Page 89 of Unsure in Love

Her jaw dropped as I reached for the bag of goodies.

“I’ll take this though,” I said. She’d rescued me from potentially poisoning Damian with my horrible cooking. “Now, scoot. Love you,” I sang sweetly to hopefully soothe the sting of my rudeness.

“Cassandra Bennet, you will not take my food and kick me out.” She harrumphed. “Where are your manners?”

I rolled my eyes. “Look, Tess. I’m not trying to be rude, really.” Glancing over my shoulder nervously, I said, “I’ll explain later, but you have to go.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting so strange for months. I’m tired of it. Is this about—”

“Hey, Cass. I—” Damian stopped in his tracks as he rounded the corner into the living room. He only wore a towel that hung low on his hips, and his incredibly toned torso glistened with moisture.

Tessa’s mouth opened some more and her eyes became the size of the fancy saucers she loved to serve tea on. “Oh, my,” she breathed, blatantly taking in the work of art in front of us.

I threw my hands up in defeat. I’d hoped to keep Damian’s presence a secret at least for a day or two. Damian folded his arms over his chest as if he could hide his body from my sister. His slight blush as he sent me an apologetic look was cute.

I shrugged.

“Tessa, nice to see you again,” he said. “I’ll go put something on.”

“Uh-huh.” Tessa still stared, her cheeks ruby red.

I rolled my eyes. You’d think she’d never seen a half-naked man before. Then again, Damian was absolute perfection—capable of rendering any woman flustered. I bit back my smile as he backed away.

Tessa was quiet until Damian disappeared. She turned to me. “Holy cow. He’s here,” she whisper-shouted.

“He is.” I nodded.

“That’s why you were trying to get rid of me.” Tessa folded her arms and glowered. “What gives? You told me everything. You don’t have to hide your boyfriend from me, Cass.” She smirked. “Side note, he’s a ten.”

It was my turn to glare. “Eyes off, sister. He’s mine.”

She guffawed. “Cassandra being possessive of a man—this is a monumental day indeed.”

“Shut up,” I groaned. Then I sighed, realizing we sounded like our teenage selves. “And I wasn’t trying to hide him. Not from you, at least. I’m trying to hide him from Nic.”

Tessa's gaze fixed on me, her eyes full of disbelief. She crossed her arms, tilted her head to the side, and raised her eyebrows. "Are you for real?"

I shifted uncomfortably under her stare. Clearing my throat, I stuttered, "N-not that I'm afraid to tell him.”

She gave me a dubious look, and feeling irrationally defensive, I glowered. “I am not afraid to tell Nic about my relationship with his friend.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Look, I just…” I let out a defeated breath because I couldn’t tell Tessa the reason why I didn’t want to say anything to my brother-in-law. Once I spoke with Nic, my other secrets would come out. It would be like a domino effect. Plus, a small part of me was reluctant to broadcast my relationship because I was still afraid things wouldn’t work out.

Tessa’s eyebrows snapped together as she studied me. “How about we bring the girls in? They might have advice, especially Lucy. Although they’re going to flip when they find out you have a whole boyfriend and didn’t tell them about it.”

I looked skyward. Having four sisters had its ups and downs. “You guys should try minding your business once in a while.”

Tessa grinned. “Being nosey is our love language.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled. “Look, Tess, there’s something else I’ve been keeping from you girls.” More than one thing… But announcing my pregnancy was the safest news to deliver first. “Don’t say anything to Lucy yet, okay? She’ll likely say something to Nic.”

Tessa frowned. “What's wrong? I assumed you worked things out with Damian since he’s here.”

If I didn’t confide in one of my sisters soon, I’d likely blow my top. I glanced over my shoulder again. “Damian and I are fine. We’re great, actually. He showed up, we talked, and we’re giving the whole exclusive relationship a try.”

Tessa clasped her hands and gushed. “You told him you love him. That’s so—”

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