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“Lacey! Oh my God!” Her gaping mouth snapped closed, and then she laughed. “How about Bash? Was my brother good in the sack?”
Our joking banter came to a halt. “You really want to hear about sex with Bash?”
She thought for a moment while she chewed her food. “Not particularly. You know what’s funny? I feel like the four of us — me and you, and Sid and Bash — have come full circle. They’re best friends. We’re best friends. We’ve all seen each other naked. Except for Bash and I, because that’s barf-able.”
I chuckled. “Shit, I’d almost forgotten that you saw me with that nipple jewelry on. Thanks for reminding me of that trauma.”
“We’re even now.” She swirled her fork in the air. “You saw my sex tape.”
I scoffed. “It was hardly a sex tape. You make it sound like it was some hard-core pornography. I’ve seen racier stuff in a PG-13 movie.”
After Kaylie had come to terms with her revenge porn situation, I’d had to sit down with her and show her all the amateur porn that was available for free on the internet. It was an eye-opening experience for her to see what people willingly put online for the whole world to see. It helped her put her own bout with internet infamy into a better perspective.
She set down her fork. “Don’t try to distract me. We were talking about Bash. My husband told me that you two got married in Vegas. I’m a little hurt that you didn’t tell me.”
I guess Bash had spilled the beans on our wedding. “I’m sorry. We both agreed to keep it a secret and just quietly get a divorce. Then we started this friends-with-benefits thing that kind of got out of control. After a few months of that, we decided to try exclusively dating, and it was going really well until it completely blew up in my face.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. There’s one thing that I have to know. Are you interested in trying to work things out with him? Or have you washed your hands clean of the whole thing?”
My heart started hammering in my chest. “Work things out? Kaylie, he’s had four weeks to talk to me. To apologize or make things right. He’s done none of that. You realize that he dumped me, right?”
She shook her head in dismay. “God, he’s so stupid. He’s been a complete wreck ever since. He told the guys that he loves you, Lacey. If you tell me you’re done with him, I’d understand and I’d back off right away. But, if you still have feelings for him...”
“I do have feelings for him. Most of the time, it involves me wanting to kick him in the nuts.” I dropped my fork on my plate and sat back. “We had huge problems, Kaylie. He thinks I’m irresponsible and blames me for what happened to Kody. I take some responsibility for that, but he said some nasty things to me. The bottom line is he doesn’t trust me. It doesn’t seem like a great foundation for a relationship.”
“He wants to talk to you, Lacey. Don’t be angry with me, but I think it’s a good idea.” She spread out her hands in front of her. “You need to discuss what happened now that he’s removed from all the scary emotions that Kody being hurt churned up.”
I was wringing my hands together on my lap. Did I really want to churn all that up again? “I don’t know if I could handle another rejection like that. I barely got over what he said to me last time. If I didn’t have work, I would probably have crawled up into a hole somewhere and broken down.”
“If you don’t talk to him, I have a feeling he’s going to do something drastic,” she confided.
“What do you mean?”
She took a quick breath and blew it out. “Well, Bash confessed everything to all the guys in the band. They all know that you got married in Vegas.”
I held up a hand to stop her. “Did they all have a good laugh? At my expense?”
“What? No. They smacked Bash upside his head for completely screwing it all up. And then they came up with a plan to win you back.”
I groaned, but I couldn’t deny that little spark of hope that lit when I heard that he wanted to win me back. “What kind of plan?”
“It was an incredibly dumb and elaborate plan. Those five geniuses decided Bash needed to perform a grand gesture, like in the movies. It included a hot-air balloon, a boom box, a flash mob, and a pair of handcuffs. I stopped him just in time. Trust me, you did not want any part of that train wreck.”
“Why stop him? You should have let him grovel.”
I was trying to act aloof, but she saw right through me. “Because that’s not what you two need. You need to sit down and work out your issues. You need to lay it all out there. I know my brother. He loves you, Lacey. He’s scared of those feelings, but not anymore. I think you should give him a chance. And I’ve seen you this past month. You two are meant to be together. He’s grown up a lot in the last six months. Even more this past month. I’m not going to say anything else. He needs to be telling you this.”
“He actually told you he loves me? Is it even possible?” I wanted to dismiss it, but hope foolishly bloomed inside me.
“It’s easier to see from the outside. Yeah, I believe he does love you.” She grabbed my hand with hers. “Is there any chance that you’ll talk to him? I mean, really sit down and talk. No games. No friends-with-benefits nonsense. Just truth.”
I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I barely got over what he said to me. He said some ugly, hurtful things. He nearly shattered me.”
“I know.” She squeezed my hand. “It wouldn’t hurt so much if you didn’t love him. It’s worth the risk.”
I nodded.
“He’s waiting to talk to you.”
