Page 20 of The Upgrade

“Perfect Presley owns Carmichael Holdings?” Nina blinks. “I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Family tension, you know?”

“I do.” Nina has her own family stuff, so she gets it. “What should I know about the account?”

I draw a deep breath, not sure where to start. “Remember that story I told you about Presley’s dad catching me in the backseat of the hockey captain’s car?”

“Ugh, yes.” Nina shakes her head. “I still can’t believe your stepdad made you join the church youth group and write a fucking essay about the importance of purity and?—”

“It’s fine. I’m over it.”

Pretty much. But I still hear the echo of Hank ranting to Mom the night it happened. I hovered outside their bedroom door, hearing him pace as he growled to my mother.

“Your daughter is out of control,” he snapped. “All she’s thinking about issex.”

“Hank, that’s not…” My mother faltered. “I don’t think that’s true. She’s getting all As and Bs in school.”

“Yeah, well,Presleyhas an A-plus average and takes only AP classes. She’s not out there spreading her legs for anyone who looks her way.” That stung more than it should have. “Why can’t Eve benormal, for God’s sake?”

I held my breath, waiting for Mom to defend me. To tell him sex wasn’t shameful.

“I’ll talk to Eve,” she murmured instead. “I’ll explain how important it is to make good decisions, so her husband respects her one day.”

I fell asleep crying that night.

The lessons I learned in my own home could not have been more different from how sex was handled in Camille’s. At least for my last year of high school, I got a glimpse of something different. Parents who discussed sex openly with their kids. A mother and father with a loving and physical connection.

But old habits die hard, don’t they? Somehow I found myself engaged to a guy who?—

“Eve?” Nina’s voice tips up with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” I was telling a story, wasn’t I? “Oh, the hockey captain from the backseat—Perfect Presley is engaged to him now. They run Carmichael Holdings together.”

“Get out!” Nina smacks her palms on my desk. “No wonder you’re walking on eggshells with that account.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I assure her. “Presley and I aren’t close. She’s throwing me a bone with the account to begin with, so I want to handle it with kid gloves.”

“I get it, believe me.” Nina gets up from her chair, so I stand, too. “I promise we’ll take care of everything. And we’ll keep you in the loop if anything comes up.”

“Thanks, Nina. You’re a lifesaver.”

“I’m apartner—this is literally my job.” She gives me a hug and I feel some of the tension leave my shoulders. “Now get out and have some great sex.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” I think of Kit Plier and what he stirred up inside me last week. Feelings and urges I’ve spent years shoving in a box. Or indulging for a little while, only to let shame send me right back to chasingnormal.

No more of that.

“I promise,” I repeat, more forceful this time. “I will have the best, most adventurous sex of my life at Crystal Bliss Retreat.”

“That’s the spirit.” Laughing, Nina hugs me again. “Have fun, Eve. You deserve it.”

For the first time in ages, I might actually believe it.

CHAPTER4

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