind my head. “What’s that?”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw she was pointing at the dry erase board. “Those are my new year’s resolutions. For the next year, no drinking. No dating. No dick.”

Her bright blue eyes filled with surprise. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“You?”

“Yes.”

“For ayear?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you told Zoe and Daphne about this development?”

“Nope, I just decided this morning.”

I understood why Ashley was so skeptical about my declaration. In our group of friends, we all had our roles which complemented each other perfectly. Our group chat was saved in my phone as SATC because we all identified as characters fromSex and the City.

Ashley was the Carrie of the group; she was the most artistic and stylish. She’d just finished launching a new clothing line, and she’d even nicknamed her husband Big when she met him.

Daphne, the latest member to join our band of sisterhood, just moved to town over the summer. She was a former TV producer and very type-A, independent, and hardworking; she was our Miranda.

Zoe, a single mom who was very nurturing, motherly, wholesome, and believed in one true love and happily ever after, who got her fairy tale ending not once, but twice, was Charlotte in our friendship squared.

The 60,480 minutes might have given me away, but in case they didn’t, I was clearly the Samantha of the foursome, hence Ashley’s skepticism over me going cold turkey on dating and dick.

“You’re not going to date anyone for a wholeyear?”

I thought it was funny that that was the stipulation she was most caught up on.

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