The Girlfriend's Secret Read online

  Thirsty Thursday Book 3

  The Girlfriend’s Secret

  Copyright © 2018 Kyle Autumn

  All rights reserved.

  First Edition

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of The Barista’s Wager

  More by Kyle Autumn

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Zo

  Like the coward I am, I run out of Lyra’s hospital room. Once I’m out of sight, I lean against the wall, bring a hand to my forehead, and sigh out a deep breath. I wasn’t ready. We’ve talked about it and talked about it—then talked about it some more. But I just couldn’t say the words. Not when I didn’t know how everyone would react. They were stuck in my throat, and then the doctor interrupted the moment, so I took it as a sign. And I left. Ugh.

  Patti comes out of the room, hot on my heels. “What happened in there?” she asks, her hands out to her sides. “I thought we were finally going to tell them today.”

  “We were,” I admit, kicking off the wall. Then I start walking toward the elevator. “But it didn’t seem like the right time. So I choked up.”

  “I noticed.” When we get on the elevator, she faces me and stares me right in the eyes. Once the doors have closed, she asks, “Do you not want to tell them? Because, if you don’t, I—”

  “Yes!” I rush out. “Yes, I do. I really do. I swear.”

  “Then what the hell is going on?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. “We can’t keep this from them forever. It’s been long enough already.”

  When I don’t say anything for a moment, she raises an eyebrow at me.

  “I know,” I tell her on a deep exhale. “I know, okay? I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  The elevator doors open, but Patti doesn’t make a move to leave. I can only take her disappointed glare for so long though. So, before the doors close, I step out onto the first floor and head toward the exit whether she’s following me or not. I have to get out of here.

  I get it. I fucked up. I dropped the ball. This was supposed to be the day we came clean. And, honestly, I’m tired of living a lie. Keeping a secret. In theory, I’m more than ready to tell everyone. Lyra, Shiree, Chaz, Blake… Even my parents, though it scares the absolute shit out of me. And I’m beyond sorry that my chickenshit attitude has made Patti keep this from them too. She deserves so much better than to keep my secrets.

  But, without knowing how they’ll react, I’m not sure I can say anything yet. I can’t handle the unknown when it comes to something this big. It could be life-altering, mind-blowing, and earth-shattering news. And we’d have to start at the beginning. I’m just not sure I want everyone in my business, and telling people is a guaranteed way to make them look at me differently. I hate to say it, but I’m still not ready for that. Which is why I’m ready to tell everyone but still unwilling to go through with it.

  Once we reach my car, I go to get into the driver’s seat. But, instead of going to the passenger’s side door to go home, Patti follows me. Carpooling was a great idea on the way here, but now, I’m regretting the decision. It’s only going to make me face this. Whether I’m ready or not.

  “Hey,” she says, her hand on my arm to stop me. “We need to talk about this. Because I can’t keep doing this with you, Zo.”

  The use of my actual name hits me right in the gut. I almost can’t remember the last time she called me that. It’s been Zed ever since high school. So it almost sounded like an insult to my ears. She’s serious, and she means business. Shit.

  I face her and take a deep, steadying breath. “I know we do.” My hands are shaking, and I just want to crawl inside a hole and hide. “I hate that you’ve had to keep this secret with me, but I don’t want anyone judging me or…”

  She lets my arm go by sliding it down to my hand and clasping my fingers. “Or what? You have to tell me so I can help you get through this.”

  Closing my eyes, I squeeze her hand. When I open them, I say, “Or…not loving me anymore.”

  Her shoulders slump forward as she exhales a whoosh of breath. “Oh, Zed. That’s never going to happen,” she says, pulling me into a tight hug. When she pulls back, she holds my cheeks in her hands. “You’re still you no matter what, okay? Everyone will still love you. Including me. I promise.”

  I nod as a tear slips down my cheek.

  “And, if for some unlikely, ridiculous-ass reason they don’t,” she continues, making me smile a little, “then you don’t need them in your life anyway. But I don’t think you’ll run into that problem.”

  Again, I nod, and another tear falls down my other cheek.

  She wipes them away for me using her thumbs. “And who cares? You’ll always have me.” Her lips curve up into a grin. “I’ve even proven to be more than you can handle sometimes. What more could you possibly ask for?”

