Page 56 of Stay With Me Forever

I sipped my water and watched the condensation run down the glass before I muttered, “I told West aboutthat day.”

Abby tilted her head. “And? He has the same opinion as me, doesn’t he?”

This was a topic we didn’t talk about often. Because we never agreed. “Yes.”

The server brought our ice teas—tomorrow would require an early start, and we weren’t risking alcohol—and as soon as she left, Abby spoke again. “Okay. So then what? I’m sure you argued with him about it. But why are you running away from him? Because I suspect you changed your dinner plans to avoid him.”

My cheeks burned as I tried to gather the courage. West was Abby’s brother, after all.

But if I was going to tell anyone about what had happened, it would be her. So I blurted, “We argued, and he kissed me to prove he didn’t hate me.”

“Did he now?”

I glanced up and didn’t like the knowing look in Abby’s eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Do you want the truth?”

I nodded.

“I’m surprised you two haven’t jumped into bed together already, if I’m honest. We’ve all felt the tension at the dinner table.”

Blood drained from my face. Had we been that obvious? Had his kids noticed?

Abby reached across the table and patted my arm. “We know you best, Millie. Emmy. Speaking of which—he’s the reason you asked to be called Emmy again, isn’t he?”

I’d wondered how long Abby would take to ask me about that. “Yes.”

“Interesting.”

I took an ice cube from my glass and tossed it at her. She shrieked and then laughed.

I vowed to give our server a huge-ass tip to make up for my mess.

Abby pointed a finger at me. “You’ll pay for that later.”

“You deserved it, with all your vague-ass answers.”

“I can’t help it. I rarely get to tease you like this. And since I won’t tease West—at least until you two are like making out in public or something—you’ll get it twice as bad.”

“We won’t be making out in public.”

“Why not?”

Such a simple question and yet so fucking difficult.

Our food arrived—we both had ordered fettuccine alfredo as a treat, since Beck had never been able to make it right—and I quickly took a bite. Both because I was starving but also to give me time to process how to answer her.

With anyone else, I’d probably chicken out and try to change the subject.

But Abby wouldn’t let it die until she got a response. So after swallowing, I finally said, “You know I don’t do relationships. And I most definitely don’t imagine having a family one day.”

I didn’t know if I’d told Abby about how I didn’t think I deserved a family of my own or not. I had some hazy, drunk memories from my twenty-first birthday but nothing definitive.

Abby shrugged. “Well, you don’t need to have a relationship to fuck him.”

I choked on my latest bite. It seemed I couldn’t swallow properly to save my life today.

Once I could finally breathe again, I took a sip and said, “What?”

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