Page 29 of Only This Once
Julia bit her tongue, hard.
“I hope you’re at least going to get tested first. You better not give my brother an STI.”
With Jinx’s confession so fresh in her mind, she saw red. “I’m done talking to you about this. Good night.” Julia hung up before she could tell her friend to go to hell.
She was used to being slut-shamed, but not by Phoebe. Only that wasn’t true, she realized. There’d been little jabs over the years, comments that made Julia’s stomach hurt even as Phoebe said she was joking.
Phoebe had slept with exactly one guy, had fallen in love, and had married him. Julia was happy for her and didn’t see an issue with it.
That just wasn’t the lifestyle that fit her own sexuality. She wasn’t ashamed of her high body count. Everything she did was consensual between adults, usually fun, and always her choice. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. If people didn’t think it was right, that was their own problem, not hers.
Her friend’s image came up on the screen again, but she declined the call and silenced her phone.
Jesse tried to blink the sleep from his eyes as he headed to the kitchen for coffee.
“It’s about time you woke up,” Phoebe muttered, her hand rubbing circles over her baby son’s back as she held him in her arms. Her toddler was happily smooshing a banana into the kitchen tiles.
Jesse brushed a hand over his messy curls self-consciously, feeling them pop up again. He needed another haircut soon. “What are you doing here so early?”
Phoebe glared at him. “I can visit my brothers, can’t I?”
He looked at Charles for help. His brother swallowed his sip of coffee before saying, “You’re always welcome here, Feebs. You know that. Everything good, though?”
Her circling hand paused, then started up again. “If you mean with me, yeah. Two kids a year apart is a lot, but I’m handling it. I’m not here about me.” Her eyes narrowed on Jesse.
Charles looked from her to Jesse. “Ah. I’m going to finish getting ready for work.” He took his coffee with him as he headed to his room.
Jesse waited for him to pass before crossing the kitchen for his own coffee. He had a feeling he was going to need it. He poured the sugar into the mug first, adding the coffee to dissolve it.
“You have such a sweet tooth,” Phoebe mumbled from behind him. Her son made a gurgling sound, as if agreeing, and her daughter continued to smash the banana and laugh.
Jesse had been surprised she’d had them only a year apart. Phoebe had complained about having a brother so close to her in age. Jesse had been an oops baby and had shown up just under a year after she was born. He’d tried to do his own thing as they became teenagers, but he was frequently drawn to Julia, who invited him along with them more often than not, and his sister had never really cared for it.
“Sugar and caffeine keep me going.” He bent and patted his niece’s soft curls before finding a chair opposite his sister at the table. “I’ve got work in a bit, too. That’s why I was surprised to see you.”
“I needed to come over and see for myself whether my baby brother was losing his mind.” Her hand rubbed over her son’s back a little harder.
He frowned at her in confusion. “What do you mean?” Hoping the caffeine would help him concentrate, he took a sip of the still too hot liquid.
“I’m talking about how you’re considering having sex with my best friend.”
His swallow went down the wrong pipe and he choked, sputtering and coughing. His hand hit his mug, spilling some of the coffee onto the table.
Phoebe sighed, shoving the napkin holder closer to him. “You’re still such a kid.”
Jesse flushed, coughing yet again as he mopped up the spill. “I’m not the one having a fit that someone else is hanging out with their friend.” He regretted the words when Phoebe’s teeth ground together. “Sorry, it’s just, weren’t you the one playing matchmaker the other night?”
“I wasn’t trying to get you two together!” Phoebe waved her free hand in the air in agitation. “I thought it would be good for you to hear the rumors going around about her, and if she was at the bar, the people you were with would be sure to talk. Then I wouldn’t have to tell you myself.”
“I don’t talk behind a friend’s back. Besides, I asked you for her number after. You knew I was still interested.” He lifted his chin, meeting her eyes. “You’ve always known how I feel about her.”
“Well, sure, but she’s never given you a chance before. She called me last night, telling me she planned to fu—” Phoebe broke off, glancing down at her daughter playing near her feet.“Do stuff with you,” she finished. “I thought you were smarter than that and came to knock some sense into you.”
Heat flooded his chest. “I’m not the one not making sense here. I know she told you. She texted me about it. Jules is straightforward like that. Neither of us is doing anything wrong, especially not her.” He rubbed at the ache in his chest, realizing he hadn’t even put on a shirt yet. “She’s been very clear about what it would be. I appreciate how direct and honest she is.”
“Honest, right.” Phoebe made a noise in her throat. “So you completely ignored her affair with a married man?”
He’d never heard his sister’s tone drop like that, not when she talked about her friend. She sounded disgusted with Julia.
