And she’d been a bit jealous too. Not just of their looks, although the combination of perfectly fitting dresses, higher-than-high shoes, and shiny hair had been a little bit overwhelming. No, mostly she was jealous of their confidence. These women knew what they wanted and got what they wanted—and what they wanted were their men, each more good-looking than the last.
Still, her nervousness had lasted about thirty seconds before the newly married Riley had linked arms with Mollie and determined that she was going to join their group as Baby Spice. Which in turn had set off an argument over what the rest of their names would be, ending with Julie and Riley arguing fiercely for the spot of Crazy Spice, which seemed about right.
“So, Mollie, are you going to tell us what’s going on with you and the delicious quarterback?” Julie asked.
“Um—”
“Penelope and Grace will kill you if you don’t wait for them,” Emma said with a nod in the direction of the two women who were chatting with their significant others on the other side of the room.
“Eh, so she can tell it twice,” Riley said, waving her hand.
“I don’t even know what to tell,” Mollie admitted.
“Start with the basics,” Riley said. “He didn’t really sleep with all those women, right?”
“Riley!” Emma and Julie spoke in unison, looking appalled.
“What? You know Penelope’s going to ask it!”
“Yeah, for her job. But you can’t come into someone’s house and start—”
“He didn’t sleep with all those women,” Mollie interrupted.
They all looked at her, and she put a hand over her mouth to cover a laugh. “Wow, it feels good to say that out loud.”
Emma gave her a sympathetic smile. “I bet. As much as we’d all like to say that other people’s opinions don’t matter, it can’t be easy to watch false rumors swirl around someone you care about.”
“Well, that’s not even the worst part,” Mollie said glumly. “The worst part is that I believed the rumors. Didn’t even question them, and…” She bit her lip. “I think I hurt him. He’d never say so, but…”
“They never do,” Julie muttered.
“I just hate that I assumed.”
Julie’s hand rested against her back. “Sweetie, correct me if I’m wrong here, but it’s not like you made the assumption based on something you saw on the cover of the tabloids. Nobody would blame you for standing by your sister.”
“And hello, elephant in the room,” Emma said.
Julie winced. “We didn’t know whether or not we should mention the sister thing.”
“I voted yes, we do mention it,” Riley said, raising her hand. “Just in case you needed someone to talk to.”
Mollie’s smile was slight. “I don’t even know what to talk about.”
“How about the fact that you’re getting rather fantastic sex from Jackson Burke?” Julie asked.
Mollie breathed out. “Mm-hmm, there is that. But as far as talking about it, I don’t even know what to think, much less what to say. I’m half eaten up with guilt, and half the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s confusing, to say the least.”
“Well, if you want my opinion…,” Riley said loudly.
“No,” Emma said. “Did you hear anyone say, ‘Riley, what’s your opinion?’?”
“I like you way better than your sister,” Riley announced.
“Riley!” Julie exclaimed. “You don’t just say that to a person. And you’ve never even met her sister.”
“True. But I watched every single episode of the Housewives seasons she was on.”
“Yeah, because that’s the same thing,” Emma said.
“I know everyone thinks that Madison and Jackson were, like, a couple for the ages or whatever, but there was something shifty about that woman.”
“Riley.” This time Julie’s voice was gentler, but with a warning undertone. “You’re talking about her sister.”
“It’s all right,” Mollie said a little sadly. “Let’s just say the past few weeks have been eye-opening when it comes to Madison and Jackson’s relationship. It’s not quite the saint-and-sinner scenario I’d been led to believe. Not that it makes me love her less. I’m just…How the heck did I let myself get into something this complicated?”
“Could be worse,” Riley said, pointing her finger at Emma. “This one hooked up with a dude she once left at the altar.”
Emma batted Riley’s hand away. “You know full well I didn’t leave him at the altar.”
“I know. But you should tell it that way. It’s better,” Riley insisted.
“Anyway,” Julie said, shifting her attention back to Mollie, “does your sister know that you, um…”
“That I’m having a fling with her ex? No. That’s a big no,” Mollie said, taking a gulp of wine.
Emma Sinclair was studying her closely. “It’s more than a fling, though, isn’t it?”
To Mollie’s absolute and utter horror, her eyes filled with tears.
It was so much more than a fling. If she thought she’d been in love with Jackson Burke at twenty, that had been nothing compared to what she felt for him now. He was someone she could talk to. Laugh with. The sex was amazing, true, but she could no longer let herself pretend that Jackson Burke was a glorified booty call.
He was more. He’d always been so much more.