passed out cold, how drunk are you?”
I snicker. “I’m a solid five. Leaning toward six.” I take a sip of my drink. “There we go, I’m a six.”
“Excellent. I have a request. A favor, if you will.”
I frown. “Anything for you, Ellie, you know that.”
She bites her lip. “It’s a big ask.”
“Consider it done,” I insist, curious now what Princess Eleanor could possibly need from me.
“Well, you know the annual hospital benefit that’s happening next weekend?” Ellie asks. “Our family has been invited because we donated some funds to the new imaging department.”
“Do you need help finding a dress?” I ask her and then purse my numb lips. “Willa has some stuff at Dress It Up. I’ll go with you. I need a few things anyway.”
“No, that’s not it,” Ellie says, shaking her head. “Are you going to the benefit?”
“I hadn’t planned on it.”
“We have an extra seat at our table, and I need you to go with Callum.”
I frown. “Why?”
“Because it’ll be fun. It’s not a date,” she hurries to assure me. “I just need you to go on a date with my brother.”
“But it’s not a date.”
“Not at all.”
I see Natasha and Monica exchange a look over their mojitos. Alice is busy scooping us more ice cream.
“You said anything I need,” Ellie reminds me.
“Yeah, I thought maybe you needed some scones or coffee or something.”
“I need scones,” Monica says. “Huckleberry ones.”
“Me, too,” Natasha adds.
“Oh, I’d love to try those. We don’t have huckleberries in the UK,” Alice says.
“Focus,” Ellie says. “Please say you’ll go, Aspen.”
Ellie bats those ridiculous lashes at me, and I know I’m a sucker.
I can’t tell her no.
“I’m not supposed to be dating Callum,” I mutter with a frown.
“We missed something,” Monica says. “Something good. And you’d better spill it.”
Ellie’s eyes almost pop out of her head. “They don’t know?”
“We’re about to,” Natasha says. “Talk, Aspen.”
“I slept with him,” I mutter and suck down half of a mojito. “And it was damn good. And there was no sleeping done, by the way.”
“Attagirl,” Monica says.
“And then, the next time I saw him, he forgot all about it and me.”
The room falls silent for a heartbeat, and then Natasha giggles. “What a prick.”
“Hey, that’s my brother,” Ellie says but shrugs. “And, yes, it was dreadful, and he’s a knob. But what she’s leaving out is that he’s spent the past two years apologizing and agonizing.”
“Good,” Monica says. “He should. But did you forgive him?”
“Yeah.” I reach for more ice cream. “Hating him is exhausting. Also, have you seen him? He’s too sexy to hate.”
“Alice is awfully quiet,” Natasha says. “What do you think?”
“That it’s not my place to talk,” she says. “Except maybe to say this. Today, after you left us at the market, he watched you for ten minutes like a lovesick puppy.”
I bark out a laugh. “Right.”
“He did,” Alice says. “I’ve no reason to fib. He speaks highly of you, and he was genuinely happy to see you.”
“Hmm.” I eat the ice cream, thinking over everything that was said. “I guess it won’t hurt to go to the benefit.”
I might regret this when I’m sober.
“Brilliant,” Ellie says and leans over to give me a drunk kiss on the cheek. “It’ll be so fun to have you there. Now, do you need a dress?”
“Shit. Yeah, I’ll be going to see Willa for sure.”
“We’ll go with you,” Natasha says. “Now, give us more details about those sexy times with a certain prince.”
“Must she?” Ellie asks, scrunching up her nose. “He’s my brother. I don’t want to think about it.”
“She must,” Monica says.
“It was a long time ago,” I reply, brushing it off. “I hardly remember.”
Lies. It’s all lies. I remember everything.
But I don’t want to share it with them. I want to keep it just for me.
“She’s not gonna spill the beans,” Natasha says. “Pity. I bet it’s a hell of a story.”
“Alice, who does your hair?” Monica asks, changing the subject. I could kiss her. I might kiss her before the night is over. My friend glances my way and winks at me.
“Oh, I go to a salon in London,” Alice says and brushes her fingers through her blond locks.
“I like the length,” Monica says, tilting her head to the side. “But I wonder if you’d be open to some highlights to give it a bit of depth?”
“I might be. I haven’t added color in a long while.”
“I own the salon downtown. If you’re interested, just let me know. I’ll get you on the books.”
“Thank you,”