“He’s been happier lately. I mean, I drag a lot of my own crap into his life, but I know he cares about me and isn’t just sticking around because he feels like he needs to fix me.”
“There’s nothing to fix,” Letty says, her big brown eyes meeting mine with an earnest expression. “Your body might have betrayed you a bit, but there is nothing that needs fixing in that big, beautiful brain of yours, Adhira.”
“Stop flirting with me,” I tell her, bristling under all the attention.
“Oh, quit that. You need to hear it,” Chelsea says, slapping a palm over mine. “You, Adhira Shah, are precious. You’re a royal pain in our asses, and I mean that in the best way possible. You’re also the smartest person we know, compassionate beyond measure?—”
“Even if she’s being a fucking martyr,” Elise tacks on.
“Mm-hm. And you are worthy of love, attention, and that same compassion you dish out to everyone else. If you want to be with Elijah, I just hope you won’t let fear of the future steal that away from you.”
I flick my gaze between her and Letty, then to Nakoa and Jelani. “I’ll take your advice if you promise to do the same.”
“I’ll give it a shot,” Chelsea whispers, her lip quivering as she becomes far more vulnerable than I’d been prepared for.
I clear my throat.
“Tell me something good,” Letty says, silently asking all of us to participate in a routine she and Chelsea have been doing for years, but Elise and I were always too stubborn to join. But today, I’ll give in if it makes her happy.
“I got to watch Nakoa’s juicy ass jiggle around for an hourandspend the day with all of my favourite people,” Chelsea says, starting us off.
“I spent the better part of my day with a man who drives me absolutely wild, and it didn’t break me in half for once,” Letty admits. “Oh,andI got to watchhisjuicy ass bouncing around too.” She smirks.
“I think I found my libido from the depths of hell chemo dragged it down to, and if given the opportunity, I think I’d even try it out with Elijah.”
Elise’s dark brows climb her forehead. “Oh? What happened to not enjoying sex?”
My eyes dart to where Elijah is dancing along to the absolute rubbish Jelani is “singing,” shaking his arse as if absolutely no one is watching, and my lips tilt, warmth spreading low in my belly.
“Something tells me it would be enjoyable with him. That he’dmake sureI enjoyed myself, and I would, simply because it’s him.”
“Adhira has a crush,” Chelsea whisper-shouts into Letty’s ear, and we all chuckle.
“And what about you?”
Elise sucks her lips into her mouth, clenching her eyes shut for a brief moment before blowing out a breath. “I got the results back from my geneticist,” she says, her voice so quiet it’s almost a whisper, and my stomach twists in knots. “I don’t have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation,” she confirms, and a single tear slips down her cheek.
A breath I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding onto whooshes from my lungs at the relief of knowing her chances of fighting a similar monster to mine are so much lower.
“And”—she wipes the tear away with the back of her hand—“I get to keep my titties.”
A sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob tears from Letty’s throat, and she practically mauls Elise, crushing her to her chest.
“I’d have given you some of mytetasif you needed them,” Letty whispers, and Chelsea piles on top of them.
“If I had any tits to spare, they’d be all yours,” Chelsea adds, nuzzling against Letty like a bloody cat.
Three sets of eyes peer up at me, and I roll my eyes. “Come onnn, join the cuddle puddle.”
“I have zero desire to take part in something as abhorrent as a ‘cuddle puddle.’”
Elise bats her dark, tear-soaked lashes at me, and I cave with a groan, climbing down from my stool and wrapping my arms around the three tyrants that somehow manage to keep me sane while simultaneously driving me up the wall.
“That’s better,” Chelsea says, wriggling around to clutch me tighter, and rather than fight her, I give in to the comfort of these women, knowing I may not be perfect, but they’ll always love me and every one of my flaws.
CHAPTER
FIFTY-SIX
