Page 78 of Unstitch

She puts both hands up in surrender. ‘Promise.’

My sister is watching me with a look of mild terror.

‘Okay.’ Here goes. ‘I had sex with Dex last week. Belle’s brother,’ I add, in case my sister’s unclear, though I’m assuming she met him at Belle and Rafe’s wedding.

Gen’s eyes go wide. Maddy’s reaction is less circumspect—she gasps theatrically enough that a few people at the surrounding tables look around.

‘You are fucking kidding me,’ she hisses, pressing her hand to her chest. ‘Does Max know? Oh my God, was it amazing? Was he good? And again—does Max know?’

I grimace. ‘Max may have been… there.’

My sister’s face is a picture. Maddy pretends to swoon, then pushes her chair back so hard it almost falls over and rounds the table, engulfing me in a massive hug. She pulls away and squeals, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! You had a threesome?—’

‘Shh!’ Gen interjects, because we really don’t need any more attention on our table right now. ‘Keep it down.’

Maddy backs away from me, giggling as she returns to her chair. ‘You had a threesome with Max and Dex?’ she asks in a stage whisper. ‘You fucked the two hottest guys in London, basically—you lucky, lucky bitch!’

I may, at this point, allow myself a smug little giggle, because it’s honestly a ridiculous situation and I am indeed the luckiest little bitch-whore who ever lived—as long as Dex doesn’t freak out and run for the hills again.

‘Right?’ I say to her, and then I point my finger at my sister. ‘And before you say anything, Genevieve, I’d like to remind you that people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.’

Her mouth twists. ‘I absolutely agree. But are you okay? That’s all I care about.’

I sigh and put my elbows on the table. ‘I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a whole thing. But yeah, I’m okay. I think.’

‘Tell us every disgusting detail,’ Maddy demands. ‘Because I can’t work out how the fuck you pulled that off. I’m sorry—Dex Scott in a threesome? There’s no fucking way.’

And so I tell them. I tell them how crazily attracted I was to Dex when I met him that night at drinks with Maddy and the gang. How I came clean to Max, and the look on his face when I showed him Dex’s photo. How I begged Dex via text to come and watch me dance, and how Max agreed to help me lure him backstage afterwards (my sister definitely isn’t happy when she hears that, but I know what I confess next will blow her no-fraternisation rules out of the window).

I tell them, in broad strokes, how the evening went down, that Dex seemed pretty happy with me and not at all comfortable with Max… until I caught them kissing as I finished Dex off in the shower.

By this point, Maddy has her face in her hands and is drumming her feet on the shiny floor. ‘I can’t bear it. I think you’ve broken my brain. Could you not have had the decency to sell tickets? I can’t believe I missed it!’

‘It wasn’t exactly an open invitation,’ I point out, but I get it, because Max and Dex naked and wet and kissing… it was pretty fucking special. I stand by my not-a-joke screensaver comment from the other night.

My sister is frowning. ‘So Dex is bi? I hadn’t realised.’

I laugh, but there’s no mirth in it. ‘Funny you should mention that. So, no, according to him, he’s not, and he basically had an almighty freakout right after and ran off. He’s given me the cold shoulder all week, and I got upset…’ I trail off at the pissed-off purse of Gen’s lips, because I really don’t want her to hunt Dex or Max down and bollock either of them.

‘Fuck,’ Maddy says. ‘He must have been going crazy, though. I mean, he’s a lovely guy, but he’s pretty square, you know? He looked seriously uncomfortable the other night at drinks, so I can’t even imagine what must’ve been going through his head when Max grabbed him and kissed him.’

‘Believe me, he was into it at the time,’ I say. ‘I was right there. But I’m sure when his orgasm wore off he got pretty stressed.’

Maddy grimaces. ‘Yeah, that’s a lot of reality to be hit over the head with. So he’s MIA, is he?’

I glance at my sister. ‘Not anymore. Max went and… had it out with him yesterday at work.’

‘And by had it out…’ Gen murmurs.

I look around quickly before miming a blowjob using my fist, my tongue and my cheek. Classy, nope, but it gets the message across. Their jaws drop open.

‘Fuck,’ Gen says, sitting back in her chair.

‘I’m dying.’ Maddy picks up the cocktail menu and proceeds to fan herself. ‘Dying, do you hear me? Dex, Dex, Dex. What would Daddy say? Well, I think that answers your question about whether he’s bi, Gen. This is going to make their dad shit a fucking brick.’

‘That’s why you need to keep it quiet,’ I hiss. ‘He needs to tell Belle himself in his own time, if at all, okay? This isn’t my secret to tell. And, from what Max says, he’s got a hell of a lot of stuff to figure out before he even thinks about coming out.’

‘Where does that leave the three of you?’ Maddy wonders.

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