Page 39 of Beautiful Mess

“We don’t know,” Georgia says with a shrug, bringing her gaze back to me. “Grace texted us 911.”

“Sorry,” I murmur to my beautiful sister and the guest of honor tonight. “I didn’t want to bother you with my shit on your special night.”

“Oh, please,” she huffs, plopping down on the bed beside me. “You’re never a bother, and besides, this saved me from having to talk to Everett’s co-worker again. She’s such a sweet lady, but Christ, is she dull.”

“Now, spill,” Charley nudges, climbing on the other side of the bed as Georgia follows.

Nerves flutter around in my stomach, and there’s a lump in my throat. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to tell them. Maybe because I feel like an idiot catching feelings for him so quickly, after having a completely unrequited teenage girl crush on him for so many years. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I take in a deep breath through my nose and decide to just go for it as I exhale through my mouth.

I tell them everything—the bickering that somehow turned into flirting, the passes he made at me before we ever did anything, the almost kiss at his house, the fooling around…everything—and I’m not even sure I take a breath the entire time the words spill out of my mouth. I certainly don’t let any of them get a word in edge wise, and by the time I get to the part of him asking me out in the bathroom before kissing me senseless not even ten minutes ago, all three of them look equal parts shocked and intrigued. None of them say anything for a long, tense moment, their jaws on the floor.

Finally, Georgia whistles before saying, “Hol-y shit, Grace.”

I wince, twisting my hands together in my lap. “I don’t know what it says about me and my choices that you, of all people, are rendered speechless.”

She snorts. “I’m speechless because I’mimpressed.I didn’t think you had it in you, little sis.”

My eyebrows knit together. “What do you mean?”

“You had such a crush on him when you were younger, and then you drunkenly tried to kiss him and he didn’t let you. I never thought you’d go there again.”

“I’m with Georg,” Gemma cuts in. “But I gotta say, I’m a proud sister today. Good for you.”

I scoff, looking between my two sisters. “You guys act like I’ve been secretly in love with him the entire time, like I’ve been devising my plan of attack all these years. It’s been fourteen years since that night I tried to kiss him.”

“But who’s counting,” Georgia teases under her breath, cutting me off.

Ignoring her, I continue. “I’ve long since gotten over thatandmy teenage crush.”

Charley holds up a hand, her icy-blue eyes meeting mine. “Are we just going to skate over the part where you told us hespankedyou and you called him ‘Daddy’?” Looking at my sisters, she giggles and adds, “Because I, for one, would like to go back to that for a minute.”

I groan loudly, covering my face with my hands, feeling my cheeks heat. “Can we not, please? I don’t know what got into me.” Dropping my hands into my lap, my gaze finds Charley’s again. “I’ve never called somebody that in bed.Ever. Or been spanked.”

“It’s fucking hot, Grace,” she says. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Were you into it? The spanking and the Daddy thing?”

My face grows impossibly hotter, and I’m sure it’s red as a tomato. “Yes,” I admit quietly, covering my face again as I fall back onto the mattress. “God, yes.”

“Charley’s right,” Georgia murmurs before I turn to glance up at her. “We all have our kinks; it’s nothing to be ashamed about. And frankly, I’m not seeing the problem here. You’re two consenting adults, who both seem to be enjoying what you’re doing.”

“Have you met me?” I gawk at her. “I’m incapable of doing casual, Georg. I’m setting myself up for failure.”

“Who says anything about casual?” Gemma asks. “From what you told us, Conway asked you on a date.”

“Conway doesn’t do relationships,” I murmur. “We have all heard about his dating history.”

“People can change, though,” she presses. “He may not have been interested in dating before, but maybe he is now.”

“I don’t buy it.” Pushing myself off the bed, I turn and face them, shaking my head. “He only asked me out because I said that’s what I wanted. He probably thinks it’s the only way to get in my pants again. I’m not okay with being in some fucked-up situationship with him that constantly leaves me confused and gives me whiplash. No way. Not to mention Blakely and his daughter are best friends. That would be so confusing for them, and then when it didn’t work out, they’d be crushed. I can’t do that to them. I can’t do that to me.”

Georgia sighs and rises off the bed, walking over to me. Hands on my shoulders, she leans down and looks me in the eye. “Listen, as somebody who has zero interest in relationships or feelings, and who doesn’t see that ever changing for me, I get where you’re coming from. Your concerns are valid, and you have every right to try to protect yourself, especially after how you’ve been hurt in the past.”

“Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?” I groan.

“Because there is a ‘but’ coming.” Her lips tug into a grin, but her eyes soften in the way they rarely do. “Butif you want my opinion, which I’m assuming you do since you brought us in here, I’m leaning toward Conway being genuine in asking you out. Obviously, I don’t know him as well as you do, but it seems like a whole lot of trouble to go through to get laid again. And again, as somebody who can relate to the casual way Conway has been with partners, I can say with certainty, I would never go through the effort to take somebody on a legitimate date if all I was after was some ass. Not when I can find somebody else who’s down for some no-strings fun. And as for Blakely and his Willow, I’m sure the idea of opening your kid up to something that could potentially confuse or hurt them is scary, but Grace, you can’t hold yourself back from what makes you happy or what feels good simply because of a situation you made up in your head thatcouldhappen. We cannot live our life based on hypotheticals.”

“Never thought I’d see the day I agree with Georgia on anything that had to do with dating and sex, but she’s absolutely right,” Gemma murmurs, then breathes out a laugh. Everything aside, Conway is aman.Men hardly ever go out of their way to do anything with or for a woman unless they have feelings for her. A man, especially one as attractive as Conway, who has no trouble getting laid, wouldn’t put in that kind of effort unless he meant it. Also, as somebody who had those very same concerns about her child not that long ago, I can say, with experience, Georgia also hit the nail on the head with that one. That’s not to say your worries aren’t valid, because they absolutely are. But there’s also no way of knowing if you two will crash and burn, and who’s to say this thing with Conway couldn’t turn out to be something really special, something worth taking a risk on?

Chewing on my cheek again, a strong wave of emotion floods my system, and I have to swallow around the lump in my throat and blink past the pressure building behind my eyes.Why the hell am I suddenly so emotional?This is so silly and stupid.

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