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Chase fell asleep two hours ago. I know he’s down for the entire night.

I dress as quietly as I can, give him a quick kiss on the cheek, and lock the door behind me.

The parking lot is across the street from the apartment. I wrap my jacket around my neck to protect from the chill and wait next to Avery’s car in the lot.

She shows up three minutes later, briskly walking toward me carrying two to-go cups from her cafe.

“Hot chocolate.” She hands me one of the cups.

It’s still hot and I wrap both my hands around it to warm my fingers.

“Let’s talk in the car,” she says opening her door and climbing in.

I walk around to the other side and do the same.

“What’s up?” I ask, pulling the passenger door shut.

“Garrett called me and told me what happened. And I thought that if you hadn’t heard yet, it might be best you hear it from me tonight rather than getting ambushed tomorrow.”

“What happened?” I ask, fearing the answer as my mind jumps to Ethan and Charlotte. They got engaged? She’s pregnant?

“Ethan and Blake fought in the dressing room after practice. Blake punched Ethan.”

What?

“Why?”

But Avery has a mischievous smile on her face that tells me she already knows why. “You slept with Blake?!”

“Um… yeah—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don—”

“Does Scarlett know?”

“No. At least, not from me.”

Avery looks down at her hands where she’s picking at the skin around her thumb nail.

I brace myself for her opinion on the situation. Is she disappointed in me?

“I’m sorry I’ve been a bad friend.” She keeps her head down as she speaks.

“What? Why do you say that?”

“As long as you were married to Ethan, we were happy to let the guys plan our outings. I mean, we’re both very busy. And it worked. But I should have made more of an effort to reach out when you separated.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. If you slept with Blake, you probably needed a friend to talk to about it. I know you have Scarlett, but she’s Ethan’s sister. You might not feel comfortable talking about these things with her. I should have realized that you needed another friend.”

My insides are jumbled up. It’s true that I’ve been lonely. But it’s not all Avery’s fault. I could have reached out too. “It’s like you said. We’re very busy.”

“I know. But I’m never too busy to talk to you about things like this… and to be honest, I could use a friend too.”

A tear falls down her face.