Page 106 of The Snowball Effect

She wanted Emma to know. To knowher. The things that made her who she was.

The realization was startling, especially because Regan hadn’t ever discussed her issues with her family with someone who wasn’t Sutton in… ever. Even in her sorta-kinda-relationships with the guys she’d dated, this was an unexplored topic. She hadn’t wanted to divulge, and they’d never asked.

Trying to comb through how she felt about this turn of events, she slowly pushed herself to sit up.

“I, um, I had brunch with my sister, and it went really… unexpectedly.” That seemed like the most fitting word.

“You have a sister?” Emma asked.

Regan laughed, ridiculously charmed by the baffled look on Emma’s face, her eyebrows lifted so high on her forehead in consternation.

“I do. Audrey. Two years older than I am. Getting married soon. I’m one of her bridesmaids,” she elaborated.

As she talked, Emma’s mouth fell open in obvious bewilderment.

“How do I not know any of this?” Emma’s voice was demanding. But not at Regan, she realized, as Emma drew a hand through her hair. Emma was clearly directing her ire inward. “I mean, we’ve known each other for years. We live together. And we’ve actively been hanging out for weeks now.” Emma’s lips pulled into a deep frown as those crystal-clear eyesslid back to Regan’s. “I feel like I should know this about you by now.”

Regan waved her hand. “It’s not a big deal.”

Emma scoffed. “It feels like one,” she asserted, her voice so soft but so intent that it melted something inside Regan. Something soft and fluttery. “Also, you’ve literally met my whole family and know my entire life story. So, it seems crazy that I wouldn’t know your basic family facts. Like that your sister exists and lives here in the city.”

One side of Regan’s mouth quirked into a small grin. “Let’s just say: you’re not the only one with a complicated relationship with your family.”

“Regan, come on.” Emma’s insistence started blooming into this feeling inside of Regan. Something sweet, making her heart skip a beat.

“It’s true,” she insisted, unsure why Emma was so insistent that it wasn’t.

It seemed as though Emma was able to read Regan’s confusion as she gestured helplessly toward her. “I just… you seem so secure in yourself. In your place in the world. You come off as someone who had a very secure upbringing.”

Regan chuckled darkly, both tickled by the idea and how absolutely incorrect it was. “Couldn’t be more wrong, actually.” She drew in a deep breath, her stomach fluttering with unexpected nerves. The nerves born from this desire to tell Emma more. “You know how you found it so strange that I moved here to be with Sutton?”

She could so easily recall how Emma stared at Regan like she wascrazyfor that.

Apparently, so could Emma. “Of course. You aren’t the only one that remembers things about the other.”

To Regan’s delight, Emma walked closer to sit on the couch with her. Quickly, Regan pulled her legs up from where they’dbeen sprawled over the cushions. She sat cross-legged, facing Emma, who mirrored her.

As they sat facing one another on their couch, Regan was able to inhale Emma’s subtle but enticing scent… and totally lost her train of thought. All she could really think about at that moment was how much she enjoyed it. This closeness. They shared the same physical space when watching a television show or eating dinner together, but this felt very different where they were each other’s point of focus.

She liked it.

“Is there more?” Emma asked several beats later, hesitantly. “I mean, you don’thaveto share.”

Right. Regan blinked, realizing she’d forgotten why Emma was sitting so close to her, staring intently into her eyes.

“No, I want to tell you.” God, it wasso weirdbecause she really did.

She fiddled with the edges of the throw blanket over the back of the couch, trying to figure out how to explain herself to Emma. Explaining her family and her life in a way she hoped made sense.

“Growing up, Audrey and I couldn’t have been more… different.” She settled on, smiling mirthlessly at how very true that was. “She was the golden child, and I was the fuck up.”

Flicking her gaze to Emma, Regan’s nerves momentarily spiked. They were in a good place, the two of them. A really, really good place, the best place. A place Regan was finding herself increasingly addicted to spending time in.

But as she so vividly recalled Emma’s feelings about her prior to this good place they were in, she realized – she was a little worried that Emma knowing what her family thought of her might remind Emma that she’d once felt the same thing. Not too long ago, either.

Regan didn’t know what that would do to these emergingfeelingsshe had for Emma, but she knew that the very thought of Emma thinking poorly of her made her stomach clench tight enough to make her feel sick.

There was no trace of judgment on Emma’s face, though. No look that said,ah, yeah, I totally get why your family thought you were a loser. There was curiosity there. A quiet sympathy, even.

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