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gasped at all the right moments. My steering wheel was covered in Dorito cheese before we even reached Clallam. I considered licking it off until Amber encouraged me not to. Though it was more like threatened if I did. I sad-faced a little when she took out a wet wipe and rubbed it down at a red light instead.
    It had stopped raining by the time we hit up the liquor store and got something more fulfilling to eat. I considered getting Coll something but thought better of it. I wasn’t ready to go down that road with Amber just yet.
    My heart skipped a beat when I pulled into the driveway and saw his truck, like it knew I was hiding something from my best friend. The bag and plate of cookies were gone from the porch.
    “What are you smiling about?” Amber asked.
    “Nothing.” I looked straight ahead as I pulled up to park.
    I ignored the fact that I could feel her eyes on me and climbed out to grab some of her bags. She followed close behind, complaining about mud holes along the way.
    “So your landlord owns both these properties, huh?” The look on her face told me everything she was thinking before she said it. “Do the people over there look as busted as the house they live in?”
    “Person.”
    “What?”
    “There’s just one person who lives there.”
    “Oh.”
    “And, no. They don’t look as busted as the house.”
    After setting two glasses on the counter, Amber grabbed the wine bottle out of my hands. “Well he might not be busted, but someone sure is.” Popping the cork, she poured us both a drink.
    “What? You don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, who said it was a he?”
    She handed me a glass filled to the rim. “You didn’t have to tell me. I can see it.”
    “See what?”
    “The smile in your eyes.”
    Taking a sip of what tasted like toilet water, I successfully deflected. “Enough about me. What’s up with you?” I pointed to the one thing she didn’t want to talk about. The hair.
    She sucked down her full glass then poured another. “I think Trevor might like boys.” Taking another big sip, she filled her glass again.
    “That’s why you cut your hair? To—”
    “To seem more attractive to him. Yeah.” She took off for the living room and I followed. We both plopped down on the couch. “Anyway, it was a big mistake because, well, my hair.” She pointed out the obvious before continuing. “And it didn’t work. He still wants nothing to do with me. I’m beyond stupid.”
    “You’re not stupid,” I assured her, and she let me pat her head. “You just did a stupid thing.” It was surprisingly soft.
    Pouting her lip, she set her glass down on the table and then laid her head in my lap. “Remind me again why we’re friends.”
    Setting my own glass down, I continued to pet her like a dog. “Because our mothers met in prenatal Pilates and they wouldn’t have it any other way.”
    She snorted a laugh. “Right. Why else would I be friends with such an insensitive bitch like you?”
    What started as a crappy night turned into a spectacular bash-your-exes evening. We laughed. We cried. We cringed when we remembered Zach with the hairy back.
    “Eww! Oh my God, Mike and the toes! I forgot all about the toes!”
    I didn’t see how she could. Maybe because it was my toes he sucked on and not hers. My toes. Not hers. Vomiting in my mouth a little, I shivered.
    By the bottom of the second bottle, I kissed Amber goodnight and headed to bed, looking out the window as I passed by.
    Low and behold, there was my neighbor. All six foot something of him, rocking in his rocking chair. When he waved, I waved then slowly closed the blinds. I started for the bedroom before changing my mind and turning around to head outside instead.
    I gave myself an internal pep talk as he rocked back and forth, looking as cool as the late night air. I didn’t even think he noticed me at first.
    “Evenin’,” he greeted, finally looking over when I walked up.
    “Hey.” I pointed to his