Page 28 of Once Yours (Love & Wine)

“The property is just gorgeous. It’s like living in a dream. It’s so peaceful and secluded, but you still have access to town and with Penny and Tommy living here too, you have friends nearby.”

“Speaking of having friends nearby,” Lauren says, a sly grin on her face. “How are things going with Dylan?”

“They’re going. He’s really trying hard with this whole dating thing. He’s like a totally different person than the guy I originally met,” I admit, still hesitant to fully trust the sudden change in him. Thinking back to when we were sleeping together, I remember watching him kiss another girl at a bar while I was in the bathroom.

It’s really what was the catalyst to my decision to kick the whole hook up mess to the curb. It made me realize that I’m not the kind of girl who can sleep with someone and not catch feelings. And I guess I stupidly thought he would feel the same way. But again, it’s not his fault that he didn’t. I never told him I felt differently than I did in the beginning.

Penny walks in, a stack of papers in her hand, her gorgeous curly brown hair bouncing along as she smiles at me and drops the papers on Lauren’s desk.

“How’s it going, Tessa?” Penny asks. “Things still moving along with Dylan?” She winks and shakes her shoulders a little in a gesture that says she’s equally as excited as Lauren to hear about my weird love life.

I guess now that they’re both married and happy, they need something to chat about and the drama surrounding Dylan and me is certainly interesting.

“I was just telling Lauren that things are good, but I don’t know. I still worry that he can’t keep up this act of liking me.”

“Oh, it’s not an act. Trust me. That boy is head over heels for you. When you sent him packing, it was like someone had kicked his puppy,” Penny states, shaking her head. “He knew he was an idiot. He talked to me about you all the time and how he totally fucked up.”

“Okay,” I reply, taken aback by this. Penny would have no reason to tell me this other than she sees the good in him that I know is there. I just need to convince myself that this all isn’t too good to be true.

“You sleeping with him again?” Penny comes right out and asks.

“Penny!” Lauren gasps, her mouth falling open at the boldness of Penny’s question.

“What? It’s an honest question. Look at him. He’s probably pretty hard to resist,” she says defending herself and I can’t agree more. I miss seeing him naked.

“You don’t have to answer that, Tessa,” Lauren says, like I’m somehow offended by Penny’s question.

“I don’t care. The only thing I worry about is having this conversation with my boss and her friend,” I say, shrugging.

“Oh my god, I’m not your boss!” Lauren quips, her voice high and offended now. “We’re both your friends.”

“Yeah, you came to my wedding,” Penny chimes in, reminding me I went with the intent of not being Dylan’s date, but ended up as his date.

“Okay, fine, and no I’m not sleeping with him. We decided to put that on pause to get to know each other and I’m kinda glad because it has its own set of issues.”

“Whoa, what kind of issues?” Penny asks, and all I’ve done is spark the curiosity about Dylan and me even more.

I have such a big mouth.

I haven’t mentioned it to anyone, and obviously not to Dylan, but I really do need to talk to someone about it. It’s been floating around in my head for a while and once Dylan and I do get back to sleeping together, I need to figure out how to rectify this little problem.

“Okay, so…” I start, but as I look around, Penny and Lauren waiting on me to fill them in, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t the best idea. I work for them, or at least I work for Lauren. Is it weird to talk to your boss about your sex life even if she says she’s not your boss?

“He has a small penis. I knew it,” Penny blurts out.

“Penny! What is wrong with you today?” Lauren shouts, and there’s not one of us who isn’t laughing just a little.

“Nope. That is not an issue at all,” I reply, exaggerating my words so they know he’s definitely well-endowed.

“So what is it then?” Lauren asks, finally joining in and probably secretly enjoying Penny’s boldness.

“I’ve never, ugh… This is really awkward.”

“You’ve never slept with anyone but him?” Penny asks, trying to fill in the blanks, but when she asks, her words come out way too shocked and I can see her wondering if I was a virgin in my late twenties.

“Again, no way. That ship sailed long ago.”

“Okay, so just tell us. We promise we won’t say anything to Dylan,” Lauren says, urging me on.

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