Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
* * *
MELISSA: I know. Matty said he heard him talking about Chase needing a “more stable home” weeks ago. Even before Aaron was in the picture. I think you’re right. He’s after my baby.
* * *
TESSA: I agree, and while I can’t blame him—Chase is the best kid ever—he must be stopped. I’ll make a few phone calls to my gossip sources and see what kind of dirt I can dig up on Mr. Spider Fingers.
* * *
MELISSA: Aaron said the same thing! That Radcliffe has spider fingers.
* * *
TESSA: He does. They’re gross. Ben is crazy for wanting that in his bed. I understand loving dick—I unfortunately suffer from the same affliction—but wanting to be fondled by a man with spider fingers is something else entirely. Hang in there, friend. We’ll get through this. I’ve got your back.
* * *
MELISSA: Thank you, Tess. And I’ve got yours, too. I don’t judge you for being with Wesley while he was still with Darcy. I don’t judge either of you. Yes, cheating is bad, but he and Darcy were in an awful place and sometimes, when you’re in a bad place you don’t make the best decisions.
* * *
TESSA: What if it were you, though? What if you found out Ben and Radcliffe were together before he said he wanted to end things? Would you feel the same way?
* * *
MELISSA: Ben and I were married. It’s different.
* * *
TESSA: Is it, though? Isn’t a promise a promise?
* * *
MELISSA: Are you saying I should be mad at my brother? Or you? Because I’m not going to be. Darcy wasn’t his person. I knew that a long time before they broke up, and I think Wesley did, too. He’s just too nice to stand up for himself until someone pushes him way too far.
* * *
TESSA: Huh.
* * *
MELISSA: What’s that mean?
* * *
TESSA: Nothing.
* * *
MELISSA: Stop it. We’ve known each other too long. Just spill it. Whatever it is. You can speak honestly with me, even if you think it’s not something I want to hear.
* * *
TESSA: Okay, fine. It means that maybe Wesley isn’t as nice as you think he is. Maybe he has a dark side. Not a bad dark side—I’d still trust him with my life—but it’s not all sweetness and light under the hood with him, Mel. He’s carrying around a bunch of repressed stuff and it comes out in…certain situations.
* * *
MELISSA: Are you saying my sweet brother is a filthy beast in bed? Is that what I’m reading in between your lines?
* * *
TESSA: The filthiest. The dirty talk was insane. He’s a bad, bad man. And I can’t stop thinking about him. That’s the real reason I’m on a sex cleanse. I need to get my mental house in order so that I don’t fall for the next dirty-talking man I meet. Because odds are he won’t be a nice dirty-talking man like Wesley. He’ll be a bad guy. They’re almost always bad guys.
* * *
MELISSA: Wow. That’s a lot to digest. I don’t like to think about my brothers in bed.
* * *
TESSA: Valid. If I had a brother, I wouldn’t, either.
* * *
MELISSA: But if the sex part was THAT good, maybe you should consider approaching Wesley for a proper date? Now that he’s a free man and you’re a free woman. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
* * *
TESSA: He lets me down easy by telling me it was a mistake, and it wasn’t that great for him? Or he tells me it was a blast for him, too, but I’m too old to give him the things he wants from a relationship? That one’s always fun. Did you know that you basically expire as a woman by age 38. Or whatever age you are when you decide it isn’t wise or possible for you to have children? I mean, obviously not to EVERY man on earth, but to a good number of them. That’s another reason I’m on a sex cleanse. I don’t want to have the “well, you can’t have kids, so I don’t want to date you or care about you, but we could fuck around until I find someone better” talk with a man again. That talk is killing my sparkle. Big time.
* * *
MELISSA: I’m so sorry. I had no idea it’s been that hard. Why didn’t you tell me?
* * *
TESSA: I didn’t want to bring you down, and I shouldn’t have said anything now. I’m sorry. You’re in the middle of something awful. This isn’t about me. It’s about you. It’s just that you asked about Wesley, and it set the panic gremlins in my brain to spinning. But now, I’m back on task. I’m off to pump my gossipy friends for Radcliffe dirt. We’ll get something on him, I just know it. Hugs and hang in there!