Page 167 of Unspoken Truths

“I think I follow all of that,” she mutters. “I don’t want Rachelle to get hurt.”

“We don’t want that either,” I say quickly. “We talk about everything.”

“Have you two…” Julia glares at me, and I wait for the ground to swallow me up.

God, she’s asking me if we’ve had sex yet. Forcing myself to take a breath, I shake my head.

“No, ma’am,” I say quickly, making my dad smirk. Listen, this woman scares me! “We’re taking things really slow. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

“Good,” Julia murmurs, standing with my dad. “As long as you’re making sure to put the girls first, you should be fine.”

My body remains stiff as they leave, and I can’t relax until I hear them at the stairs.

“Julia has definitely been stepping up as a mom,” Lili says. “I’m glad to see it. I’m going to grab pajamas that she can go downstairs in, can you find her fluffiest blanket from the bed?”

“I think I just washed those,” I murmur. “Let me go check the laundry room.”

“Are you still playing her servant?” Lili asks, amused.

“Absolutely,” I tell her. “She really is beautiful. Whatever Theo was trying to achieve, he failed.”

“I’ll agree to that,” she says, sighing as she disappears into Rachelle’s closet.

My gaze stays on the bathroom for a moment, knowing that Lili will probably check on her the second I leave the room. I wouldn’t be surprised if she chose the blanket that wasn’t on the bed to make me search for it.

She’s smart like that.

The only thing that matters is keeping them both safe and happy. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the easiest lately.

* * *

RACHELLE

My fingers move over my head, still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I don’t have any more hair there. Just like the fact that Ignacio and Lili came out about dating me to my mom.

And she’s okay with it!

“What are you thinking about?” Lili asks, nudging my side as we eat popcorn in bed. Since it’s Friday, she’s spending the night.

“I must be living in the Twilight Zone,” I mumble. “Mom didn’t freak out about the fact that I’m dating you and my stepbrother.”

“She did ask if we were sleeping together,” Nacio says from the doorway, leaning in with a smirk.

My face turns ablaze with embarrassment at the thought of my mom asking that.

“And you said?” I ask, watching as he walks further into my room. He’s wearing low slung sweatpants and a long sleeved white shirt. He looks like sex on a stick.

“I can’t think when you look at me like that,” he mutters, leaning over me to kiss me soundly. “You taste like salt and butter. So delicious.”

“Want to watch sappy romance movies with us?” Lili asks, smirking.

“I don’t mind those when I get to snuggle with you two,” he says. “As to what I said to your mom, Rachelle, I told her that we hadn’t taken that step, and that we are taking it slow.”

All completely true.

“Come watch with us,” I invite, adding my vote to Lili’s as we scoot over in the bed.

“Yes, please,” he says, climbing on to the bed. Somehow, he manages to be the big spoon to my little one, and still hold Lili’s hand as she turns the movie back on.

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