Graham and I have purposely keptusunder wraps since deciding to give it a try, at my request. Mostly because I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if we didn’t end up working out. And if I’m being honest, I also didn’t want to jinx it; like if I talked about it, it would ruin everything. Ever since we shared that we love each other, I’ve been slowly warming up to the idea of telling everyone, and I guess Gemma’s going to be the first.
Biting back a grin, I say, “I may have heard that.”
Her eyes brighten. “Oh, from whom?”
“Your brother,” I chirp. “Right before I told him I love him too.”
“Stop!” Her grin is beaming. “Are you serious?”
I nod. “We’ve kind of been…dating.” Gemma slaps a hand over her mouth, and my cheeks flush. “Although, I don’t know if that’s the right word since we live together and don’t go on that many actual dates, but you know what I mean.”
Her hand drops to her lap while she gapes at me. “I have no words,” she murmurs. “This is the best news ever. When did this happen? Tell meeverything!”
A nervous chuckle slips past my lips. “It hasn’t been that long,” I say. “Maybe, like, two months.”
“Excuse me, ma’am, two months?” Gemma scoffs, feigning offense. “And I’m only hearing about itnow?”
My whole face heats, realizing it’s probably time to come clean aboutallof mine and Graham’s history. “Can I admit something to you?”
“Um, yeah, you better.” She snorts. “Wait, do Grace and Georgia know already?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No, I’ve kept it completely to myself.”
“Well, I love that I’m the first to know,” she quips, shimmying in her seat, a wide grin stretched across her face. “Okay, admit away, please.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, nerves swimming low in my belly. “Actually, let’s FaceTime them, because I don’t really want to admit all of this three different times.”
“Oh, this has gotta be juicy, then,” she drawls as I pull up their contacts and make a group call.
Grace is the first to answer. “Hi, everything okay?” she asks, concern etched across her face. Wearing an apron around her neck and flour on her chin, she’s at work, and from the looks of it, walking toward her office.
Before I can answer, Georgia joins the call. “What’s wrong?” she blurts out, clearly at work too.
“I’m fine, guys, I promise,” I assure them before Gemma cuts me off.
“Charley has something to tell y’all,” she says sweetly. “However, I’d like it to be known that I knew first. But then she has something else to tell all of us.”
“Thanks, not awkward at all, Gem,” I grumble teasingly before jumping in headfirst, telling them exactly what I told Gemma. I don’t know why I’m so nervous; they’re all very on board with this, given how they reacted to the pregnancy, and yet, my palms are practically a slip and slide, and my heart is trying to beat right out of my chest.
When I’m finished, Grace claps, an enthusiastic smile brightening her face. “I knew this would happen,” she blurts out. “Ahhh, I love everything about this. I’d still like to be the maid of honor at your wedding, thank you very much.”
“Okay, slow down.” I hold up my hands and breathe out a chuckle. “Nobody said anything about a wedding.”
“Oh, it’ll happen,” she chirps. “I’ve got a sense for these things.”
“And yet, you were so clueless when it came to your own relationship,” Georgia drawls.
Grace rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re one to talk.”
“Y’all need to hush,” Gemma chimes in before glancing at me. “Okay, now tell us.”
This is the part I’m the most nervous about, because there’s a good chance at least one of them might be upset that I’ve kept this from them for so long, and I can’t stand the idea of that. But it’s too late to back out now.
“I had feelings for Graham when we were teenagers,” I admit, my voice rough. “Well, okay… I was in love with him, actually.” Three sets of jaws drop before they correct their faces. “And there was a short time before I went off to college when we were kind of…fooling around. But it felt like more than that, at least to me.”
I don’t give any of them a chance to respond before continuing.
“I’m sorry for never telling y’all about this when we were younger, but I was so worried you guys would hate me if you found out, and the idea of losing even one of you made me sick. And well…yeah, that’s that. I was in love with your brother when I was a teenager, and if I’m being honest with myself, over the years, I don’t think I ever really stopped; I just got better at ignoring it. So, I guess what I’m saying is, I’ve been in love with Graham for most of my life.” Getting it all out, I throw up jazz hands and awkwardly say, “Surprise!”
