Page 17 of Restless Ink
Thea winced, trying not to think of him as she gulped down another sip. Though was it really a sip if she were gulping it down like a Lannister instead of a Montgomery? Did it really matter when she was probably going to have a third glass to sip casually soon?
No?
Okay, then.
“So, are you going to finish the whole bottle yourself, or are you going to share?” Adrienne asked from Thea’s side, giving her a slight hip bump. “I mean, I can open the bottle of Riesling you have chilling, but I figured we’d all share the Malbec you opened first. Didn’t know this was going to be a more-than-two-bottles kind of cooking date.”
Thea met her sister’s gaze and took another sip before setting her glass down. “I didn’t drink the whole bottle.”
Only a third. Whatever.
Kaylee, their friend and the art instructor for Brushes With Lushes, sashayed into the kitchen. The woman never just walked. She glided, she strutted, she flowed.
“I’ll take that,” Kaylee said with a wink as she plucked the bottle from Adrienne’s hand.
“Hey!” Adrienne reached for the bottle, but Kaylee danced out of the way, pouring herself another glass.
“Apparently, wewillbe opening up more than two bottles.”
Roxie just rolled her eyes. “Five women equals more than two bottles of wine, Thea. You should know that.”
Abby stayed silent as she sipped her single glass, a smile playing on her lips. The other woman was still so quiet most days, but she was getting better at socializing. Hence why she was at Thea’s house with the others for an early dinner and supposedly little drinking.
Supposedly.
“I figured we’d have more food than drinks but, apparently, I was wrong.” Thea rolled her eyes before going back to the counter to start chopping up veggies for their stir-fry. Roxie started on the sauce, while Adrienne worked on the cheese plate. Thea, of course, monitored the cheeses but did her best not to make it look as if she were doing so. Cheese and stir-fry didn’t always mix, but they were Montgomerys, and cheese was life, so it happened to make it into almost every group meal. They couldn’t help it.
Abby and Kaylee worked on the rice and table settings, and the five of them laughed, drank more wine, and did their best not to burn themselves since they kept bumping into each other in the kitchen.
“So, Mace was trying to get Daisy to sleep, but Daisy decided to play a game of tag instead.” Adrienne snorted. “So it’s nine at night, and the little girl who I swear has never rambled before in her life, starts screaming with laughter and talking a mile a minute as she evades Mace while he chases her around the house.”
Daisy was Mace’s child from a previous relationship. Daisy’s mother had moved to Japan for work and had given up custody so she could focus on her career and create a substantial college fund for Daisy. Thea had no idea what the other woman was thinking, but Mace and Adrienne were doing their best to make sure Daisy had the best life she could have. Mace’s ex wasn’t a horrible person—okay, maybe she was—but there was still communication and lots of letters and video chats between mother and daughter. Thea didn’t know how that relationship could ever be fully repaired, but Daisy’s mother cared in her own weird and dysfunctional way.
“And where were you during this?” Thea asked, pulling herself out of those thoughts.
“Laughing on the floor like any good girlfriend would be. Tears streaming down my face, giggling to the point where I couldn’t breathe. You know, the usual.” Adrienne beamed, and Thea held back a happy sigh. Her older sister was just so damn happy these days. She’d fallen in love with her best friend and had gotten a little girl who meant everything in the world to her in the process. Thea knew Mace and Adrienne had already talked about marriage but were taking things slowly since their relationship, once they’d started seeing one another, had gotten hot, fast.
Thea was only a little jealous. Not of Adrienne having Mace, but of the idea that someone could love another so quickly. Thea glanced over at Roxie, doing her best not to make it look like she was doing so. She loved Roxie and Carter together, but she wished she knew what that undercurrent of…sadness was that she always felt between the couple.
Or maybe she was just thinking too hard about it because she wasn’t dating anyone anymore and doing her best not to think about Dimitri at all.
She took another sip that wasn’t a sip but more of a gulp.
Adrienne gave her a look that meant there would be questions about her mood and actions soon, and Thea had a feeling there would be no running from it. After all, she’d done the same thing to her sister more than once.
By the time they’d finished making dinner and were all at the dining room table, laughing, eating, and drinking—water in Thea’s case since she didn’t want to gotoooverboard—Thea knew she couldn’t hold back anymore.
It wasn’t that anyone was interrogating her, far from it, but it was the anticipation of that interrogation and the fact that she truly needed to tellsomeonewhat happened that made her want to spill.
And it wasn’t like she could talk about it with Molly.
Dear God.
“I slept with Dimitri.”
She hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that. Had meant to casually drop it into conversation with theoreticals and maybes. She didn’t even plan to say his name or even mention it was her. She was going to be smart about it, maybe be casually hypothetical, and try not to make it sound like a big deal when it was truly one of the biggest deals.
Abby had her drink up to her lips, her eyes wide as she stared at Thea, but she didn’t say a word. Kaylee had snorted her iced tea at the announcement and was currently blotting her top, a small smile playing on her lips, but she too remained silent. Adrienne tilted her head and blinked wildly, though she didn’t speak either.