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Did you decide?
ISOLDE
No.
OCEAN
And what’s stopping you?
ISOLDE
Nothing’s changed since yesterday, O.
OCEAN
Exactly. Nothing’s changed, and you didn’t have any good reasons yesterday either.
Rowan had pulled me away and kissed the hell out of me before Ocean and I had finished talking about it. But I was still afraid. And more than that, I’d said what I wanted and what I was going to do. If I changed my mind, what person did that make me?
ISOLDE
If I change my mind after a day, doesn’t that mean I’m weak? I’m not so sex crazed that I can’t last without dick for three weeks.
OCEAN
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
The phone rang a second later. “Hello?”
“Hold on, I’m bringing Rin in.”
A second later, Trinity answered. “Sorry, I didn’t text you this morning when I left. I got distracted by this new article I’m working on. Thanks for putting me in the guest suite.”
“No problem,” I said with a laugh. “But I’m not the one who actually called you.”
“No. I did,” Ocean nearly growled. “Because whenIthink it’s time for tough love, you know something’s wrong.”
All three of us went silent. Ocean rarely ever raised her voice. She was soft-spoken by nature, and the way her family treated her only made it worse. She had a powerhouse inside of her, but it took coaxing to bring it out.
“I didn’t realize my sex life called for tough love,” I joked.
“Well, it does,” she said. “Not just your sex life. You’re going to be quiet for a second and listen, Iz. Hell, I’m on the verge of driving down there and smacking it into you.”
“Ocean,” Rin laughed. “What’s going on?”
The hitch in her breath told me something else was wrong, but I didn’t say anything. This wasn’t the time to deflect things back on her. I would ask later.
“Iz, I know why you felt like you needed to leave. I understood it, even if I hated it. I get needing time to recover from something. And I understand the nerves you have about jumping into something so fresh when it’s not ‘real.’” Her voice put quotes around the word. “And if you don’t actually want to fuck the pack, then don’t. But if that’s your decision, let it be because that’s what youwantand not because you’re afraid of yourself or what’ll happen when it’s over.
“You have achoice.” Her voice broke. “You can do whatever you want, and I’m tired of watching you fight yourself because you’re scared and Beau made you think you’re not worth what you want.”
My mouth dropped open. I’d never heard Ocean talk like this. Ever. “O, are you okay?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“I know,” I said gently. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
She huffed out a breath. “I’m fine. Just do me a favor and stop prioritizing the shit in your brain that doesn’t matter and do something that makes you feel good.”
