Page 80 of Achievement Unlocked

Because I went on a trip, too. “We went to Vegas and you always bring me a present but I didn’t get you anything.”

“There’s nothing in Vegas that I want. Besides, you got me a can of whipped cream. Means I didn’t have to go out this morning, to have coffee. Best. Present. Ever.” Carly winked.

It wasn’t the same, but who was I to tell her not to appreciate something?

“Landon, huh?” Carly’s tone shifted to conspiratorial. “Does Nigel know?”

Of course we were back to this. Did I want to explain?

“Don’t make me guess. You won’t like the results.” If Carly made threats, she tended to carry through with them. She wasn’t really mean about it, but I wasn’t up for finding out what she meant.

“When I was a kid, I made a list with Nigel. Like a bucket list.” As soon as the first words were out, the rest of the story tumbled behind, the entire story spilling from me in a torrent. I didn’t try to hide the fact that I’d slept with both Landon and Nigel, but I did gloss over it and leave out details.

It felt good to get the thoughts out of my head. It put them in order, and let me see them better. “And now I have Nigel, and it’s amazing—he’s amazing—and I’m so selfish for wanting Landon back too.”

“Wow.” Carly let out a long puff of air.

I winced. “I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”

“What? No.Godno. You’re like the sweetest person ever, and I’m so lucky to call yousister.”

That wasn’t the response I expected, and it certainly wasn’t what I deserved. “I’m not sweet. I just broke up with my fiancé, I almost immediately hooked up with someone else, and now I wantanotherguy on top of that.”

“The universe has some awkward timing, but that’s not your fault.”

“But—”

“We’ve been over this.” Carly’s voice was stern. “What happened with Easton isn’t your fault, remember? Of course you do. So, do the guys—Nigel and Landon—get along? A weekend in Vegas? Landon touched you and Nigel didn’t skin him. My guess isyes.”

“They get along.” There was more between them than friendship, too. I was almost certain of it, but, “What if I’m reading this all wrong? Three people don’t fall in love.”

Carly raised her brows. “Don’t tell Jeremy that.”

Jeremy was an anomaly. Flexible. Adaptable. Far more okay with his weirdness than I was with mine. “That’s different.”

“Do you remember Aunt Cathy?” Where did Carly get these random tangents from?

“Yes.” I missed her, too. She used to come around a lot when we were kids, but one day she just stopped showing up. Mom had said she had to leave, but never offered more than that. “Did she die? How does that have to do with what we’re talking about?” We’d never been told? We could’ve mourned.

“She didn’t die. As far as I know, she’s alive and well,” Carly said. “Do you remember when she wasn’t Aunt Cathy?

What? “No.”

“I had these memories of calling her Mommy. When I was really little. I asked Mom and Dad about it, and…” The sigh Carly let out seemed to carry the weight of the world with it. “She was in a relationship with them. All three of them. A triad.”

What?Mind. Blown. “But Mom and Dad aren’t… What?”

“You didn’t think they took the news about Jeremy, Sonya, and Quentin way too well?”

I really hadn’t thought about it at all. “They raised us to be loving and open minded.” But here I was, hung up on loving more than one person romantically. I expected it was okay for my brother, but not me. Why?

Because I was Megan. I didn’t rock the boat. I never stepped outside of the status quo. That was what Carly and Jeremy did. “A triad? Really?”

“They were young, they were in love.” Carly shrugged. “They were going to raise the three of us in a cute little family. Mom told me Cathy’s parents threatened to cut her off financially if shekept up the ridiculous charade. They were paying for Cathy’s college and she needed that, so she broke things off. She stayed friends with Mom and Dad, and wanted to stay in our lives. When her parents found out about that… they shipped her back to Italy.”

“But they never…” Told us. Found another third. Ever clued us into the fact that we were supposed to have a second mom.

A frown passed over Carly’s face. “I tried to ask Mom a bunch more questions about it, but she didn’t answer most of them. I think Cathy’s leaving broke their hearts, and they weren’t interested in looking again, or passing the grief on to us.”

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