Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“I guess that’s some relief, but there were a zillion people there. Jesus, I’ve never made a mistake that big.”
“I didn’t realize it was my turn to play therapist,” I teased. “But why are you calling it a mistake? You used protection. You weren’t drunk. You obviously had a good time. What’s the bad?”
She huffed. “When you strip it down to just those details, nothing.”
“Are you going to respond to his texts?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m still trying to get over the mortification of my rash decisions. You know me, I don’t break my own rules. And one I’ve always had is zero one-night-stands. Of course, I thought that was because I needed an emotional connection to have an orgasm, but that’s obviously not true. The damn mask and not having sex in over a year made my instincts take over and tossed all my rules out the window.”
“Well, I think it’s a win. And good for you.”
“Enough about me,” she said, not at all casually putting the attention on me. “Your turn.”
“I slept with Brad,” I blurted out the words, somehow finding it much easier to say after she’d shared something so intimate with me.
“Yay!” she cheered.
“Seriously?”
“What? I love you both. I’ve seen it for years but neither of you ever acted on it.”
“You never said anything!”
“I couldn’t,” she said. “You were with Dennis. Why would I put that in your head when I thought you were marginally happy with that dickwad?”
“Dickwad,” I said, chuckling. “Is that a technical psychological term?”
“It is in my world,” she said. “Now, how did it happen?”
I blew out a breath. “We’re just playing our roles,” I explained. “I’m his fiancé. And so we kissed a few times. Then Dennis texted something awful and Brad read it and he got up and sang my favorite song to make me smile while we were at a karaoke party and then…”
“And then?” she asked when I got lost in the memory.
“Then he took me back to our room and said he’d show me just how wrong Dennis was about everything. If I’d let him.”
“And you let him!”
“And I let him.”
“Holy shit this is the best day ever. How was it?”
“Best sex of my life,” I echoed her earlier sentiment.
“I knew it!” she squealed. “You two have always had this fire between you.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see the denial. “We’re friends,” I said. “And again, these roles are temporary. That’s all.”
“Have you done it more than once?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“That sounds like more than a role-playing thing to me.”
“Does it?” I asked, honestly wondering. “Because we’re here for eight more days. What happens when we get home? We’ll go back to normal, right? Because it’s not like we’ve talked about it. We’ve just been acting like we’re engaged the whole time.” I glanced down at the ring on my left hand, unable to stop the spread of warmth that radiated in my chest.
“How do you want it to be when you get home?” Zoe asked, going full psychologist mode.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It’s hard to think about it.”
“Fair,” she said. “If you want things to change between you when you’re home, you need to talk to him about it. If you’re fine enjoying what’s happening between you in this little pocket of safe adventure, then stick to it.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I said.
“It is.”
“Okay, then text your mystery man.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“Isn’t it? You’re telling me to enjoy myself. Shouldn’t you?”
She fell silent for a few seconds. “I’ll think about it.”
I smiled. “Then so will I.”
“Look at us,” she said. “Taking risks. I kind of like us in this mode.”
“Me too,” I said, laughing. “Miss you.”
“Miss you too. Text me if you publish the site, okay? And text me if something more develops. And text me—”
“I’ll text you,” I said, stopping her ramble.
“Good. Love you.”
“Love you too,” I said before ending the call.
I glanced over my sketches that were all over the place and then my laptop that had fallen asleep while I was on the phone. I thought about what Zoe said, and tried to picture my life when we returned to Sweet Water. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, letting whatever thoughts come to my mind without fighting them—Brad had told me to visualize the best, after all.
I saw my boutique. I saw orders piling in from my website. I saw myself going home after a long, successful day—
And Brad was there waiting for me. Smiling and wrapping his arms around me, greeting me with that kiss that sent me into orbit every single time. I saw us going to bed together and waking up together. I saw us taking trips together and grabbing dinner at Lyla’s Place on Fridays. I saw us going on adventures together and binging Netflix together. I saw us laughing. I saw us—