CHAPTER17.

The following Saturday I huddled under an umbrella with Jo as we waited for Ellie and Joss to step out of the house on Scotland Street. The estate agent, Ryan, an ex-colleague of Jo's from when she'd worked at Braden's estate agency, Carmichael & Co., began talking to Ellie as Jo threaded her arm through mine.

Adam and Ellie had found a place they liked. The spacious Georgian flat had stripped wood floors, high ceilings, and period details. Any work that needed done was merely cosmetic. Ellie was in love, Adam really liked it, and Els wanted our opinion.

It was a resounding "yes" from us girls.

Once Ryan left, Ellie grinned at us excitedly. "I'm so glad you guys like it. I really appreciate you coming out to see it." She started down the stairs and Joss rushed to get under her umbrella with her as we followed. "Especially you, Liv." She smiled curiously over her shoulder. "You've been so busy lately."

I smiled back in response, hoping it wasn't a slightly startled, panicked smile.

Jo squeezed my arm against her ribs. "It's funny," she murmured so only I could hear, "but Nate's been busy lately too."

Forcing myself not to react, I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to lie outright, so that meant I was left with ignorant silence. In truth, we were five weeks into our lessons-could we call it lessons anymore?-and now I was getting a little desperate to talk to someone about what was going on with me and Nate. Jo was more experienced than I was about relationships, and men in general, and now I was at a point where I was so in need of advice that I wondered if I should let that need overshadow all the reasons I had not to go to her.

We came to an abrupt stop on the sidewalk as Joss's cell rang. She fumbled in her purse for it and smiled apologetically at us as she answered.

Watching her was disconcerting. It was disconcerting because something I didn't understand but definitely didn't like entered her eyes. Growing pale, she muttered her thanks to whoever was on the other end of the line and let her phone dangle in midair as she stared off into space.

"Joss?" Ellie shook her gently, sensing what both Jo and I did.

Something was seriously wrong.

"Joss, what is it?"

She blinked suddenly, and looked over at us, her eyes glassy with fear. "I have to go."

"Joss?" Ellie took a step toward her as she began to back away. "Jocelyn?"

"I have to go."

"Go where?"

"I . . . just"-she touched a hand to her forehead, turning paler by the second-"I have to go."

"Seriously, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"Ellie," she snapped, but as soon as her eyes clashed with her sister-in-law's she softened. "Just . . . I need to be alone for a little while."

After a moment's thorough contemplation Ellie finally nodded. Silently, we watched as Joss turned on her booted heel and slowly walked away from us, her arms crossed over her chest, her chin tucked.

Ellie, Jo, and I shared concerned looks. "What. Was. That?" I asked, feeling my stomach shift with unease.

Ellie didn't answer as she pulled out her own cell with shaking hands. She flicked the screen a few times and began typing quickly.

"What are you doing now?" Jo looked down at Els's phone, then turned her gaze back in the direction of where our friend had taken off.

"Texting Braden to let him know."

I burrowed closer to Jo to comfort her. "Does anyone know what that phone call could have been about?"

"Not a clue." Ellie hugged herself, almost causing her umbrella to hit a person walking by. But Ellie wasn't aware of anyone else at the moment, and her panic was making my unease increase. "But I haven't seen Joss so guarded in a long time. It's definitely not good."

"She'll be okay," Dad reassured me, pulling me into his side for a hug.

After Ellie texted Braden she'd jumped in a taxi to go home to Adam, and Jo and I jumped in a taxi to head back to her flat. When we got there, the boys were back from judo class and we told them all what had happened with Joss. No one had a clue as to what it meant.

It was only afterward, as we were sitting around the living room, that I realized it was the first time in two weeks that Nate and I were in the same room with our friends. This time it felt weird. It felt weird because after I'd been watching four loving couples for the last few months it seemed to me that what Nate and I had wasn't that different. Not only were we having mind-blowing sex, but we hung out, we talked about things that bothered us, we laughed . . . we snuggled. Nate joked and teased with me and stole my phone to take random snaps of me all the time.

We cared about each other.

A lot.

Hiding what we obviously had behind the excuse of lessons in sexual education and keeping it a secret was beginning to gnaw at my gut. Mostly because I knew Nate.

He wasn't over needing to see that "A" on his chest in the mirror every day, and I didn't know if he'd ever be. It was becoming increasingly obvious to me that I was in danger of getting hurt.

Yet somehow I wasn't smart enough to extricate myself from the situation.

A few times that afternoon I felt his eyes on me and it made me squirm uncomfortably, as if he could see inside me to exactly what I was thinking.

Soda Pop, if he knew what you were thinking he'd be out the door faster than a fugitive.

So when my dad called and invited me over for an early dinner I jumped at the offer, hurrying out of Jo and Cam's with barely a good-bye to Nate.

Dad had thrown together marinated chicken, potatoes, and salad, and I sat on the stool next to him, picking at my food while he reassured me after I told him about the Joss incident.

I shook my head at his assurances. "You didn't see her face. She looked . . . haunted."

"Braden found her, right?"

"Yeah. Els texted to say he found at her at the castle, where he thought she'd be."

