Conception (The Wellingtons #4) - Tessa Teevan Page 0,57

And if he’s just a summer fling, there’s no reason for that to come up. I don’t want his pity or his sympathy. I just want him.”

“There’s nothing wrong with pity or sympathy, Amelia. You went through something horrifying, suffered not only one but two devastating losses. But when I look at you, it’s not with pity. That doesn’t define who you are any more than Joe’s mom dying from an overdose defines him.”

The reminder of Joe’s mom’s passing when we were just twelve forms a lump in my throat. “I know that, Sunny.”

She holds a hand up, stopping me. “I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. Look, I just missed my best friend and I’m so glad you’re back. I just don’t want you to get your heart broken by a man that makes me lose you all over again.”

I could point out that this whole thing was her idea, which would be unfair because I was ready to jump in headfirst with barely a nudge from her.

“I missed you, too. If it makes you feel any better, I came back here for you. I never imagined I’d meet someone.”

“Girl, I don’t care what brought you back or keeps you here, as long as you promise never to stay away for so long again.”

“Promise.”

I chug the rest of my beer and get up to grab us both a couple more, along with waters. Heaviness fills the air around us, but I know just the thing to bring us back down.

“And the truth is, the only thing you have to worry about is my falling in lust, maybe. Definitely not love. Because, girl, let me tell you. That man is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

Okay, so he may be only the second man I’ve ever been with, but everything we’ve done has been beyond anything I could’ve even imagined.

Sunny glances back out towards the water, to where Knox now has his brother in some kind of a headlock while Joe and Sam egg him on. “That sounds promising. Even after being around him so much this past week, I can’t get a good read on him other than he’s totally into you. I can’t tell if he’s attentive as hell in the bedroom—you know, the kind that makes sure you get off before he does. Or if he’s some sort of a brute, ramming his cock into you until you’re screaming to high heaven.”

This time, the heat on my face isn’t from the sun. I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering how open I want to be. Some things you want to keep close, only for you. But other things, like how deliciously incredible Knox is? You should shout it from the rooftops. And since I’ve all but seen Sunny and Joe shag, I may as well repay the favor. Except something tells me Sunny will be much more appreciative of my deets than I was of hers. “He’s all of that.”

Sunny gives me an expression that screams well, I’m waiting and gestures with her hand for me to continue.

I prop myself up on my elbows. “Just like you, I’d wondered what he’d be like, too. He was everything I imagined, yet so much more than I ever expected. I didn’t know sex could be that…incredible. If that makes any sense.”

“That different from Robert?”

I snort. “Worlds—no, galaxies apart.”

“Look, I don’t want to get all up in your chili or anything, Meems, and I know it was my idea, but do you think you’ll be able to do this? Go all summer and then just walk away?”

“Of course,” I tell her, waving her off. “The whole point of my being here this summer is for me to realize it’s okay to move on. Be happy. Have fun. To keep living, even though they aren’t.”

It’s like, as I’m saying the words, I can hear Grams in my head. It isn’t until now that I realize how right she was in sending me here. How right she was that it was time I stopped burying my head in the sand.

The last thing I want is more pity about my parents. I want to be able to talk about them without tearing up or breaking down. I’m so damn close, yet I feel the emotion burning in the back of my throat.

I continue before she can respond. “I’m lucky to have friends like you, Joe, and Sam here, and I wish I’d remembered that these past few summers. I’m also