“Tess, just wait until we’re all here,” Barrett’s voice yells down the hallway, and I scrunch my eyebrows together and throw the pen I had been spinning on my finger onto my desk.

“Oh, you’re gonna stop me? Seriously?”

“Fine. Your funeral, pretty girl.”

“What the—?” I mumble as I stand up from my desk and slowly take a few steps to the open doorway of my office, only to be shoved back inside by my boss’s irate wife.

“Just where in the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Uhh…”

“Did you warn him?” Josh’s voice comes out in a rush as he starts charging into my office. The second he sees Tess staring me down, he quickly begins backing away only to stumble into his wife and Carly. “Abort mission! Abort mission! Andy, it’s every man for himself! You’re on your own!”

“Idiots,” Lauren mumbles.

“Complete morons,” Tess agrees.

“Ladies,” Carly says with a raise of her eyebrows and nod in my direction.

“Oh, right. No. They’re not the moronic idiots. It seems you’re the current owner and the reigning champion of that particular title.” Tess glares at me.

“What did I do?”

“Are you kidding me?” Carly screeches.

Lauren places a hand on Carly’s arm and motions to all of us to have a seat. Josh, suddenly super helpful dimwit that he is, pushes another one in from the office he shares with Barrett so all the women can have their own.

“Aww, thanks, babe. You’re the best,” Lauren says in a voice so sickeningly sweet it makes me want to vomit.

“Anything for you, baby,” Josh croons.

“Gag me,” I mutter, which, apparently, I didn’t do quiet enough, and six sets of eyes turn to me, glaring.

“Shut up. It’s not your turn to talk. We’ll tell you when it is,” Carly says, slamming her fist down on the desk, causing all of us to jump. Carly’s normally sweet and gentle nature is clearly hidden for the time being.

“You. Are a jackass. Supreme Grade A assholic jackass.”

“Wow, Tess. Tell me how you really feel.”

“I would, but I’m a lady and don’t use unkind words.”

“But you just…”

“Right. That was me being kind. Jackass.”

“Is there a point to this meeting, aside from you guys calling me names?”

“Of course, there is. You’re being stupid, and we’re either going to slap the stupid out of you or you’re going to have to sit and listen to us. Which is it gonna be?”

“I gotta be honest. Neither sounds appealing at the moment.”

“That means he’s all for the slapping!” James’s voice bellows from somewhere in the office.

“I thought you were on my side!”

“Not when you’re behaving like a total tool, I’m not!”

“Fuck me. Is anyone not in on it?”

“Christine,” Lauren, who’s been oddly quiet, tells me.

“Okay, we’re getting nowhere,” Tess, always the voice of reason, well, unless she’s calling me mean names, cuts in. “Andy. This is an intervention. Because you’re being a jackass of epic proportions.”

“Oh, so her dating me to get back at Heather isn’t her being a jackass of epic proportions?”

“Are you literally insane? Certifiable?”

I glare at Barrett, who has just poked his head in the doorway.

“Get your ugly mugs in here rather than shouting down the entire office,” I grumble. Chairs scrape, and suddenly the three stooges are pushing chairs into my already small office, only made much smaller by the fact that I have six extra people staring me down.

All the husbands kiss their wives gently then turn cheeky smiles my way.

“Who’s the jackass now?”

“Still you,” Carly sing songs.

James smirks at his wife then leans forward on his elbows, looking straight at me. “Andy. You’re one of my best friends. You know this. This past year with you helping me? Man, I couldn’t have done it without you. And I got a first row seat to the weird courting ritual that you two had going on. I watched as every time she came into a room your entire demeanor changed.” I open my mouth to interrupt him, but Tess throws a hand in front of my face, effectively telling me to shut up. He chuckles at her. They’re so much alike it’s freaky — and they’re not even twins.

“As I was saying. I watched as every time you were around her you became calm. Relaxed. The same way that all of us” —he gestures around the room— “are when our husband or wife is around. And she was the same. When you were around her? Her entire face would light up. And no, jackass, it wasn’t because of some weird plan to make you fall in love with her. That happened on its own. Just like her falling in love with you happened on its own. Do you really, truly believe that it’s in Christine to act that way?”

I think for a moment before blowing out a heavy breath. “It’s just… you have no idea what it’s like. To walk in and see your wife like that? That shit doesn’t just go away. And to find out that Christine knew all along?”

“Andy,” Lauren says gently, “Is that really what you’re upset about? That she knew? You’ve said time and again that you already knew Heather had cheated long before you caught her.”

“I did but…”

“But nothing, Andy,” Tess interrupts.

“Stop being such a moron, open your damn eyes, and see what’s right in front of you!” Carly ends on a shout.

Everyone’s eyes widen at her use of words as she blushes slightly, biting her lip. James leans over, pulls her lip out of her teeth’s grasp with his thumb and murmurs something to her that causes her to blush even deeper.

“Sorry. Got a little carried away there. But you’ve gotta know, she’s not that way.”

“And how do I know that, huh? Heather once promised in front of three hundred of our closest friends and family and God that she’d be faithful to me for the rest of our lives. I believed her. Why wouldn’t I? What if Christine is just a really good actress? I mean — she fooled all of you all these years into believing that Todd was a stand-up guy.”

Josh leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “I know you’re pissed. I get it. Really, I do. Clearly, even after that bitch is gone, she’s still trying to mess with your mind. But you need to dig real deep here, Andy. If you don’t forget the crap Heather was spewing and remember that she was only spewing that because she knows that it would mess with you and get in Christine’s head and spread around this town like wildfire, then maybe you don’t deserve Christine after all.”

And on that, the six of them stand up and walk out the door.

Lauren walks over and gently lays her hand on my cheek then hauls back and slaps me. “Make smarter choices,” she says before walking out of my office, while I sit holding my stinging cheek and thinking on the words that are stinging my heart.