Page 118 of The Very Naughty List

I lie still, staring at the three of them as they sleep and feeling my heart swell. I wish I could have read their expressions better when I lied to my brother about this being “nothing.” And I wish I could have somehow conveyed with a glance to them that my words couldn’t have been further from the truth. To me, this feels likeeverything.

After several minutes, there’s a very soft knock at the door before it opens and my sister walks in.

A smile spreads across my face at the sight of Pippa. I could use a little girl talk after all of the elevated testosterone from yesterday.

“Hey,” she whispers, keeping her voice low when she sees that the guys are all still asleep. “I came by to visit with you for a bit.”

She walks over and sits on the side of my skinny hospital bed, and I scootch over to make room for her.

“The doctor says that you’re perfectly fine and that you’ll be discharged today. That’s good news, right?”

I nod, but Pippa can clearly tell that there’s still something on my mind. She rests a hand on my leg and smiles.

“I know there’s a lot of bullshit online right now,” she adds quietly. “But try not to let stuff get to you.”

That’s definitely easier said than done.

“Is it still going on? The social media stuff?” I brace myself for an answer that I already know I don’t want to hear.

She grimaces, wrinkling her nose. “Yeah, unfortunately. It’s just so odd how it managed to go viral so quickly. Like, it’s spreading around so fast that people in other states are now leaving comments about your relationship with three guys and your sex life.”

I lift my hands to my face. This is so much worse than I ever thought it could get. I know my mom tried to warn me, but evenshedidn’t see something like this coming. Who could have ever guessed that my sex life would be plastered on the internet nationwide for random strangers to comment on and judge?

I groan through my fingers. “How could this have happened? And why did I ever have to get involved with a prick like Dylan Montgomery? I thought he’d already done as much damage tomy self-esteem as he possibly could, but I guess he still found a new way to try to ruin my life.”

“Yeah, assholes have a way of asshole-ing.” Pippa reaches out to pull my hands away from my face, then pulls me into a hug. “But don’t worry, sis. I promise I’ve got your back, no matter what.”

I smile at her as she draws back, bolstered a little by her reassuring words. I know Lucas is probably still furious, but it feels good to have my sister on my side.

“How are Mom and Dad taking it?” I ask.

She shrugs. “You know they love you.”

I do know that they love me—they love all three of their kids beyond measure. But I also know that they already had a lot on their plate to deal with even before this whole scandal came out that I’m at the root of yet again.

“Can I ask you something?” Pippa blurts suddenly.

My brows draw together as I nod. “Sure.”

“What’s really going on with you and the Coopers? Is it just sex, or is it something more than that? I mean, I’ll support you no matter what. I just want to know what it is that you’re going through so that I know how to help. Dylan is painting you out to be, like, some kind of wild sexaholic or something, and Lucas feels like they took advantage of you when you were in a vulnerable place. But what doyouthink? Do you really care about all three of the Cooper brothers, or is it just a fling? A bit of holiday experimentation?”

I chuckle at her phrasing, but my stomach twists as I contemplate her question. I want to spill my guts, to tell her the whole truth. I’m sick of keeping stuff a secret from my family, but I can’t quite find the words to answer right now. I have too many unsettled emotions in my head and heart, not to mention the unreadable emotions that I picked up on the men’s faces yesterday, and Lucas’s feelings about all of this.

“Because if it’s just about sex,” Pippa continues when I don’t speak, “then I get it. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially since you’ve been single for a while now and?—”

“Yeah, it’s something along those lines,” I interrupt her just so we can stop talking about it. Even though my answer isn’t really truthful, it’s similar to what I told my brother, so at least I’m staying consistent until I can figure things out.

Pippa nods, dropping it for the moment.

“Well, however things end up playing out, we’re sisters, and that means we always need to stick together. We may be kind of opposites in some ways, but I love you to death. You know that, right?”

I reach out and hug her again, smiling against her shoulder. “Yeah,” I whisper. “I know, and I love you too. Thanks for being my wing-woman.”

Pippa grins as I let go of her. “Always. Although next time, if you’re going to get involved in something as scandalous as screwing our brother’s three best friends, please give me a heads up first.”

She laughs lightly, then pats the bed and gets up to leave.

“There won’t be a next time,” I say as she heads toward the door. “Trust me, this is enough drama to last a lifetime.”

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