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Oh. My. God.“Surprise me. And a large glass of white wine…” …so I can fucking drown myself in it.

As Ash walked into the café, Alice tried and failed not to notice how her stonewashed denim jeans hugged her arse. Her thoughts spiralled into a vision of cupping those pert cheeks as Ash topped her.

“You look lost in thought,” Ash said as she returned with their drinks.

Heat rose up Alice’s neck and she gulped a mouthful of wine. “I think we need to finish our chat.”

“Yeah, we do.” Ash swigged from her bottle of beer.

Alice’s heart squeezed.This is it.

“It’s been nearly two years since things ended with Sam. I’ve really struggled to get over it. Like when she messages me, it’s as if everything comes crashing down again.” Ash frowned, and started peeling the label from her beer bottle.

Hmm, not where I hoped this was going.“Oh, you’re still in touch?”

“I try not to be, but sometimes she pops up on my phone, out of the blue, saying how much she misses me. Sometimes she says she wishes things were different.” Ash sighed. “But she let me down, not the other way around.”

Alice reached over the table and covered Ash’s hand with her own.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make this about Sam.” Ash stared down at their hands.

“It’s okay, you can talk to me about it.”

“I just wanted you to know that I understand what you’re going through with Fran.”

“Yeah, well about that, I?—”

“It’s hard for me to open up to people usually. And this will sound so clichéd, but I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“Yeah, me too.” Alice’s voice came out higher than usual.

“I really enjoy your company, Alice. I’m glad that we met and that we’re friends.”

Alice guzzled another mouthful of wine, swallowing down the feelings she’d been hoping were about to be aired.Friends. Just good friends.She forced a smile.

“So, tell me more about this party. When is it? Where is it? What the hell am I supposed to wear?”

Visibly relieved that the conversation had moved on, Ash sat back.

Alice tried to concentrate as Ash reeled off the details of the party, but her mind whirred. Why did she have this yearning to over-complicate things with Ash? Had she been so desperate to fill the void left by Fran with something other than loneliness and self-loathing, she’d kept misreading the signs? Ash presented the thrill of something new, and she was unlike anyone Alice had ever met before.But Ash has been more than clear about what she wants, hasn’t she? She needs a friend, and you need one too, so don’t mess this up.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Sorry, what?” Alice’s eyes dropped to Ash’s grinning lips as they exhaled a laugh.

“I asked whether you’d mind if we share a room? I can try booking a separate room at the hotel, but I doubt there’ll be any left since the party’s next week.”

Alice waved a hand between them. “It’s not as if it’ll be the first time we’ve shared a bed.”

“No, I know. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to…” Ash’s cheeks flamed.

“We’ve established that we’re just friends, right?”

Ash bobbed her head.

“And we’ve managed to keep our hands off each other so far.” Alice drank the remaining wine in her glass, trying to swallow with it the memory of waking up wrapped in Ash’s arms, stirred by the soft push of hips. “Well, at least I have,” she muttered.

Ash planted her palms on the table. “Oh God, the other morning, you were awake?”