Page 24 of Love Legacy

“I didn’t even notice that,” I mumble, noticing that there was at least a second one poking out from under the strap of her sports bra. Maeve blushes a deep red.

“Things got…interesting last night. But apparently, I’m not the only one,” she says, turning her attention toward me. “Ready to crossmake out seshoff your college experience list?” She holds out a pen to me.

I bury my head in my arms, groaning. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Did Alex tell you?”

“Guilty.”

Maeve comes over to sit next to me. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asks, sensing my internal conflict over the kiss.

“Everything! It’s all wrong. Sage is my friend, and I’m not a lesbian.”

“Well, you were the one that kissed her, not the other way around,” Alex points out.

“I know that. I don’t know why I did that. I mean, I do. Ihatepickles. But it wouldn’t have been that bad just to take the shot and get it over with. I don’t know what got into me and compelled me to kiss her. I blame the alcohol. I did drink a lot,” I ramble on, my thoughts spiraling out of control.

Maeve puts a hand on my arm to settle me. “Naomi, do you think that maybe, subconsciously, that you wanted to kiss Sage? I mean, you have been exploring things outside of your faith and reevaluating what it means to you. Maybe this is just one of those things?”

I shake my head, my stomach lurching. I bury my head in my arms again. For a moment, I had forgotten about my hangover, but it just came back with a vengeance. “Ugh, I’m never drinking this much again.”

Alex passes me a bottle of cold water, and I take a few large gulps. “I’m not gay. I think I would know if I was. I like men. Josiah and I dated for like five years,” I say, returning my focus to Maeve’s questioning.

“And notice how quickly you were willing to drop him after everything that went down at High Valley. I mean, you said it yourself, you guys only kissed a couple times in your entire relationship,” Alex points out, drinking her coffee.

“No, we only kissed a couple times because it was against our faith. We really weren’t even supposed to do that until we got married.”

“Sure, it could be that. Or maybe deep down, you didn’t really want to be with him. Or any man,” Maeve suggests. “Look, I understand your disbelief, Naomi, but we’ve all seen you with Sage. There’s more than just a friendship there. At least on Sage’s side, for sure. She’s practically in love with you.”

“Maeve’s right. I watched you two kiss last night. You can’t fake that kind of chemistry. I know it might be hard to accept, but I think deep down, you might have feelings for Sage. What that means for your sexuality, well, that’ll come in due time.”

I shift in my seat uncomfortably, switching back to drinking my coffee. “Enough about me. How was your night, Maeve? You haven’t told us how you ended up with that hickey.”

Maeve blushes, now her turn to hide her discomfort in her protein shake. “So you weren’t there, Naomi, but Alex, do you remember I told you about those guys I was…involved with on the last Kappa Costa Rica trip?”

“The football player and his best friend, right? Yeah, I remember them, what about it?”

“So that guy, Emory, that I’ve been seeing casually? He’s the best friend. Turns out they are also Pinebrook students.”

“Oh, so you and Emory were together last night?” I ask, finishing off my bottle of water.

“Not exactly…” Maeve says, turning a deep scarlet shade.

“Shut up! Oh my god, you hooked up with the football player last night!” Alex says excitedly.

“His name is Noah and he’s so fine! Tall, dark, handsome, and super-tatted.”

“How many?” I ask, thinking about Sage’s tattoos and how they cover a significant portion of her body.

“More than Sage. Like he’s almost completely covered from the neck down. And you guys, this man is huge. Like a hulk of a man. He can, and does, easily toss me around.”

Alex squeals. “So what does this mean? Are you going to keep seeing Noah? What about Emory?”

Maeve shrugs. “I honestly don’t know where this is going. I really like them both, but obviously, I can’t date two men at the same time. Right? I mean, that only happens in romance novels. That’s not something that people do in real life.”

“Well, some people are polyamorous. You can be with multiple people if you want to. Assuming they all consent to the dynamic, of course. I wouldn’t judge you if you wanted to be with both Noah and Emory, I mean, you can’t control who you fall for,” Alex says, looking at both of us.

Maeve sighs. “Originally, we were going to talk about it last night. Or maybe fool around and then talk. But then something happened…” she says, trailing off. “You guys can’t tell Sage what I’m about to tell you. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m right about what I saw.”

“Promise.”

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