Since the split, Lachey has taken comfort in time with the boys – whether cheering on brother Drew in the audience of Dancing with the Stars or hitting L.A. hot spots with A.J. DiScala (above, left). As one friend says: "He's hurt, but he's not crying in his beer." Photo by: MICHAEL BUCKNER / GETTY
Ready to Rumble?| Divorced, Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey, Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Either way, as lawyers work to sort out financial matters, Lachey and Simpson are left to work through matters of the heart. "They talk," says one source. But as a friend of Lachey's tells PEOPLE, the goodwill they both once expressed is strained: "To a point it's amicable. Cautiously. They are not hanging out at dinner."

Even though both camps say the two have "moved on," they clearly are not entirely over each other. As recently as a few weeks ago, according to sources in both camps, the two talked about her displeasure over Lachey's recent outings with Lizzie Arnold, 26, whom he first dated before he and Simpson were married. "She was not happy that he hooked up with someone from his past," says the source. "It made it difficult for her because she knew that girl."

He, meanwhile, is badly bruised by reports of her with other men, especially allegations that she began a dalliance with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine when they were still married. The fact that she denies any romance – and he rebuffs his friends' attempts to set him up, says a source, claiming "he's not ready for a girlfriend" – does not ease the trouble now, legal or personal. "He still loves her a great deal," says Lachey's friend. "Filing for divorce was a decision she made. It breaks his heart that he couldn't make her happy."

• By Karen S. Schneider and Beth Perry. K.C. Baker, Mark Dagostino, Liza Hamm and Jennifer Odell in New York City and Bryan Alexander, Lisa Ingrassia, Julie Jordan and Cynthia Wang in Los Angeles