“Oh, we haven’t even gotten to the plot twist yet.”
Marissa leans in, eyes sharp. “Go on.”
“I laughed it off. Assumed he was messing with me. But he brought it up again. And again.”
Marissa shakes her head. “Classic Jon David. He won’t stop until he gets his way.”
Relentless is what he is when he wants something. He finds the cracks and pushes until something gives.
“He kept saying it was about me andmypleasure. He wanted to see me enjoy myself. It would be hot and unforgettable.”
“I’m sensing a colossal hiccup coming,” Marissa says.
My jaw tightens. “I told him no, more than once. Told him it didn’t sit right with me, that it wasn’t some secret fantasy I was tooshy to admit. But he kept pushing. Slipped it into pillow talk, dinner chat, casual drives. I think he believed that if he brought it up enough times, I’d eventually say yes.”
“Which you did,” Eden says, voice flat. “So he got his way.”
“I didn’t give in. I chose it. Things had gotten stale between us, and I wanted more. I wanted to be turned on, and undone, and wanted by two men at the same time.”
Brielle laughs softly. “I have to admit… that actually sounds pretty fun.”
A server drifts over, tray balanced on one hand. “Can I get you ladies anything?”
“Bring another round. Double bourbon for me this time,” I say without hesitation. For what comes next, I’ll need it.
The server sweeps in, collecting empty glasses. She’s gone again before I can even blink.
I lean in, voice low, sounding as though I’m about to confess something sacred. “And then he showed me the guy.”
Across the booth, Brielle jerks upright, eyes wide. “Hold on one damn minute.Hepicked the guy?”
“Oh yeah. He met him on some app I wasn’t aware existed, one of those for couples looking toexplore new things.The two of them had it all mapped out before I’d agreed to a damn thing. But of course I had no idea when I said yes.”
Marissa’s mouth drops open. “That motherfucker.”
“He showed me the guy’s profile as though he was presenting a damn résumé. Said he was perfect.”
“Jon David had been setting this up for weeks behind your back, and you still went?”
God, when Eden says it that way, I look as dumb as the main character in a Lifetime movie. I hate the way her words make me sound so naive. Or worse—pathetic.
“I went because I was open to trying something new. There are plenty of happy people in non-traditional relationships.”
But Eden wouldn’t know anything about that since she can’t seepast her own comfort zone. There’s zero adventure in the bedroom between Derek and her. It’s always missionary with the lights off.
And probably a prayer afterward.
“Relax, Laurette. No one here is judging,” Brielle says.
Of coursesheisn’t. Brielle’s always been the open one—her dating history reads like a genre list.
But Eden and Marissa? Please. Those two are straighter than a priest’s poker face and twice as repressed.
“Look, I’m not timid. You know that,” I say, leveling a look at both of them. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”
Marissa opens her mouth, but I keep going.
“I’m not some good-girl martyr. I’ve always been straight with Jon David. If I’m into something, I own it. If I’m not, I say so. No faking, no apologizing.”
