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Eighteen
The moment Gia sat down at her desk later that morning and opened her laptop Taylor appeared as if a magician had abracadabraed her there.
“I leave for my honeymoon and apparently miss a really big development between you and Jayson! Did you not each bring your own dates—the first time I’ve ever seen that happen, by the way—to my wedding? Tell me everything. Every last thing.” She dragged a chair over and sat, elbows propped on the desk’s surface, chin in her hands.
“Well—”
“Addison told me you had sex after the wedding, but I thought she was mistaken. I mean it was the morning after and there were still guests mingling at the breakfast bar.”
“Well—”
“I never believed you with that skateboarder for a second. Or Cooper with that model.” Taylor rolled her eyes. “Give me a break.”
“Yeah, um... Our dates weren’t really doing it for us.”
“So you did it to each other?” Taylor giggled at her own joke. “Sorry about busting in on you two this morning.”
“It’s okay. He wasn’t supposed to be there, actually. I asked him to sleep in the pool house.”
“Boundaries are important,” Taylor said carefully.
About that... The second Taylor and Royce left, Gia happily made out with Jayson. He’d admitted he handled things poorly when they were married and then defended Gia to her brother. It was beyond sexy hearing him say she could handle herself. She’d wanted to see that change in him for so long. Now that she had, she was having trouble trusting it.
“Sex is a normal, natural thing,” Taylor said. “If that’s where you and Cooper are, enjoy it.”
“You, too? Addi told me to go for it. It’s not that easy, you know. Jayson and I are divorced.”
“Yeah, and you’re still human. Plus, you two have a very unique relationship, even with a marriage behind you. Mistakes are always made in relationships. Sometimes you have to grow and learn. Maybe your timing was off the first time around.”
“Or maybe I’m going to lose my heart to the one man I should know better than to hand it to.” Jayson was a wonderful person and hotter than Hades in the summertime but him admitting he’d overstepped one time wasn’t going to fix everything.
“Oh, honey.” Taylor patted her best friend’s hand. “I love you. I wish you every happiness in life, whether you end up sharing a life with Jayson or not. But sometimes you have to take a leap of faith even if you’re not sure it’s going to work out. Look at me. After all the mistakes I made, I have Royce. I have Emmaline. Can’t blame me for wanting you to have that same happiness.”
“No. I can’t blame you.” Gia smiled. What Taylor and Royce had was beautiful and everlasting.
“It’s okay to screw up.” Taylor stood. “I know you think you have to be bulletproof—to hold your own and make sure you do everything for yourself, but in the end it’s not worth it. It’s okay to admit you messed up. Messing up is a sign that you tried.”
Gia had tried in her marriage, but she was haunted by the worry that she hadn’t tried enough. If she and Jayson were to realize they’d made a mistake divorcing, would she ever be able to forgive herself for causing them so much pain? After all, she was the one who’d offered divorce as a solution.
Rather than say any of that, she nodded at her friend. “Thanks, Tay.”
“You bet, doll.” Taylor slipped out of Gia’s office at the same time Jay passed by the door. He stopped and leaned in, both hands on the door frame. He looked good. Somehow better than he had a few hours ago. She was struck with the overwhelming need to touch him.
“Brainstorming sesh tonight at the house?” he asked.
The house. He’d worded that carefully. “Sure.”
“Wine?”
Maybe she’d been overthinking—a hobby she was intimately familiar with. Maybe she should take her sisters-in-law’s advice and enjoy the moment. “Sure.”
“Red? White?”
“Chardonnay would be lovely.”
“Consider it done.” He tapped the door frame and walked away. She watched him go, admiring his strong, straight back, dark wavy hair and long legs.
That night Gia was propped up on her sofa, tablet in her lap. Jayson sat at the desk on the other side of the room.
