Page 42 of Beautiful Desire (Blossom Beach #3)

“I mean, we saw enough to guess where it was headed,” Grace offers. “But we didn’t watch you have sex, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Oh, god…” Yeah, I’m going to be sick.

“So, you did?” she asks. “Have sex with him? Our stepbrother. Right outside my bakery. In the middle of Main Street.”

“Oh my god, Grace, stop!” I blurt out, my face in my hands. “Yes, okay! But I can explain!”

Gemma barks a laugh, startling me, and when I look up at her, she slaps a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, the words muffled. “I don’t mean to laugh, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Georgia look so mortified before.”

“Oh, well, so glad my embarrassment can be of amusement to you, Gemma,” I deadpan, grabbing my wine and chugging the entire thing in one go.

As I swipe the bottle off the table to refill the glass, Grace snorts, which only makes Gemma laugh harder.

“Really, guys?” I gawk at them. “What is so funny about this?” But I can’t help it.

Their laughter is contagious, and before I know it, I’ve got tears streaming down my face as the three of us laugh our asses off.

“Okay, okay…” Grace wipes the moisture from under her eyes. “Georgia, what the heck?” she asks, out of breath. “How did that happen, first of all? Second of all, was it at least good?”

“Grace!” I hiss.

“What? I’m just asking the questions we all wanna know.”

“No, but really,” Gemma chimes in. “We need to know how it happened, so spill.”

“And can I just say, wow…” Grace blows out a breath, fanning herself. “Y’all were all over each other.”

“What happened to you not watching the whole thing?” I scoff, my cheeks heating.

“We didn’t!” Grace exclaims. “But my goodness, you guys were on fire. What could have possibly happened between the bar and the bakery—which isn’t even a block away, might I add—to have you two all over each other like that?”

I groan, unable to believe I’m having this conversation right now. “Uh, what if I say it wasn’t the first time?”

“I knew it!” Grace blurts out before turning her head toward Gemma. “You owe me twenty bucks, ma’am.”

“Excuse me?” Looking between my sisters, I ask, “Did y’all place a bet on me?”

Grace nods, giggling. “Well, once the initial shock wore off after we watched you two practically eat each other’s faces, I said it definitely looked like y’all had done that before, but Gemma was convinced otherwise.”

“Because last I heard, you couldn’t stand him,” Gemma cuts in.

“Uh, hello…” Snapping her fingers, Grace says, “Hate sex is the best. Let’s not forget the time Conway jealousy-railed me up against the side of my house. Goddamn, that was hot.”

Gemma scrunches her nose. “You both have some weird up-against-a-building sex kink.”

I snort. “Oh, you’re one to talk, Miss Fuck Me In A Lighthouse, Mr. Windward .”

Flipping me off, the corner of her mouth twitches before she says, “Okay, but really. We need the details of how this happened.”

Taking another drink of my wine, I blow out a breath before word vomiting all over them.

Starting at the very beginning, I tell them about Fletcher’s initial flirting, and how the threesome with Charley happened, all the way to me pegging him, and how we’ve had sex nearly every day since.

By the time I’m finished with the recap, their jaws are on the floor.

“Oh, my. I have so many questions,” Grace murmurs, holding up her index finger. “You and Charley… Is that a thing? And why is this the first time we’re hearing about it? About all of this? How many secrets are you hiding, woman?”

Shaking my head, I breathe out a laugh. “No, it’s not a thing,” I assure her. “She and I had a threesome together one other time, but it was over a year ago when we were in Vegas for that convention.”

“Did you think we’d judge you guys?” she asks. “Is that why you didn’t tell us?”

“Of course, we didn’t think that, Grace.

” A pang of guilt strikes me. “It was one drunken night, and it wasn’t like we had feelings for each other all of the sudden or kept hooking up.

It was genuinely just one hot, fun night between friends and some random bartender we met.

We didn’t want things to be weird between all of us, so we just, I don’t know…

didn’t see the point in bringing it up.”

“I had no idea friend threesomes were even on the table,” Grace murmurs before taking a sip from her glass. “Apparently, I’ve been doing friendships wrong my whole life because, clearly, I’m missing out.”

“Shut up,” I say, chuckling.

“Okay, but if you didn’t think we’d judge you, then why did you keep this from us, too?”

I don’t miss the hurt in her voice, and it makes me feel like shit. “Because, Grace, he’s our stepbrother . People don’t just fuck their stepbrothers.”

“I mean, I’m sure some people do,” Gemma drawls, wagging her brows suggestively as a smirk tugs on her lips. It reminds me of when Charley essentially said the same thing.

Running my fingers through my hair, I release a heavy breath. “Even so, it just… It was only ever supposed to be temporary. I thought if we hooked up, it’d get out of my system, and I’d be fine. But then it kept happening again.”

Gemma chuckles. “That never works. Nobody has ever slept with somebody once or twice to ‘get it out of their system,’ and then actually got it out of their system. That’s a slippery slope, and we all know it.”

“Ugh, I know. I don’t know how I let this happen.

I’ve never been more confused in my life.

I know we need to stop, since it’s clearly not gonna go anywhere, but at the same time, I don’t want to stop yet.

God, you guys,” I groan. “The sex is so fucking good. Like, I was certain he would be terrible in bed, but he’s not , at all. ”

“Aw, Georg,” Grace murmurs. “You have feelings for him.”

“What?” I hiss, head rearing back. “No, I do not. The sex is good, that’s it.”

My sisters glance at one another before looking at me. “Been there before,” Gemma muses, eyes lit up with humor. “Good luck with that denial.”

“I’m serious, it’s just sex.”

Grace hums, biting back a smile. “Let us know how that works out for you.”

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head at how relaxed they are about this. “Why aren’t you guys more weirded out? He’s our stepbrother. Shouldn’t you be scolding me and telling me how gross I am?”

Gemma’s eyes soften. “First of all, I don’t think you could do anything that would make Grace and me think you’re gross . Nothing is ever black and white, Georg.”

“Besides, it’s not like you’re banging Graham,” Grace adds with a shrug.

“What the fuck, Grace,” I mutter, face screwed up.

She laughs. “I’m just saying, it’s not it’s incest or anything.”

“Highly doubt our parents will see it that way,” I mumble under my breath.

“Well, they don’t need to know right now,” she retorts. “Figure out how you feel before letting the world know.”

“There’re no feelings, Grace.”

“Yeah, because that’s believable,” she huffs, pulling out her phone.

“Who are you texting right now?” I ask as her fingers fly across the screen.

“Charley, telling her to get her ass over here. Clearly, we need a wine and girls’ night.” Glancing up at me, she pauses. “Wait, she’s not going to be upset you told us about you guys, is she?”

I shake my head. “No, she won’t care, I promise.”

“Well, okay then.” Hitting send, she sets the phone on the arm of her chair before finishing the wine in her glass. Then she adds, “No more freaking secrets, Georgia. Got it?”

“Yes, Mother ,” I drawl, and we all laugh.

I didn’t realize how much weight was sitting on my shoulders, keeping this from them until just now.

It feels good getting it out there.

And I don’t have feelings for Fletcher.

I don’t .

Then why does that make my stomach twist?