“Come, let’s talk about it. A kiss is not so bad, is it?” Mia slung her arm around her, directing her to the sofa.
With Mia and Nora next to her on the sofa, and Catriona on the coffee table in front of her, she took a deep breath and said, “We also may have crossed second base in the walk-in pantry during his son’s birthday party.”
She covered her ears with the two nearest throw pillows to block out the second round of whoops and hollers.
“Ah, come on. Talk. Don’t leave us hanging like that,” Catriona said.
Ryleigh lowered the pillows against her stomach and said, “I just want to leave it at that.”
“I know you’re not the kiss and tell type, Ry. But I can tell something is bothering you.” Mia said.
Nora padded Ryleigh’s knee. “It’s okay if you don’t want to share—”
Catriona interrupted her twin. “I need all the graphic details. I live vicariously through you all, remember?”
“There’s not much to tell, Cat. Directly after our eh,… encounter, he said that we needed to take a step back for Tommy’s sake. Just to give it some time and see where things would go between us before telling him.”
After an awful night’s sleep, she had woken up with the need to talk things through with him. Her old insecurities had resurfaced, and she’d milled everything over and over in her head, lying awake in bed.
Apparently, she wasn’t suited for the whole ‘see where it goes’ type of thing.
“I don’t want any of you to judge me for what I’m about to say,” Ryleigh made a show out of tilting her head and eying Catriona in front of her.
Catriona fake-zipped her mouth after she’d said, “Sure.”
“He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a man. And girls… he’s such a man. How he’s with Tommy… How he makes me feel with a single touch.”
A giddy giggle from her left drew Raleigh's attention. Nora bit her lip. “Sorry. Please continue.”
“The man is gorgeous. And the way he’s with Tommy would totally melt your heart. These two love each other so much. And I know it’s crazy, but I want to be a part of that. He’s absolutely right to ask me to take things slow between us because of Tommy. But I’m scared to put my heart on the line if his end goal isn’t the same as mine.”
“I think you should open up to him and put it out there that if you continue this hanky-panky, you’ll expect to be working towards a relationship.” Mia said.
Before she could think Mia’s words over in her head, Catriona already said, “We’ve obviously never met the guy, so I don’t know if he’s the type to string you along. What happened to the baby momma?”
“I… I don’t know…” Ryleigh rubbed the palms of her hands on her jeans.
“I hope for his sake, he’s not married.” Catriona’s lips curled in disgust.
“He told me she left them three years ago, without a single word of goodbye. She’s not in the picture anymore.”
“Hmm. Okay. But is she in Austin?”
“I don’t know, Cat. All I know is that she left them, okay?”
She calmed herself by taking a deep breath through her nose. “You all know about my past and what I had to go through before I was brave enough to say ‘this is me, deal with it’. I saw a picture of his ex on Tommy’s nightstand. She’s like an angel with long blonde hair, a perfect face and a body to die for. And I know I’m not the prettiest—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Catriona said and took Ryleigh’s hands in hers.
“I can’t handle seeing you tearing yourself down. You’re gorgeous, Ry. I mean it. And you know I always mean everything I say. I can’t tell a lie to save my life.”
A tear rolled over Ryleigh’s cheek, and she gave Catriona a grateful smile.
Mia bumped her shoulder. “She’s right, you know. You’re striking. You turn heads everywhere we go.”
Ryleigh shook her head and tugged a hand free from Catriona to wipe her tears from her face.
Nora added, “You don’t even know how beautiful you are, inside and out. You put everyone’s needs before your own and even dropped out of college to help your sister. We all love you, no matter what.”