Page 65 of Riding the Waves

“It was okay,” she ventured. “A bit of an odd weekend, to be honest.”

“Things are definitely over between the two of you, right?” Lizzie asked. “Or is there a chance you’ll reconcile?”

“It’s definitely over. He’s even seeing someone else, which was a bit of a shock, but I think it’s a good thing.”

“What was the problem with the weekend, then?” Emily asked, shifting her weight and rubbing at the top of her bump.

“It wasn’t anything to do with Anthony ... things are actually a little weird between Damian and me.”

“How so?” Scarlett leaned forwards, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

Realising who she was talking to, Amy shook her head. “Sorry, this is a really inappropriate conversation. We’re at work. You don’t want to hear my relationship drama.”

Lizzie smiled widely. “You’re totally wrong there.”

“Tell us the drama,” Emily said, rubbing her hands together. “Did something happen between you and Damian?”

Amy cast Scarlett a wary gaze, dying to talk everything through but also concerned that Scarlett regularly saw Damian.

“I won’t say anything,” she said. “Promise!”

“You have to tell us,” Lizzie said. “Quick, before the suspense kills us!”

Amy smiled, then inhaled deeply. “I slept with him,” she said. The collective gasp in reply made her crack up laughing. “It’s not that shocking, is it?”

“We don’t get a lot of real-life drama around here,” Emily said gleefully.

“Tell us more,” Lizzie insisted. “How did that come about? Was it a drunken thing? Was it a one-off, or will it be repeated? How do you feel about him?”

“That’s a lot of questions,” Amy said.

“Just four actually,” Scarlett said dryly.

“It wasn’t a drunken thing.” Amy briefly told them about how she thought he’d gone surfing in the storm and how terrified she’d been, then walked them through the whole thing, minus the sordid details.

“That’s so sweet,” Emily cooed when Amy finally finished the story.

“What’s going to happen now?” Lizzie asked, elbows propped on her knees.

“I don’t know. Damian seemed a little standoffish yesterday so I’m not sure what’s going on. I think I expected him to be a bit more ...” She paused, searching for the right word. “Eager, I guess.”

“Maybe it was just sex for him,” Scarlett said in her dull monotone. She cringed when all eyes turned on her. “Sorry. Is that the sort of thing you’re not supposed to say?”

“It’s all right,” Amy said, feeling a pressure beneath her sternum. “You could be right.”

“It’s just ...” Scarlett paused, looking thoughtful, as though trying to figure out if whatever she was thinking was going to offend.

“Just say what you’re thinking,” Amy prompted her. “I can take it.” That might not be true, but she wanted to hear Scarlett’s thoughts.

“I think Damian is kind of a womaniser,” Scarlett said. “He and Fraser go running together sometimes, and one time Fraser made this joke to me about how Damian needed to keep his fitness levels up so he has enough stamina for all the women he’s ...” She chewed her lower lip. “Having relations with – that’s not what he actually said, but I don’t want to offend Emily’s ears with his exact words. Also, I don’t think Fraser was really joking. But I don’t know.”

Amy’s chest clenched. “I know he’s no angel,” she said. “And I know that when I met him he had a reputation. He’s a surf instructor, of course he has women throwing themselves at him, but I kind of hoped he’d given that up. Or maybe I just refused to think about it. I also never put myself in the category of women who he’d just use for sex. Obviously.” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Crap. Is that what I am?”

“No,” Emily said with absolutely no authority. “I’m sure that’s not it. It sounded as though he really likes you ... All that stuff about the shells and what he said about the van being special because it reminded him of you.”

“Stuff he said when he wanted to sleep with you,” Scarlett pointed out, then hid behind her hands when Emily glared at her. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“You’re right,” Amy said.

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