  At that, I break into a small laugh. Because it’s true. She’s my best friend, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. But, if I don’t grow a pair soon and give my secret up, I’ll find out exactly what I’d do without her. Which is a much scarier thought than anyone’s judgment or lack of love. I’d be so lost and alone. If I don’t have to be, I don’t want to be. So I decide to grow those balls.

  Right now, apparently. Because it’s now or never. We agreed on today, so today it will be.

  “I couldn’t ask for anything more, Patti.” With tear-stained cheeks, I shake my head a little. “Nothing at all.”

  Then, with Shiree and Chaz approaching their car, which is parked right next to mine, I lean forward and kiss my girlfriend on her soft, sweet lips. For everyone to see for the first time.

  ***

  Patti

  Well, this was unexpected. The woman I love more than life itself has her lips on mine in broad daylight. I’m so conditioned not to do this that I freeze for a second. But then I unfreeze and take hold of the moment by sliding my hands into her hair and deepening the kiss. I’ve waited for this moment for over nine months—for most of my life, really. Of course I’m going to take advantage, sear it into my brain for all of eternity, and make the absolute most of it.

  I run my tongue across the
seam of her lips, and she lets me in. She always does. It’s my favorite way to kiss her, but I’m finding that it’s even sweeter with the sun on my skin. Or maybe it’s the footsteps I hear approaching us that make this better. Someone else in the world, even if it’s a stranger, knows we’re together. It’s not even a voyeurism thing, and I don’t particularly want them to watch us. But someone knows. Someone besides us. Thank the lord.

  Her palms grip my back, and her short nails dig into my shoulder blades. But it’s almost too hard. To the point of pain. I pause our kiss, about to pull away from her, when I open my eyes. Hers are wide open too, but they’re not aimed at me. They’re aimed over my shoulder. So maybe she doesn’t want strangers watching us kiss yet. That’s okay with me. Someone has, and right now, that’s enough. But I’m curious who had the pleasure, so I unstick our faces and twist around.

  Only to find two people who are decidedly not strangers staring at us.

  “Wh…wh…what?” Shiree squeals, throwing her arms out to her sides. “What is going on?” Turning to Chaz, she asks, “Babe, what is going on?”

  “Well, Shiree, it looks like Patti and Zo were—”

  “I know what it looks like!” she exclaims, interrupting her husband. “I have two eyes. I saw what happened. What I don’t understand is why it’s happening.”

  Zo is frozen, stock-still, so I grab her hand to encourage her. When she looks at me, all of her fear pours out of her gaze. All I want to do is wrap her up and keep her safe. Make sure nothing bad happens to her. Ever. But I can’t. And these are our friends. Even though Shiree’s reaction was, well, unexpected, I don’t think it’s going to be bad. So I squeeze her fingers and raise my eyebrows a couple of times.

  “It’s okay, Zed. I’m right here,” I remind her, giving her a small smile. “You can do this.”

  She takes a deep breath, which comes out on a shudder. “Well…” Then she stops.

  While I squeeze her hand again, Shiree looks at Chaz with wide eyes. He just shrugs and faces us again, so she does too.

  “Spit it out, Zo,” she says, taking her husband’s hand. “Is it cancer? A brain tumor? Just tell us already!” Tears pool in her eyes, and she wipes at them.

  Zo’s jaw falls open, and her eyebrows draw down on her forehead. But nothing comes out of her mouth. So I speak up for her.

  “What the hell?” I shove my hands on my hips. “Why do you think she is sick? Because she wouldn’t be with me if she wasn’t dying?”

  “B-be with you?” Shiree stutters out. “Like…you two…” She waves a finger between the two of us. “You’re…together?”

  “That’s what it looked like to me,” Chaz says, putting his arm around his wife. “I hear that’s what two people do when they’re together.”

  “I know that,” she grinds out between clenched teeth, swinging her gaze to Chaz. “But I want to know why they couldn’t just tell us that.”

  “We’re right here,” I remind her, my heart pounding from the anger coursing through my veins. I wanted us to finally tell everyone, but if we’re going to get shit from the people we love, we could have kept it to ourselves. “We can hear you.”

  She faces us again and clears her throat, blinking slowly. Then she approaches Zo and takes her free hand, the one I’m not holding. “Zo. Sweetie. Tell me two things.”

