Taking It All (Surrender Trilogy #3)(36)

Kylie gave them a watery smile, which prompted Joss to shove a table napkin into the hand Joss had only just let go. It was a well-known fact in the group that Kylie hated crying. Especially in public. It would mortify her if she knew someone saw her losing control in a room full of people.

Kylie accepted the napkin and wiped hastily at her face. “At least I didn’t wear makeup today,” she said ruefully.

“You’re too beautiful to need makeup,” Joss said firmly.

Chessy smiled her agreement.

Kylie laughed, her tears replaced by mirth. “You’re both so full of shit but I love you for it.” Then her expression sobered once more and she breathed out a sigh. “The therapy session went okay. I mean I guess as well as it could go considering that for me it was akin to bloodletting. The therapist wants to see us individually first before she sees us together. Monday is Jensen’s turn and then I suppose the therapist will compare notes on our insanity and try to put the puzzle pieces together or try to figure out how two equally f**ked-up people ever belong in a relationship together.”

Chessy scowled. “That better be sarcasm or your twisted sense of humor coming out because you and Jensen are perfect for one another.”

Kylie smiled. “I may have inserted a little sarcasm.”

Joss snorted. “Ya think? Come on. Give us the real scoop. Unless of course it’s too personal and you’d rather not get into it.”

Kylie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I think we’ve established that I seem to have no personal boundaries when it comes to the two of you. Just recently, as I recall, we were shitfaced drunk in Joss’s living room and I was blurting out what a stupid-head Jensen was and then I revealed my grand seduction plan of making love to him and then tying him to the bed. If I survived telling you guys all of that I think a visit to my therapist pales in comparison.”

Chessy and Joss both dissolved into laughter.

“She does have a point,” Chessy admitted. “Even Dash was privy to that particular outburst. But it was a brilliant plan. I have to give you that.”

Kylie groaned and briefly covered her face with her hands. “Did you have to remind me that Dash was there to witness my drunken humiliation?”

“Hey, it worked, did it not?” Joss demanded. “I’d say you pulled that plan off spectacularly.”

A satisfied smile curved Kylie’s lips upward, effectively erasing all the earlier conflicting emotions that had shone in her eyes.

“Yeah, it worked,” Kylie said in a faraway tone that told both the other women she was taking an X-rated trip down memory lane.

Then she shook her head as if coming down from the clouds, her expression growing somber once more.

“We discussed my childhood and my inability—or rather my inability until I met Jensen—to form relationships with men. And the fact that in particular I feared dominant, strong men. She made me feel … normal.”

The last was said in a bewildered tone as if Kylie had never until now considered herself remotely normal.

“Sweetie, of course you’re normal,” Chessy defended. “After what you endured at your father’s hands I’d say you wouldn’t be normal if that didn’t affect you well into your adult life. Think about it. The one man in a little girl’s life she’s supposed to be able to trust above all others, the one who is supposed to protect her at all costs, betrayed you horribly. He abused you horribly. No woman—I don’t care if she’s Super Woman—could escape that kind of horror unscathed.”

“Besides, you’ve merely been discerning when it comes to men,” Joss said with conviction. “That doesn’t make you abnormal. That makes you picky, and all women should be picky when it comes to choosing the man they’ll trust and give their hearts to. Can you imagine your life without Jensen now? What if you’d hooked up with some other guy? You wouldn’t have what you have now, so f**k normal.”

Chessy’s and Kylie’s mouths both dropped open in unison. Then Chessy burst into laughter until tears streaked down her cheeks. She coughed and wheezed into her napkin while Joss gave them both looks of bewilderment.

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” Kylie said ruefully. “And it mirrors what Jensen himself has said. I believe his exact words were ‘f*ck normal.’”

“I always knew he was a smart man,” Joss said in a smug tone that matched her expression.

“It’s just so funny to hear you dropping F-bombs,” Chessy said, still laughing. “Not that you haven’t before. It’s just not your normal MO.”

Joss rolled her eyes. “I swear you two seem to think I’m some Miss Goody Two Shoes.”

“Oh no, we became well aware that you’re the closet bad girl of this group,” Kylie said dryly. “I might have considered you Little Miss Sunshine at one time, but that was before you told us at lunch that you were going to The House and wanted to hook up with a dominant man. I think it’s safe to say that we certainly reevaluated any assumptions we’d made about you in the past.”

Joss’s cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink and Kylie and Chessy both burst into laughter.

“Busted!” Chessy crowed.

Kylie turned her gaze in Chessy’s direction in a swift change in topic, once more putting the focus on Chessy, and likely relieved to have it off herself. But that was just Kylie. She’d certainly come a long way but it didn’t mean she liked being thrust into the spotlight. Even by her best friends.