Addicted After All (Addicted #3)(92)

She scoops Jane in her arms, still a little stiff, but Jane snuggles into her mom’s chest anyway. Not offended by Rose’s cold nature.

Rose touches her daughter’s head, thinly combed brown hair. “Don’t tell Connor,” she says to both of us, “but I was nervous she would like him more than me.”

“I was too,” I tell her.

Her yellow-green eyes pierce me, and Daisy laughs lightly, pooling her platinum hair to the top of her head.

“What?” I ask. “I thought we were being honest.” This was sharing time, right?

“In all honesty, Jane likes us equally,” Rose explains. “She’s already perfect. Not choosing favorites.” Rose plants a small kiss on the top of Jane’s head and sets her back down on the light blue comforter. “You’re going to be amazing, aren’t you?” she asks her.

Jane smiles big and it reflects off Rose’s eyes, softening her icy exterior by a hundred degrees.

When Rose speaks to Jane, she uses her normal voice, so does Connor, no baby talk.

“I can’t wait until you’re old enough to choose your own clothes,” Rose tells Jane, “and your own hair styles, and your own words. And I get to see what kind of girl you grow up to be.”

It almost brings tears. Rose doesn’t want her daughter to be just like her. She wants her to be herself, a unique individual, to have an identity all her own.

My phone vibrates in my hand. I check the text.

You. Me. Bedroom. – Lo

My pulse begins to race as I text him back.

Now? I press send.

Unless you’d like to wait until later. – Lo

No way.

Now is good.

I take a practiced breath before I climb off the bed, my back aching from carrying so much weight. My stomach is so heavy that I feel like I’m going to explode at any moment. But I just think about those six weeks without sex, and I decide that I want to get as much Loren Hale time as I can.

“Where are you going?” Rose asks.

“Lo wants me.”

“In bed,” Daisy finishes with a goofy smile.

I roast another shade of red, but I don’t deny it. “We’re making up for the six weeks of abstinence.” I pause and ask, “How is it going for you?” Partly, I wonder if it’s really hard, but her struggle will be different than mine, I recognize. Jane was born on June 10th, and it’s already July 13th, so if Rose really wanted to, she could have sex now. Four weeks in. But the doctors recommended six, and Rose usually follows the rules.

“Connor thinks he can have his way with me the exact day I’m physically able to have sex again, and it’s infuriating. Maybe I don’t want to have sex on that day. Maybe he isn’t going to win this time.”

Daisy and I exchange smiles at how worked up Rose is becoming over her husband.

Daisy adds, “Maybe you don’t want to be tied up too.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “Maybe you’d rather be spanked.”

Rose gives me a look.

“I was being serious, not mean like Lo,” I defend myself. I feel badly about throwing Lo under the bus, but I’ll make up for it in the bedroom. I internally nod at this plan.

Daisy raises her fist in the air. “Girl power.”

Rose exhales a breath and then her eyes suddenly light up, as if a devilish idea has sprouted in her brain. “What if I don’t have sex during your six weeks of abstinence too? It’ll be a solidarity pact.” Rose loves those, but I can tell this is mostly about beating her husband in one of their mind games.

“That’s an extra month for you,” I remind her. It sounds crazy and tough, but my sister isn’t a sex addict. She was a virgin until she was twenty-three, proudly.

Rose pulls back her shoulders in confidence. “I’m married to the man. I can have sex with him every day for the rest of my life. An extra month won’t kill us.”

I try not to contemplate Connor’s sexual needs. I’m not sure if he’ll be upset by waiting or if he’ll consider this an even bigger challenge and try to win Rose over.

“I’ll join too,” Daisy says with a smile.

My mouth falls. Whaa…

Rose claps her hands. “Perfect. I’ll call Poppy and we can all abstain in honor of Lily abstaining.”

I whip my head around, wide-eyed. “You all don’t have to do this.” I point to Daisy, who twists her thumb ring in a fidgety manner. “You seriously shouldn’t be doing this.” Ryke is going to kill me.

Daisy’s lips just pull higher. “You think Ryke will blow a fuse?” She gasps and her eyes grow big. “The danger.”

I snatch a throw pillow and toss it at her. She laughs while Rose protectively lifts Jane to her chest, avoiding a pillow-assault on her baby.

“In all seriousness,” Daisy says, “it’s a big deal for you, and I want to be supportive too.”

My throat closes up for a second. All of my sisters are willing to share in my struggle, and maybe they’ll even show me that it’s not as bad as I think it may be. I’m happy to be so close to them now.

I have to thank Rose for that. She never gave up on me. Every time I pushed her away, she just kept walking right back into my life, refusing to let me be ostracized. Now here I am, living in a house with my two sisters. Happy.