“Yes, I love it when you share stories about me,” Stef said with only the mildest hint of rebuke. Callie made up for her lamentable gossip addiction by being one of the nicest people alive. And if Callie was a sweet-hearted gossip, then Stef could be a very nice, overprotective older brother. “So, tell me about this Henry person.”
The last thing she wanted was for Stef Talbot to decide that she needed someone to watch out for her. “He’s a very nice man. He’s a history professor, and I like him.”
Stef’s eyes narrowed. “You like him?”
She’d heard stories about Stef, mostly from Callie. Stef liked to practice BDSM. From what Nell had learned, he’d started at a fairly young age and now had relationships with women that were purely based on Dominance and submission. Stef had gotten her started reading BDSM romances. Oh, he would never ever admit that he even knew they existed should someone ask. He’d told her if she ratted him out, he would stop helping her favorite charities, but Stef was the one who bought her a set of books when she’d admitted she was curious.
Henry was interested in that lifestyle, at least when it came to sex. It was right there on the tip of her tongue to ask Stef some questions, but she held back the impulse. Henry wasn’t staying around. He would be gone, and sooner than Nell would like. She didn’t want to be seen as the poor little virgin who got left behind.
“I like him. It’s not a big deal, Stef. He’s a tourist. He’s only here until the semester starts up again.”
Stef let a moment pass, his eye pinning her. “Nell, are you sleeping with him?”
“Stefan!” Callie admonished, frowning at her best friend.
But Nell had known the question would come up the minute he’d walked in the door. “There was some sleep involved.”
Callie’s jaw dropped open. “Are you kidding me? I…I didn’t think you would actually sleep with him. Nell, are you sure? I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
She hadn’t expected Callie to react that way. She’d kind of thought she could talk to Callie. Callie was really the only one close to her age. Most of the other women were closer to her mother’s age, and she just couldn’t talk about sex with her mother. Oh, her mother loved to talk about sex. Her mother was a deeply open woman who thought she should talk to her daughter about everything. When Nell had first gotten her period, her mother had thrown her a party celebrating her womanhood.
Yeah, Nell didn’t want her mother throwing a Punching Out Her V-Card Party.
She’d thought she might be able to talk to Callie. She’d gotten close to her, but Nell hated the look in Callie’s eyes now. Callie looked slightly horrified at the idea of her sleeping with Henry. “Well, I will admit there wasn’t much thought behind it. I guess I just thought it was a fun fling, you know?”
“I’m sure it seems fun now.” Callie stood up, reaching for her robe. “I bet it won’t be so great later. Uhm, I just remembered I promised my mom I would help her out with something. I’ll catch you later.”
She hurried out, knotting her robe around her.
Humiliation washed over Nell. She had no idea what had just happened, but she hated the way she felt now. Vulnerable. Alone. “I guess I should go, too.”
Stef put a hand out, his eyes warming with sympathy. “Please stay, Nell. Callie wasn’t judging you. She was feeling the weight of her own decisions, and I’m pretty sure she needs a good cry. Look, I shouldn’t tell you this, but the last thing either of you needs is a rift in your friendship. Callie lost her virginity last year to a couple of friends of mine.”
Nell felt her eyes widen as his words sank in. “A couple? Like Max and Rye?”
Stef shook his head. “Not Max and Rye, though I’m sure the desire for a ménage came from her childhood crush on those two. It was hard on Callie being the only girl around here. We didn’t make it any easier, but that’s neither here nor there. I think Callie’s worried about you. She doesn’t want you to be in the same position she’s in. She thought she could handle one wild weekend, and she fell for them. Now they’re gone and her heart still hurts all these months later.”
Callie hadn’t said a word. “They were stupid to leave her.”
A frown crossed his handsome face. “Yes, and if I could find the little fuckers, I would very likely get my ass kicked because they’re not so little and I’m pretty sure Zane was found in some Paleolithic cave and unfrozen for scientific purposes.” He leaned forward, his eyes softening. “I’ll find them one day. I know one of them quite well, and if he didn’t fall for Callie, I’ll eat Max’s hat. I know where it’s been, so that’s a bet I don’t want to lose. I just want you to know she’s not judging you. I think she’s judging herself.”
Her heart ached for Callie. Callie seemed so very alone even though everyone in town adored her. She knew the feeling. Bliss was a wonderful place, but she still felt alone. Meeting Henry had pointed out just how lonely she’d been for so long. “I’m so sorry to hear that. She has nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not wrong to love someone, even if they can’t love you back.”
“You keep believing, Mary Sunshine. I mean that. I know you’ve only been around for a couple of months, but I already can’t imagine Bliss without you here.”
“Well, I’ll certainly stay as long as Mom…” She couldn’t say it.
Stef leaned forward. “Nell, after your mother passes, you have to stay. This is your home now.”
She loved this place, but there were problems she hadn’t been able to solve, and they weren’t going to go away. “I’m afraid Mom pays all the bills. I have to find a job, Stefan, and even then I likely won’t be able to find one where I can make a livable wage out here. There’s not much call for a woman with a degree in social work in a town of a couple of hundred people.”
It was what she’d been avoiding for months—the thought of having to leave after her mom was gone. Losing her mother would be hard enough, but losing this place, too, would be terrible. She couldn’t imagine herself in a city now that she’d lived out here, but that was where she would have to go.
“What about your writing?” Stef asked quietly.
Nell snorted. That was just a pipe dream. She’d been writing since she was a kid. She’d started out writing little stories, fairy tales really, about the other world her mother loved to talk about. Then she’d grown up and realized she needed to write adult books, books that could change hearts and minds. Well, they might be able to change them if anyone ever actually read them. “Uhm, apparently no one wants to read thrillers about social justice. I thought it was a really good idea at the time. It’s sort of a Steve Berry–meets–Les Misérables story all set around the man-made disaster that was the Dust Bowl. An intrepid farm girl finds the clues to saving mankind buried deep in Oklahoma, but she has to fight dust storms and misogyny and rabid politicians to save everyone. I really thought it would sell.”
For the first time since she’d met him, Stef seemed at a loss. Yeah, that was pretty much the way every agent and editor she’d submitted it to had reacted. “I, well, I could make a call.”
She sighed and let her head rest against the back of the hot tub. “Don’t bother, Stef. I think I’m pretty much doomed to failure on the writing front. Unless someone starts picking up my Doctor Who fan fiction, I’m pretty much out of luck.”
“You write Doctor Who fan fiction?” The question came out of Stef’s mouth on a laugh.
She let a smile curl her lips up. “It’s erotic fan fiction, Stef. I think multicolored scarves are intensely sexy. I also find British accents soothing.”
His jaw dropped for a minute, and then a long laugh boomed through the space. Stef laughed for a good long while, the sound filling her with joy. Stefan Talbot didn’t laugh often. It was a good thing to give the young artist a bit of respite from what seemed like a too-serious life. She often thought that was why he’d stayed in Bliss, though he likely belonged in New York or Paris. He stayed in Bliss because he could laugh here. He took a long breath. “I’m going to have to look that up online, Nell.”