Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(39)

“You’re welcome.”

She didn’t want him to go because that would leave her alone with Jaxsen, but she couldn’t hang on to him forever. Grant grabbed a duffel and headed for the laundry room, leaving her to face Jaxsen.

She drew in a breath, bracing herself for the sense of betrayal and hurt, but before she could decide what she felt, he was pulling her close and kissing her.

“Hey, beautiful. Did you miss us?”

“Of course.”

“We had a great time.” His hand moved to her butt and squeezed as he rubbed his crotch against her belly. “It would have been better if you’d been along.”

“No, thanks. It’s not my thing.”

He chuckled and released her. “You’re such an island girl.”

A familiar tease, one that normally made her feel that they were connected and happy and that they were going to be together forever. Just not today.

The boys trooped out of the laundry room. She grabbed a small tin from the counter and pulled off the lid. Each boy pulled out a small wooden disk painted with a number.

“Seven,” Grant said, grinning.

“Five.” Tommy held up his.

JJ grimaced. “One.”

“Ha!” Tommy dropped his disk back in the tin. “Let me know when you’re done.”

JJ started for the stairs.

“Not so fast, young man,” Kristine told him. “Shoes off in the laundry room. Leave your clothes in the hallway. All of them. Put on clean everything.”

Normally, JJ would have complained that meant more laundry for him, but after trips like this, Kristine did their dirty clothes. When they’d been out camping or at a cabin, she liked to know that everything was thoroughly washed, the way she would do it. Plus, she didn’t overload the machines and she generally felt better dealing with it. Besides, they only went away a few times a year. Sometimes, she liked doing the mom stuff for them.

As JJ went to take off his shoes, the other boys raced upstairs. The disks had determined the order in which they would shower. While JJ claimed the bathroom, Tommy and Grant would have phone time. Jaxsen didn’t have a lot of rules but one of them was no cell phones on trips with him so the only texting they could do was with her, on his phone. The boys needed to find out what had happened in their absences.

When they were alone again, Jaxsen smiled at her. “So I have to take a shower, too. Want to join me?”

Like everything else in their lives, his return from his trips with the boys had a familiar rhythm. First, everyone got settled, then she and Jaxsen had a quickie reunion. Later that night, they would make love again, more slowly. Afterward, he would hold her until he fell asleep. She would stay awake a little longer, thinking about how lucky she was and how much she loved him.

Only that wasn’t happening today.

She still didn’t know how to discuss what she’d learned. It had been years ago and they were so different now, with kids and a life together. She should let it go. Only she couldn’t and when she tried her throat got tight and her stomach writhed and—

“Kristine, what’s going on?” he asked. “Don’t you feel well?”

“I feel fine,” she said, realizing she wasn’t going to be able to simply move on. She was going to have to say something. Something like... “You slept with Sophie.”

“What?” His voice was a yelp. He stared at her. “What are you talking about? I haven’t slept with Sophie or anyone. Why would you even think that?”

“You slept with her, back in high school. You told me you were a virgin and that I was your first time and it was all a lie. It wasn’t just her, either. Apparently, it was everyone.”

She waited for him to shrink back, to apologize and beg her forgiveness. What she didn’t expect was for him to start laughing.

“Are you kidding?” he asked. “High school? Come on, Kristine, be serious.”

“I am serious. Deadly serious. You lied to me.”

He threw up his hands. “Of course I lied to you. I was a seventeen-year-old guy who was crazy in love with you. I also wanted to have sex with you. I was a raging hormone at the time and you were the most incredible girl I’d ever met. I would have done anything to sleep with you.”

Words not designed to make her feel better. “So you lied.”

“Sure. Come on. You can’t be upset about that. We were kids.”

“I was saving myself for my one true love,” she reminded him. “Giving away my virginity mattered to me. It was significant.”

He frowned. “I knew that. Kristine, I was in love with you. We were planning our life together. We got married, for God’s sake. What is the problem?”

“You lied to me.”

“Would you stop saying that? What does it matter now? We have kids and a great life. What happened that you’re acting like this?”

“Nothing happened,” she told him, furious he wouldn’t see her side of things. “Nothing has to happen, Jaxsen. I simply found out that you tricked me into giving up my virginity. As you’d already slept with half the female population of the high school, I understand it doesn’t matter to you, but it’s very important to me and it changes how I view our past. I was giving my heart and you were interested in getting laid.”