Page 48 of The Very Naughty List

He passes the glasses around, and we all clink them together in a little cheers before sipping the spicy, smoky drink. The whiskey burns down my throat in the best way, warming me from the inside out, and I let out a small, contented sigh.

“See?” Sebastian nods in approval. “Aren’t you glad to be home?”

“Yeah,” I say honestly. “I really am.”

We work together to wind the lights around the tree, and when that’s done, we start hanging ornaments. Before I know it, the whiskey in my glass is gone—but almost as soon as I realize that, it’s full again, thanks to a top-off from Reid, who grabbed the bottle from the kitchen.

All of us are getting a little tipsy by the time we run out of ornaments to hang on the fir tree’s branches. The whiskey seems to be helping Nick loosen up a bit, or maybe he’s just finallystarting to hold back less around me, because he’s more talkative than I’ve ever seen him.

“I have to admit, the town’s been pretty dull since you left,” he says as he puts a few stray pieces of packing paper back into the box that once housed the ornaments. “Chestnut Hill wasn’t the same without you here.”

I grin, unable to help myself. Then my smiles fades a little as I remember all the reasons I left in the first place. “I’m sure noteveryonemissed me.”

Reid snorts. “Eh, if you’re talking about that little prick, Dylan, I wouldn’t give him a moment of your thought.”

“That asshat and his family have been expanding their influence here at a record fucking pace,” Sebastian mutters as he sticks the star on top of the tree. “They’ve been buying up real estate and making deals with various businesses in town, trying to monopolize their hold on property in Chestnut Hill. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either, but it’s not like we can do anything about it.” Nick frowns. It’s clear that he doesn’t like feeling powerless about anything. “They’re not doing anything illegal—that we know of, anyway. Dylan is just a rich, smarmy scumbag, and that’s that.”

It’s very clear that none of them have any love for Dylan Montgomery, and the open disgust in their voices is like a balm to the old wound inside me. Honestly, I’m embarrassed that I ever loved Dylan. I’m not even sure I actually ever did.

Thank god I didn’t marry him.

Even if he hadn’t cheated on me, I can’t see how we would’ve lasted. And if we did manage to stay together, I can’t imagine how I could’ve been happy.

Maybe it’s the whiskey cutting down on my brain-to-mouth filter, or maybe my boldness comes from feeling morecomfortable around the Cooper brothers than I ever have before. But either way, I blurt my next words without thinking.

“Well, he might be well-endowed in terms of money, but let me tell you, that’s about all he’s got going for him.” I snort a laugh, shaking my head. “My sex life with Dylan sucked.”

All three triplets instantly stop what they’re doing and look over at me with intrigued expressions.

“Oh? What do you mean it sucked?” Reid asks.

I shrug, my face heating a little as I realize I’m actually talking about my sex life with the triplets.

“It was… boring,” I admit. “There were things I wanted to try, but he was never into any of it. He would make me feel like a freak if I asked for anything even vaguely kinky.”

“Oh really?” Sebastian polishes off the last sip of whiskey in his glass and sets it down.

All three men are still looking at me, and I can feel the atmosphere in the room shift a little. I should probably try to find a way to steer the conversation into safer territory, but…

Fuck it.

I’m feeling loose and reckless, and this is the most fun I can remember having in a very long time. So instead of zipping my lips or changing the subject, I admit to the one thing that almost no one else in the world knows.

“I made a bucket list after I left Dylan,” I say, my voice dropping a little. “Of things I wanted to do… in bed. Every dirty, filthy thing I could think of.”

My cheeks burn, and I wait for one of them to make some sort of teasing remark—but instead, the room goes quiet.

17

HAILEY

My pulse racesas the silence stretches on for several long seconds.

All three men are still staring at me, and I’m pretty sure not one of them has blinked. The combined weight of their gazes is enough to make me feel like my skin is on fire, and I lick my lips, trying to remember how to breathe.

“Did I hear you right?” Sebastian finally asks, his voice a low rasp. “You have a list of things you want to do in bed?”

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