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Thunderous footsteps charge up the stairs and down the hallway. Seconds later, the door bursts open and three giggling girls pour in.
“Your first day off,” Gemma sings. “You have to hang out with us. We won’t take no for an answer.”
Willa shoots me an apologetic smile, clearly feeling bad about dropping in on me. She holds up a peace offering, though. “Brought you your fave.”
“I love you,” I say with a stupid grin on my face, accepting the iced coffee she hands over. “You all are up bright and early today.”
Aubrey laughs. “Tate, it’s past noon.”
I blink at her in shock. “Really? Holy shit. Why did I sleep so late?”
Gemma arches a perfectly sculpted dark eyebrow and wiggles a finger at me. Her nails are long and pointy, painted matte black with sparkly jewels on some of them. They’re sharp-looking. Like she could use them for weapons in a pinch if someone tries to abduct her.
“What?” I ask, leaning away from her claws.
She takes a sip of her iced coffee and then flashes me a naughty grin that reminds me of Dempsey a thousand percent. “I know why you slept late. You were up to no good all night.”
I frown at her in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Willa laughs softly and Aubrey snorts.
“Your face is turning red,” Aubrey teases. “Also, you have a hickey the size of Texas on your neck.”
What. The. Hell.
I slap my hand where Jude had his lips last night. If I was turning red a second ago, I’m probably tomato red at this point.
“It’s a bruise,” I lie. “Ran into the door.”
Gemma rolls her pretty eyes at me. “We’re not idiots, Tate. Spill. Tell us what happened…and with whom. Was it Dempsey? I know you were out late with him last night.”
Dempsey?!
He’s a kid!
All three girls stare at me with matching owlish expressions. I don’t know how to lie my way out of this. I don’t know that I should. They trust me enough to confide in me during our sessions. The least I can do is offer them the truth.
“Dammit,” I grumble in resignation. “You can’t say anything to anyone. I’m serious.”
Gemma nods. “Duh. Tell me.”
“It wasn’t Dempsey,” I say, a grin tugging at my lips. “It was someone else.”
Aubrey frowns. “Who? Do you have a boyfriend?”
“What? No.” I suck down more of my liquid caffeine, needing to avoid that second question. Technically, according to Sean, we’re still together despite my many requests for him to leave me alone and the whole him already being happily married thing. “I really shouldn’t say. It’s unprofessional.”
“Oh,” Willa chokes out. “It’s someone in this family. But the only single ones are Dempsey and—”
“Jude!” Gemma and Aubrey both shriek at once.
“Shhh,” I hiss, eyeing the open bedroom door. “He’ll hear.”
The girls crawl onto the bed with me, all of them eager to hear more juicy details. I scrub a palm over my face and sigh.
“He let you see him without the mask?” Gemma asks. “That’s just…shocking, to be quite honest.”
“Not exactly,” I admit. “I turned off the light to make him more comfortable.”
