Page 51 of Never Kiss and Tell

“Do you like it?” I ask, trying to read her expression.

She nods, though I can see that she’s hesitant to touch them.

“Just wait until I tell Andi you had me out here murdering already murdered animals.”

“Don’t. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

She laughs, picking at the tail of her next crawfish. “You know, back home, I never really got out much. It’s not really allowed with Drew and Marcus being heavily watched by the paparazzi. If anyone from back there saw me eating with my fingers right now, they would probably have a heart attack.”

“I didn’t take you for a lover of lawyers,” I point out, breaking the head off a crawfish with a little too much roughness.

She shakes her head, wiping her hands and taking a drink.

“I’m not, anymore. Back then, I just wanted stability and someone like that could give it to me.” I think back to the story she told me about her mom and dad, suddenly cold.

“And what do you want now?”

Her brow furrows and she stares at me. I watch the delicateheat rise up her neck and into her cheeks and wonder if anyone has ever asked her that.

“I don’t know. Happiness? Isn’t that what we all want.”

“What would make you happy, though?”

From the way she sputters, unable to come up with an answer, I can see she doesn’t know. Not that I’m any better. Does anyone know what makes them happy despite what’s on the surface?

“You sound like my therapist,” she grumbles, finally ripping the head off a crawfish with more gusto than before.

“You know you don’t have to follow all their rules, right? It’s a remotely free country. You can do whatever you want.”

She seems to mull that over, but some of the color drains from her face, like the idea of abstaining from going to shitty dinner parties and not marrying a man who chains you to the bed hadn’t crossed her mind.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” she murmurs, her eyes on the crawfish in her hands, “but I really thought I was just boring when Drew and I split up.”

“Boring?” Somehow boring and Bailey don’t go together in my mind.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t ready to try what he wanted me to. I just,” she takes a breath and shrugs, “thought something was wrong with me.”

I can’t believe I’m talking about BDSM with my sister’s best friend, but here we are.

“BDSM is something I’ve stayed away from, but I know it’s not for everyone. If you aren’t comfortable, you shouldn’t have to try it.”

“But isn’t that how you push your boundaries?”

I nod. “Pushing boundaries with someone who will take care of you is different than being forced into something prematurely. If you didn’t trust him, he could have hurt you.”

She wrinkles her nose, taking a slow, deep breath. “Sorry for burying you with my problems.”

I grit my teeth. “I would rather us talk about it than you do something stupid with someone you don’t know.”

I don’t realize what I’ve implied until Bailey eyes me precariously. Fuck, I keep sticking my foot in my mouth.

A sudden awkwardness hangs between us while we finish the food, like each of us is afraid to say anything else because we’re actually getting along for once.

“I figured out what you owe me,” Bailey chimes suddenly, her eyes on the room past me. I look behind me and see people moving together on the small dance floor to the live band.

“Hell no,” I shake my head.

“It will be fun!” she argues, sitting up straight. “It will be fun.”

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