Page 105 of The Upgrade

It’s my turn to blanch. I look at Eve. “Youcalled?”

“I hit speed-dial before you grabbed it.”

From the phone on the pillow, my sister calls out. “Put me on speaker. Or hell, let’s do a—video call.”

“No!” Eve and I look at each other and laugh.

We’re rolling with mirth, rocking together as my sister shouts something from the phone.

“Told you so, asshole.”

God, I love Eve. And I love my family, too.

Even better than that, I’m loving myself for the first time in a while. For having the courage to make this happen. To go after Eve, to share all my feelings without knowing for sure how she’d take it.

I love you, she mouths, and I smile.

Love you, too.

Out loud to my sister, I say, “Hanging up now.” I click off the call before Camille can intrude any further on this moment.

Looking deep in Eve’s eyes, I smile. “Want to be my girlfriend?”

“I’d love to.” She grins. “Want to go to a sex resort together?”

Laughing, I roll her onto her back. “Way ahead of you, babe.”

EPILOGUE

EVE

“More wine?”

Sybil holds up the bottle and I scoot my glass forward for a refill. “Thanks. It’s fantastic.”

Kora smiles. “We brought it back from our trip to Spain.” She’s holding her wife’s hand on the opposite side of the table.

It’s vacation for us and an everyday evening for those two. Kit finished his study three months ago, and we’ve come back to tie up loose ends. While couples don’t normally get to vacation here, they’ve gifted us a few nights in a private suite to thank Kit for his work. Our flight got in late, so we haven’t officially checked in yet.

Sybil tops off her wife’s glass, then tips some more into Kit’s. “Ashton Holyfield sent us to Spain on a reconnaissance mission. There’s a resort near Nerja that he’s thinking of adding to the Jilted Brides Honeymoon Club collection.”

“That’s exciting.” Kit squeezes my knee under the table. “Glad the business model’s working out.”

“It really is.” Kora passes around a plate of passionfruit lime cookies. “Reading your study put him at ease. He seems to like knowing the consorts are happy and healthy.”

Pride fills my chest as I watch Kit’s reaction over the rim of my glass. It’s been an amazing three months for us both. He completed his research and everyone’s thrilled with the report. Holyfield even hired me for a gentle rebrand of the Crystal Bliss menu. We’re keepingenchantmentsandconsorts,though.

At the end of the day, it turned out everyone kinda liked those expressions.

But we’ve changed up a few things and killed some of the cheesier lingo. No more Cannelloni Canoodle Cunnilingus Surprise, and the Sexy Seesaw got renamed as the Double Dip Delight.

It’s been great on the personal front, too. Kit moved to Portland, though we’re keeping separate apartments for now. We spend enough nights together that we may as well share one place, but we’re committed to taking things slowly. Not rushing into anything or pushing milestones just because that’s what people expect.

We grocery shop together on Tuesdays and spend evenings on the couch watching trashy TV with Bratwurst cuddled between us. On weekends we go hiking or kayaking if the weather cooperates.

When we’re not doing that, we’ll occasionally invite a third party to join us in the bedroom. It feels right and so natural that I wonder now why I ever thoughtnormalcould be enough.

“Is Holyfield doing okay?” Kit looks from Sybil to Kora.

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