"Well, we'll just need to wait and hear from them."

I nodded but kept pushing my food around my plate, my thoughts consumed by Joss and Nate.

"You've lost weight," Dad commented. "Eat up."

That was another upside to constant and active sex. I really had lost a few pounds and even toned up a little. Not that I could tell my dad the reason why. My cheeks burned just at the thought. "I've been really busy. Not a lot of time to eat."

Dad raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I have noticed these last few weeks you've been a little distant. Is it work keeping you busy?"

"Yeah, work . . . and, you know, sometimes I help Nate out with his job as a reviewer."

I caught the curl of his upper lip out of the corner of my eye. "Surely he's getting paid to do that himself."

"He's my friend, Dad," I warned.

"I can't help it. He's twenty-eight years old and hasn't bloody well grown up. He swans around taking photos and playing video games and watching movies, and he takes to bed anything that moves. That's not a man, Olivia. That's a boy. One that's trouble. And I don't like him sniffing around you."

"Hey, that's enough!" I snapped, my fork clattering to my plate.

Dad stared at my angry, flushed face in surprise.

"You don't know him," I said before he could reply. "You don't know anything about him."

"Then enlighten me. What is it about this guy that you find worthy of your respect and time?"

"He's a good friend. A loyal, caring, compassionate friend."

"How? Why? What has he done?"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned back, staring at the beautiful bay window that looked out over Heriot Row. I couldn't quite meet my dad's eyes as I admitted, "Last Thanksgiving I lied to you. I said I was okay, but I wasn't." I felt the air around him thicken as he tensed. "When I left you I went home and went into a crazy meltdown. I cooked a turkey, potatoes, everything, but I burnt it and started to freak out. I mean . . . really freak out. Luckily, Nate was just dropping by and he caught me in the middle of it and he sat with me while I sobbed all over him about Mom." I chanced a glance at my dad and saw his jaw was taut, his eyes bright with sadness. "Nate was really there for me, Dad. And he got it. He got me. He lost the love of his life when he was eighteen." My voice cracked on the words "love of his life." "She died of cancer."

"Jesus." Dad bowed his head, drawing his hand down in his face as though exhausted by the news.

"They were childhood sweethearts and by all accounts she was pretty special. He hasn't been the same since. You can't tell anyone, Dad. He doesn't talk about it."

Dad looked at me, his gaze sharp. "Are you seeing him?"

My pulse started racing, my limbs shaking as I lowered my eyes. I couldn't lie to my dad. I just couldn't. "We're not in a relationship, if that's what you're asking."

"Oh, baby girl." He groaned as if he was in pain. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Feeling tears inexplicably prick my eyes, I looked away and picked up my fork to play with my food again. "You can't say anything. No one knows about us."

"And who am I going to tell?"

I smiled weakly at my plate. "Are you disappointed in me?"

"No." His hand came down around mine, stilling my nervous movements. "But my girl deserves more than whatever you two are up to. You deserve to start making a life with someone. You deserve to be the love of some man's life."

Somehow I managed not to cry. Instead, I smiled brightly at him, pushing all the negative stuff into my deep, dark pit. "Believe it or not, Nate has taken me a hundred steps closer to finding that."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to, Dad. Just know that I'm better than I have been in a really long time."

He studied me for a moment. "Okay. I'm glad, sweetheart."

My phone rang, interrupting our heart-to-heart. Seeing Jo's face on my screen, I reached for the phone hurriedly, as I realized she was probably calling about Joss. "Hey."

"Ellie just called," she said without preamble.

"And?"

"Joss is pregnant."

I froze, frowning as I looked over at Dad. "Isn't that good news?"

Jo sighed heavily. "I think it's stirred up some ghosts, Liv."

Understanding, I squeezed my eyes closed in empathy. "Her family?"

"Aye." Jo's exhalation was shaky. "Ellie says Braden's pretty upset by Joss's reaction. It's supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life."

I felt terrible for them. "They just got married. This whole time is supposed to be amazing for them."

"Yeah. Anyway, I knew you were worried, so I thought I'd let you know."

"Thanks, Jo. We'll talk later."

After we hung up, I turned to my waiting father. "Joss is pregnant."

Dad looked just as confused as I'd felt at first. "That's not a good thing?"

"From the sounds of it, it's opened some old, very painful wounds . . . about her family."

"Sometimes that happens. It's just . . . something . . . triggers it. And you're feeling everything all over again."

I guess we understood that too. "I just hope she can get through it."

"She will." Dad sounded certain. "Braden's her family. She'll fight through it for him."

I could only hope my optimistic father was right, because if anyone deserved happiness it was Joss and Braden Carmichael.

CHAPTER18.

The trip to Longniddry could not have come at a better time. For Joss it meant she had a valid excuse to be antisocial, since more than half of her social crew had gone out of the city for the weekend, and for me it meant the hope of some much-needed clarity.

Spending time with Nate's family, in an entirely different environment, would allow me to see him in a different light too. It also meant we would have to spend time without any shenanigans, and honestly I thought I was in need of a breather from it. Not because I wanted a breather, but because I was hoping that being free of his sexual spell would give me the courage to end what we'd started.