Page 67 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
“Don’t say that,” Maeve says, slapping her arm. “Let this girl have her moment. And her own adjectives. If it’s nice, then let her have nice.”
Nice is a safe word to use to describe my foggy memory of kissing Linc. Because what I actually remember is fire and heat and never wanting to stop. But I’m sure that was a product of the crazy night and the liquor. So for now, we’ll go with nice.
“Thank you, Maeve,” I say. “Now, can we talk about something else?”
I take a breadstick out of the box, and one of the many cups of ranch that came with it. I knew the conversation would be like this when Maeve suggested that we come over for pizza and wine—and my water. It’s been a while since the four of us have hung out, and Logan was taking her son to the arcade for some bonus dad-son time, so we have the house to ourselves. Which means no prying ears of my eight-year-old nephew, giving my sisters cart blanche to ask me whatever they want about Linc.
Sure, there’s Grace, but she’s one. She can’t understand us. Hopefully. She does live with Quinn, though.
“Sorry, can’t do,” Stella says. “Because Quinn’s right, we’ve been waiting years for this conversation. And we have to know…”
“Know what?”
The three of them look to each other then back to me. I don’t know the rest of Stella’s question, but judging by their looks, heightened eyebrows, tilted heads, I think they think I should know.
I don’t.
“Damn, she’s so innocent,” Quinn says. “How’s the sex? And if you say nice, I swear to fucking God I’m going to riot.”
“Quinn! Language!” I say, reaching down and picking Grace off the floor. I cover her ears for dramatic effect, but really, I’m trying to stall while I figure out how to answer this.
“It’s fine. If she learns it now, I won’t need to have the sex talk with her when she’s older.”
“Lucky her,” Maeve says sarcastically.
The two of them start bickering in only the way sisters can, which is great for me. And Grace even helps me out by reaching for my cell phone. She knows Aunt Ainsley has the good games for her to play.
What do I say? I have to speak the truth. I’m already telling them a gigantic lie that’s killing me inside. My conscience can’tadd another. Plus, these are my sisters. The women who know me better than anyone in the world. Sure, they might be hoping that Linc and I are having sex, but when I tell them we’re not, they’re going to think something is up. Or worse—they’re going to judge me in that sisterly way.
Unfortunately, I feel like that’s my best option.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Linc and I haven’t slept together yet.”
“Ah, man,” Quinn groans. “I really wanted to know if he could actually pick you up and hold you against a wall.”
My eyes double in size. “What are you talking about? Why would he do that?”
Quinn winks at me. “Well, he could go down on his knees so he has a better angle to?—”
“Stop!” I yell, not wanting to put images into my head that I won’t be able to get out. For better or worse. “What is it with you and Mia and men holding you against walls?”
“Just you wait and see, sister. Just you wait and see…”
I don’t let my mind go down that rabbit hole. “Well, that hasn’t happened. Nor has much else. We’ve only been dating a few weeks, and our schedules are crazy. Plus, we kind of started this in a whirlwind. We’re good with taking the other things slow.”
There. Was it a fib? Yes. But at least I’m now not having to make up the sex things we’ve done that I’m sure would either be wrong or so boring that Quinn would demand to take me to a Kama sutra class.
“That’s understandable,” Maeve says. “We know you like to take your time with things, so I, for one, am glad that you two are waiting.”
“Thank you,” I say.
“Yes, sorry if we bombarded you,” Stella adds. “It was just fun to think about, considering our sister is now in a hot relationship and not with…”
Stella trails off, but Quinn finishes the thought for her. “Doctor Dweeb.”
Normally I’d defend Jonathan, and say he wasn’t that bad, but after how he’s been acting since he arrived back in town, dweeb isn’t a strong enough word. And what I really want to call him I won’t, because it’s words I’ve never said out loud before.
“In all seriousness, I need to ask,” Maeve pauses before finishing. “You and Jonathan had sex, right?”
