She shrugs. “Who can survive longest without spending money. Who can disappear for a week without being found. Who can run a business venture into profit fastest. Who can sleep—” she stops, studying my face more closely. “Oh.”
“What?”
“It was about you, wasn’t it?”
The shame hits hotter than the anger did. “Yes.”
Aisling exhales slowly. “That’s new. There’s usually several women involved.”
“That’s not comforting,” I point out and she cringes.
“It shouldn’t be,” she says. “But it also means it escalated.”
My throat tightens. “They said it started as a challenge.”
“That tracks,” she replies calmly. “It probably did.”
I press my palms against my eyes for a moment, trying to steady the swirl of humiliation and confusion threatening to rise again.
“I slept with Finn,” I say finally, the words landing heavy between us.
Aisling’s brows lift but she doesn’t look shocked. “I suspected.”
“He didn’t even recognise me,” I continue, the bitterness creeping back in. “Remember, I wore that wig to the beach party weeks ago? We slept together that night and he had no idea it was me.”
Aisling sits up straighter. “You’re kidding. I never put two and two together thatyouwere that blonde. He was obsessed with that chick…until he started spending more time with you.”
“Not kidding, no.”
She lets out a low whistle. “That’s messy… I can’t believe you slept with him and never said a word to me!”
“Humiliating, you mean. Even when we slept together again, he still didn’t realise it was me. I thought it would…trigger a memory or something.”
“Yeah,” she agrees gently. “That’s bad. But that’s onhim,Lani. Not you.”
Silence stretches for a moment before she speaks again.
“So what exactly did you hear?”
“That they were calling off the bet,” I reply. “That it started as a challenge. That it needed to end properly – whatever that means.”
“And you heard that part?”
“Yes.”
“And nothing else?”
I hesitate.
“There wasn’t much else,” I admit.
She nods slowly. “Timing matters.”
My chest tightens again.
“I kissed Koa,” I say quietly. “The night before.”
Aisling’s gaze sharpens. “And?”