Page 45 of Sacrifice Bunt

“Is there another Noah Ashe?” Zara knew she was being defensive and short, but she just couldn't help herself.

“This is a huge development,” Mae said. “I’m not sure what to do with this information.”

“Have you had sex with him?” Allana asked.

Zara nodded, sort of afraid to speak.

“Guys, back off for a second,” Ruby said. “You remember how it was when all of us fell in love. It was overwhelming at first. Give her some to breathe and come to terms.”

Zara sat up, her back straightening. “I never said I was in love.”

“Give it up,” Hannah said. “I've seen you the last few days, remember? If you didn't love him or at least like him a lot, you wouldn't have a problem talking about him. You always talk about the guys you're sleeping with.”

“She's never liked anybody, though. It's always just been sex,” Allana said.

Cassidy stood up, moved around the couch, and sat beside her. “We aren't judging you. We want to help, but to do that, you have to tell us what the problem is.”

Zara sighed. “I don't think I know how to do this. I'm all business. All work all the time. I love sex, you guys know that. I like to have sex, I like to have fun, but I don't want anyone to rely on me outside of business. Ever. Something about that makes my palms sweat, my head hurt, and my heart race.”

“I can understand all that,” Alana said. “You know my story with Shane. It wasn't easy for me to give up control or let go and let him be in my life. I had to drop a lot of walls, some with a sledgehammer.”

“And, of course, you know my story,” Ruby said. “Dallas helped me smash my own walls, and we figured things out together. Can’t you talk to Noah?”

“I have talked to Noah. That’s part of the problem. When I talk to him, I want to do more than talk to him.”

“Hold up, hold up, hold up. Can we just take one second before we fix her problem and find out how the sex was?” Mae was never one to beat around the bush.

Five sets of eyes turned to her, and something about the situation made her laugh, which felt good after days of no laughter. “You guys have seen him. There's no possible way he could be bad at anything.”

“Not an actual answer,” Cassidy said.

She gave in. “It was amazing. Bells went off, and fireworks lit up the sky, everything that you could possibly imagine when it’s the best sex of your life.”

“Whoa!” Allana shouted. “Are you saying it was the best of your life, as in the very best sex of your life?”

Hannah started laughing, making Ruby laugh which in turn made Mae laugh. Zara shook her head, thankful she’d ever found these fantastic women to be her friends.

“Yes, the best of my life,” she answered entirely honestly.

“Well then, I have no answers for you,” Allana said. “I mean, if you just had the best sex of your life and you like the person, you either want to be with them, or you don't. I can understand if the sex was bad, or I could understand if the sex was great but the guy was an asshole. When you have both points together, and there are no red flags, you figure it out.”

“Wait, are there red flags?” Mae asked.

Zara shook her head. “No,” she said emphatically. “There are no red flags. If anything, it's green flags for the foreseeable future. It’s like a damn Nascar race telling me I’ve got green all the way.”

“I'm starting to think Allana's right,” Cassidy said. “If there are no red flags, the sex is great, and he's a good guy, we are not the people you need to be talking to.”

“I've tried talking to Noah. Like I said, all I want to do when we talk is do anything but talk. He lives in California and is on the road all the time. I live in Valley Falls, and I'm sometimes on the road. How could we even make something like this work?” Was she really trying to think of ways to make a relationship with Noah Ashe work?

“Those are the least of your problems,” Ruby said. “Dallas travels, my job requires some traveling, but we make it work. It's the same with Cassidy, Hannah, Mae, and Allana. We all have people in our lives and a lot of moving parts. We all make it work. When you want to make it work, you make it work. Only you can answer the question if you want to make it work.”

She groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “All I wanted was a night of good sex. Somehow I caught feelings.”

Hannah patted her back. “It’s not a virus. But when you think about it, you've always had feelings for Noah. I know it, and you know it. Anybody that's heard you talk about the night of the fire knows it.”

“But all we do is fight.”

“Cooper and I fight,” Mae said. “It's fun, and we don't really mean it. We just do it because it’s fun, and we enjoy getting a rise out of each other.”

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