“Ugh,” I groaned as I walked out of my bedroom early the next morning. “Would you turn that shit down?”

I was holding my head, though it did nothing to help against the hangover pounding in my head. Olivia, who’d spent the night, sat on my couch watching TV. She glanced over the back of it as I walked into the room and scoffed at me.

“The volume is pretty low, Jasmine. You just need to take a shower to wake you up, and take some painkillers for the hangover.”

I pouted. “Why don’t you look as bad as me?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, throwing me a pointed look over my shoulder. “You know I didn’t drink nearly as much as you did, before and after we ran into your boss. Even Emma was better off. She left early to go and meet up with her folks.”

I left Olivia in the living room to go to my bathroom. Cold water would probably wake me up better, but I hated the cold, so I set the water a little warm before getting under the spray. I groaned, loving the feeling of cold water wiping off all the sweat from last night. Once my mind was a little clearer, though, I remembered Gabe fucking me against the wall the last time he was in my place. Which in turn made me remember all that happened last night, and my mood turned sour immediately.

After hurrying the shower, I went back to my room to dry up and change, pulling on a t-shirt and cotton track pants. It was a bit hot, so I left off the socks, walking barefoot back to the living room, looking for a distraction.

“What are you watching?” I asked, sitting down beside her and leaning against her side.

She didn’t mind, just shifted so she could have her arm around my shoulder. “It’s some old chick flick. After last night, I thought it would be appropriate.”

I chewed on my lip. “Last night, huh,” I muttered.

She looked at me out the corner of her eye. “So that you know; I won’t pry. But I would like to know what the fuck is going on.”

I chuckled. “I announced it, didn’t I? I’m sure plenty of people in the club heard me.”

“Yeah, but you were drunk. I want to hear it from you while you’re sober if you don’t mind.”

I groaned and pulled away from her, shifting so my back was against the arm of the couch and I could lean sideways into the back of it.

“I would rather not talk about it.” I laughed humorlessly. “I mean, we were all there, and we all saw the woman he had on his arm, right? He even introduced me as his fucking secretary.”

After I’d announced to my two best friends my juicy bit of news, we’d stuck around just a bit longer. I had been waiting for Gabe to say something, to reconsider introducing me as just his secretary, especially to some woman that had been draping herself all over him.

He didn’t speak, though, just stood there and stared at me with a twitch in his jaw. I was pretty sure I waited a whole minute before I turned back to my friends, and we returned to our table, where I proceeded to get wasted while my friends looked after me.

“Is he at least a good fuck?” Olivia asked, tone innocent even if the words weren’t.

I gaped at her, then sputtered for a bit before I could make out some words. “Does that even matter?”

She looked earnestly at me. “Of course it matters. If a guy is going to screw you over, it would at least be a little better if he was a good fuck in bed, you know.”

I laughed, the sound coming out a little hysterical. “Yes, he was a good fuck,” I said and giggled. Then I sighed. “Not that it matters, though. Whoever that woman was, he was with her. And he hasn’t contacted me since then, so—” I cut myself off with a shrug.

Olivia’s eyes gentled. “Oh, sweetie. Come here.” She leaned across the couch; arms opened wide to receive me in a hug. I allowed it, then she pulled back and carded her fingers through my hair. “The guy is a bastard, all right? But you still have to work with him. That’s why you don’t have an affair with your boss. What if he fires you?”

I chewed on my lip. I had worried about that, but I didn’t think he was that kind of guy. He seemed pretty good at separating his professional life from his personal life whenever it suited him. But I realized, belatedly, what if I went into work and he was suddenly cold to me, like how he’d acted on that first day after we fucked at the hotel?

“If that happens, I’ll just have to deal with it,” I said with a sigh, leaning back against the seat and staring at the TV. “I thought about quitting, anyway. The timing is just kinda terrible.”

After the fiasco with the FBI, I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get another job. And I’d just been starting to like working with Gabe, too, even with how demanding he was.

Olivia sighed, and I glanced at her. She was already watching the movie, so I moved back beside her.

“I’m actually in the same boat as you.” She paused. “Actually, not the same. There are plenty of differences. For one, he’s just a guy I met; he doesn’t even work with me, thank God.”

“Is Emma currently seeing someone?”

“Well, there was that guy, but that was almost two months ago. I’m sure after she’s done with her family she can come back, and we can all hang out like usual. Maybe no more drinking, but there’s other stuff we can do that would be fun.”

I cracked a smile. “We could always call her up and have her come with ice cream. And cookies, and some fruit, and we can mess around with it. I’ve been looking into some desserts that would probably be wonderful in a situation like this.”

Olivia’s arm wrapped back around my shoulders, giving a squeeze of encouragement. “There you go. We can even add some chocolate, and both Emma and I will pitch in. Oh! And marshmallows, just to eat.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re not trying to kill ourselves by way of sugar, you know.”

“Aww, but it’s what we always do when one of us goes through a breakup, remember? You started making snacks for us, but we’ve been doing this since college.”

I sighed as I snuggled into her side. “That’s true. Though, it’s been a while since I’ve needed this. Usually, I console the two of you.”

Olivia hummed. “It’s not bad to be on the end of caring friends every once in a while. And you were the one that decided not to date.”

Yeah. I figured it was taking too much attention away from my goal. And I didn’t miss being in relationships. My friends didn’t know, but I had met a few hook ups and had one night stands because like hell I could just play celibate like that. There were only, like, three, before I got disappointed because they weren’t going anywhere, and I decided to stop thinking about it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I froze, then pulled away from Olivia. She looked towards the door with a thoughtful look.

“I don’t think that’s Emma. Her knocks would never be quite controlled.”

I wasn’t even listening to my friend as I stood up from the couch. She was right that it couldn’t be Emma, but the moment I heard the sound, only one person came to mind for me.

I stumbled as I rushed for the door, some hopeful part of me thinking it was Gabe on the other side. That he’d maybe come to apologize for yesterday and fix things between us. I was already thinking of how fast I could have Olivia leave.

But it wasn’t Gabe. Instead, there was a man dressed in a black suit and tie with a white dress shirt and shades. I felt laughter bubbling up in my chest as I wondered if he meant to be such a fucking cliché. But dread bubbled up with the laughter and kept it down.

“Um, I’m sorry, can I do something for you?” I asked, though I pretty much guessed who was standing at my doorstep, and it would bring nothing good.

Sure enough, the man reached inside his coat and pulled out something that looked like a wallet. But then he flipped it open, and I saw the FBI badge. My throat closed up, eyes blurring, so I didn’t catch any of the details.

“Ma’am,” he said, voice professionally cold. “I’m afraid you’re under arrest. I would like you to come with me, please.”