Page 53 of Break Out

“Hey,” I whisper when Summer picks up.

“Why are we whispering?”

“Because Brody’s in the shower, and I don’t want him to hear.” I lean against the counter in the kitchen. Hopefully the walls are thick enough that if he gets out, he won’t hear my conversation.

“What happened?” Summer’s voice gets serious. I can picture her turning off whatever she was watching—probably Grey’s Anatomy—and giving me her undivided attention.

“What makes you think something happened?”

“You’re calling me while on vacation with that hot as sin fake boyfriend of yours.”

I bark out a laugh at her description of Brody. She’s the only one who knows our relationship isn’t real. She would have seen right through me, so I told her the truth. Not surprisingly, she was all on board with the fake relationship. Told me it was about damn time.

“It’s not a vacation,” I protest, readjusting my towel.

“Aubrey!”

“Fine. Fine.” I huff out a breath. “We had sex.”

Summer squeals, and I have to pull the phone away from my ear so I don’t go deaf. “Are you done?”

“Freaking fin-a-lly. What was it like?”

“It was good.”

“Good, Aubrey? Just good? Is there something wrong with him? Does he not know how to use his goods? Pleasure a woman? Is he small? Because that man has big hands, so I figured . . .”

I snicker. I hear a beeping in the background on Summer’s end followed by what sounds like a microwave. “Are you making popcorn?”

“Duh, woman. Now give me the details.”

“I don’t have time for details,” I hiss.

“Okay, so tell me the details later. Why are you calling me anyways? Shouldn’t you be waiting for him naked in bed for round two or three?”

“I’m calling because I’m freaking out.”

“Why are you freaking out?”

I take a deep breath, trying to put into words how I feel. I hear Summer moving around on her end, fixing her bowl of popcorn, I assume. I’ve never liked talking about my feelings, probably because of my family. It always takes me a little while to articulate everything, but I don’t have all day. Brody could be done with his shower any minute and come out to find me on the phone, so I say the first thing that comes to mind. “Because it changes everything between us.”

“How so?”

“Because— Because— It just does. And I don’t know what to do about it,” I answer.

“You like him, and he likes you, right?”

“Yeah.” I nod although she can’t see me.

“You’re both consenting adults who aren’t in another relationship, right?”

“Yes.” Where is she going with this?

“What’s the big deal? Enjoy the sex. That man adores you. Let him shower you with orgasms and attention.” She says it like it’s common sense. Like of course that’s what I should do.

“What happens after this trip is over? He hinted at moving to Hawaii with me. I can’t let him give up hockey for me. But how could we do long distance? That would be crazy with the time difference plus his schedule is chaotic. We’d never talk let alone see each other.”

“You’ll figure it out. If it was meant to be it’ll work out. Stop worrying about it, and live in the moment,” Summer says, like it’s that simple.