Lyria slapped her shoulder.
“What?” Brooke raised her hands in defense. “We’re all wondering the same thing.”
“Just get to the point. Have you fucked him yet?” Ryanne asked bluntly.80
My cheeks flamed.
Lyria gave her the dirtiest look ever.
Brooke looked appalled. “Okay, that was crass. Is that the kind of language Mom would be proud of?”
I raised both hands and slapped them, palms down, against the table. “Fine,” I deadpanned. “Go ahead. Lay it on thick.”
Brooke waved a delicate hand in the air. “Why do you assume that we’re against this? I one hundred percent support it.”
“She didn’t answer the question.” Ryanne leaned in. “Have you and Austin made passionate love?” She gagged, and I groaned out loud.
I dropped my head on the table. Maybe if I wished hard enough, I could disappear. But then I decided to just say it aloud, get it out in the open. So, I faced them all with my most stubborn expression. “I have—multiple times—and it was glorious.”
Laughter rang out around me, and I wanted to die, but I refused to hide.
Ryanne slapped me on the back like a man would. “I’m buying a round of drinks. We should party-it-up. It’s been a while. You’re practically celebrating losing your virginity again.” She cupped her mouth, yelling over to Justin at the bar, “A round of beer over here!” Then, she threw him a thumbs-up.
“We shouldn’t be celebrating. Have we forgotten about Alec?” I pointed out, passing my gaze across the sea of Loverlys.
“We haven’t forgotten about him,” Brooke said, shrugging. “Of course he’s going to be upset. But he’ll get over it. He’s already sleeping with Candice.” She said it like she was talking about the weather, but the rest of us were shocked.
“What?” Serena gasped.
“Why the fuck would he do that?” Ryanne added.
I rubbed at my temple as worry for Alec plagued me.
Candice was not an upgrade. She’d been trying to get in my brother’s pants since high school. And then he’d fallen for Brandy, which had thwarted that woman wolf.
“It’s only been a little over a month.” I scoffed.
“He’s just trying to get over Brandy. I know this. He knows this. But what he doesn’t know is that it won’t work.” Brooke grabbed a pretzel bite in the middle of the table, dipped it in the cheese, and bit it, using only her teeth so she wouldn’t mess up her lipstick. “He’ll have to learn the hard way by going through the motions long enough to know that it doesn’t dull the pain.”
Lyria sighed. “Been there. I mean, I didn’t whore around after my breakup with Justin.” Her eyes teetered back to the bar, where Justin was serving a client. “But I was going out, drinking with the girls. It helped. I thought moving away would help …” Her voice trailed off, as though she was going to say,But it didn’t.
“We can’t help him. He’s got to figure this out for himself,” Ryanne said, tipping her beer back, draining the liquid like it was water. “We aren’t on him. We’re on you.” She leaned in, elbows on the table. “Is he a good guy, Sydney?”
“Who?” I blinked, playing dumb.
Serena groaned out loud.
Lyria rolled her eyes.
I sighed and answered as truthfully as I could, knowing everything he’d done for me. “He’s a really good guy.” The moment the words left my mouth, I missed him terribly.
I missed the cocky pitcher, who was coincidentally my brother’s cheating ex-fiancée’s brother.
“And you like him,” Ryanne stated, already reading my face and knowing the answer.
I nodded. “I do.” More than like. Maybe love. Maybe not yet. I couldn’t tell. It had been so long, and I’d never really been in love. But still, this was more than I’d ever felt for a man. More intense, more passionate … justmore.
And that was when Brooke’s squeeing commenced.