Page 89

“Does she know about us? The wholeexpart of our story, I mean?”

“I told her,” Bryce revealed.

“And she’s cool with us being friends and talking like this?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she’s more secure than me, then.” Sean laughed a self-deprecating laugh.

“She knows you and I broke up a while ago.”

“And you’re there with her and not here with me, so I’m sure that helps, too.”

“Sean, I don’t know what happened,” Bryce confessed, leaning back onto the pillows behind her. “I knew you didn’t like the idea of me and Sophie, and I thought you still had feelings for me, but… I had no idea you were about to propose. I didn’t know you were still struggling with that. I wish I had. I wouldn’t have talked about the women I dated after you with you.”

“We’re friends, Bry. Friends do that.”

“But I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know that,” Sean said. “I wouldn’t have loved you if you weren’t a good person, Bryce. And I was embarrassed. I got things so wrong with us, and then I kept holding on to it because I thought I couldn’t have beenthatwrong. I thought maybeyouwere, and we’d find our way back to one another one day. I think I only realized it when you met Sophie that that wasn’t going to happen, which was why I left. It wasn’t so much that I thought you two would end up together. It was that I saw the look in your eyes, and I’d never seen you look atanyonelike that; not even me when we first started dating.” Sean paused. “I don’t know if she’s the one for you or not, but it was obvious then thatIclearly wasn’t, and it hurt, hearing you talk about this woman you’djust met like she hung the moon while I’m sitting next to you thinking about how I’d almost gotten down on one knee in front of someone who never looked at me how she looked at some stranger in a bar.”

“Sean, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s my pride, and I’m trying to deal with that and let things go. It’s just hard.”

“Yeah,” Bryce said, not knowing what else to say.

“Look, I want you to be happy, Bry. If that’s Sophie, I want that for you. If it’s someone else, that’s fine, too. I know that it’s not me now, but I’ll be okay. I don’t want to lose my best friend. I just need a little time to adjust to the situation. I know you’ll bring her home to meet us soon, probably, and I want to be there to really meet her and be supportive. I just need to separate myself from things a little, okay?”

“Sure. Yeah.”

“So, I’ll skip the blogs for now, if that’s okay, andI’lltextyou.”

“Okay. Whatever you want,” she said.

“I’ve got to run now. I’m doing some work.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” Bryce replied.

Sean hung up first, and Bryce stared at the phone for a moment, hoping that wouldn’t be the last time she’d talk to her. Sophie had opted to shower after their last round in bed, but Sean had texted Bryce back, and she’d wanted to try to talk to her instead of messaging and needed some privacy to do it. The water was still running, though, and Bryce was still naked, so she tossed her phone onto the bed and headed into the bathroom.

“Babe?” she said.

“Yeah?” Sophie replied.

Sophie’s bathroom only had a shower, and the door was glass and very much see-through. She smirked as she watchedSophie’s head go back and water run over it like she was in some kind of shampoo commercial.

“Yeah, I’m coming in,” she said to herself.

Bryce had intended on asking if she could join, but she could no longer ask. She needed to be in that shower with Sophie. She opened the door while Sophie rubbed her face, getting the water out of her eyes, and within seconds, Bryce had her pinned to the side wall.

“Oh,” Sophie said with a smile. “I guess we’re doingthisnow.”

“Ifthisis shower sex, then yes, we’re definitely doingthis.”

“I’m not sure I can take much more, babe. My body is sore,” Sophie said.

“I know. Mine is, too. But we can’t do this when I’m in Tennessee and you’re here, so I think we should make good use of the time we have and deal with the consequences later, don’t you?”