Josie’s eyebrows came together in question as she stared up at Ash. “What do you mean?”
Ash sighed. “She was homeless when Jace and I met her. She was working Mia’s engagement party. We didn’t know that at the time. We slept with her that night as I’ve already told you. But she bailed the next morning and Jace damn near turned the city over looking for her. He found her in a shelter and took her home with him. The rest is history, but even after that, she had some tough times. She had a foster brother who lived on the streets with her and he was mixed up in some shit. Bethany used to be addicted to painkillers and she’d worked past that, but the heaviness of her relationship with Jace nearly made her go back. And then her brother, Jack, drugged her hot chocolate and nearly killed her. We all thought she’d overdosed and that she’d tried to commit suicide. It was a cluster fuck because the night before Jace came home to find me with Bethany in his apartment and he flipped. Took it out on me and her and upset Bethany. So the next morning when this shit happened, it didn’t look good.”
“Wow,” Josie breathed. “That sounds unbelievable! Like something you’d see on a television show or something.”
“Yeah,” Ash muttered. “Only it was all too real. Jack didn’t mean to hurt her. He was the one going to commit suicide but Bethany picked up the wrong cup and ended up in the hospital fighting for her life. I just wanted you to know all of this so you don’t ask the wrong questions or bring up shit that makes the situation awkward for you or for Bethany.”
She bit her lip, a question burning, but she wasn’t sure she should ask because it made her sound . . . jealous. Even if she still did feel a bit of the sting when he talked about Bethany. Because his expression changed when he talked about her. It was obvious that even if she did belong to his friend, he definitely cared a lot about her.
“What’s on your mind?” Ash prompted. “I know that look. You’re wanting to ask me something. Just ask, baby. You have to know by now you can ask me anything.”
She sucked in a breath. “It’s just that you said Jace found you and Bethany in his apartment and flipped out. But you told me it was just that first night . . .”
Ash’s lips twisted. “It was nothing. I’d gone over to bring Jace stuff from work. We had a deal going south, which is why he was in such a pissy mood when he got there and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. I owed Bethany an apology. I came down on her pretty hard in the beginning. Didn’t think she was right for Jace. Saw how he was losing his damn mind over her. I also wanted to move past the awkwardness of that first night and how we all met. So I apologized to her and told her I wanted us to be friends. That Jace was important to me so it meant now she was important to me. That was what Jace walked in on.”
Josie nodded. “I understand.”
Ash cocked his head, staring intently at her. “Does the thing with Bethany still bother you?”
Her shoulders heaved with a sigh but she was honest. She owed him that much at least.
“Yeah. I won’t lie. It makes me a little nervous to meet her. It’s not that I don’t believe you at all. But I don’t know a woman alive who likes being confronted by her man’s ex-lover, even if it was just a one-night stand. And bad enough to have to meet her, but to have to spend time together long term. I’ll get over it. But I’m honest enough to admit that when I meet her for the first time, I’ll be picturing you with her and that won’t be fun.”
Ash didn’t look happy with that statement.
“I don’t want you torturing yourself over this, baby. It meant nothing. Or at least I should say it meant nothing to me. It meant a hell of a lot to Jace. And if he’d been honest with me from the start, that night would have never happened. I would have backed off because I wasn’t into her. Not then and not now.”