  Zo, in her state of frozen shock, nods. I grip her hand tighter for some strength. It’s not that I think whatever Shiree is about to ask will be bad. I just know my girl. And, right now, she needs it.

  “You and Patti are dating?” Shiree asks, staring my girl right in her eyes.

  Again, after a short bit of hesitation, Zo nods at her.

  “And you don’t have cancer?”

  This time, she shakes her head.

  “Or a brain tumor?”

  More head shaking.

  “Or any other life-threatening disease?”

  One more head shake.

  “Oh thank god!” Shiree shouts before throwing herself at Zo and wrapping her arms around her.

  I stumble back from the exertion and lose her hand, but she seems fine after a moment of more shock. She even returns Shiree’s hug. And I can’t help but smile at seeing two of my favorite people in the world so happy. I think I might even see happy tears falling from Shiree’s eyes. I definitely see some in Zo’s, but they’re likely also tears of relief. Mine? They’re tears of pride.

  “When you left like that, we were too caught up with Lyra and the baby to think about it,” Shiree says, pulling back from Zo to look at her. “But then, when Chaz and I were walking to the car, I went back to it, thought about it, and thought the worst! We couldn’t think of why you couldn’t possibly tell us what was going on with you.” Then she goes back in for another hug, this time flailing her other arm at me so I’ll join them.

  Gladly, I wrap my arms around my girl and our friend. Shiree squeezes us so tight that I can barely breathe, but we’re all laughing at the sheer ridiculousness that is this misunderstanding. And it’s about relief. Shiree’s relieved that Zo’s not dying. Zo’s relieved that the secret is out and her friends still love her. Well, some of them, but one set down, another to go. And I’m relieved that Zo’s worst-case scenario didn’t come true. I knew that it wouldn’t, but some people have to go through it in order to believe it. I wasn’t scared, which is why I pushed. But fear is a tricky bitch for Zo. I’m just glad to be the one by her side to help her through it.

  Chaz decides to join the hug by embracing all three of us at once. “I’m glad you’re okay, Zo.” He squeezes us tighter and then ruins everything. “I had no idea you two were lesbians though.”

  “Oh my god!” all three of us say to him at the same time, and we all break the hug up.

  “It’s not even like that,” Zo clarifies. “We’re just two people who happened to”—she slides her gaze to me—“fall in love.”

  Right here in the parking lot of the hospital, my heart swells. It’s full of pride, love, and joy. All thanks to this woman standing next to me. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I have no idea what I’d do without her.

  “I love you too, Zed.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it.

  Her shy grin sets my soul on fire. Always has, always will.

  “Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Shiree says, “come back to the house with us! I have to get back to my babies, but I want to hear all about how this”—she waves that finger between us again—“happened.”

  Zo looks at me, one eyebrow up in a curious expression. I shrug with one shoulder, telling her that it’s her call. Maybe it’s best if we have a trial run at this. Get one instance of telling someone our story under our belt before the heavy-hitters, like her parents, come into play.

  Once she agrees, Shiree claps her hands. “Yay! We’ll see you there!” She turns toward her car. But then, halfway around, she freezes, looking like an idea—a bad one—has struck her. “Wait!” she exclaims, slowly pivoting back to face us and holding a finger up in the air. “Tell me just one more thing.”

  “Okay,” Zo and I both hesitantly say.

  Shiree puts a hand on her hip. “Does Lyra already know? You two didn’t tell her first, right?”

  Chapter 2

  Patti

  When Zo and I arrive at Shiree and Chaz’s house, we’re still laughing about how she was worried she was the last to know something big. We reminded her that she knew about Lyra’s baby before we did, but she reminded us that Lyra told us about Blake first. Honestly, I don’t care who knew what when. I’m glad Zo’s laughing though. She was afraid that all of that was going to go so much differently, but it didn’t. Shiree’s concern lay with Zo’s health, not her questionable sexual orientation.

  Inside the house, baby cries fill the space. Zo’s immediate reaction is to go straight for the babies. Which works for the leaving babysitter, who passes the one she has off to Shiree before she heads out the door. But the other baby in a carrier shrieks u
ntil Zo lifts him out and holds him in her arms. As she rocks him, she coos and rubs his back, and he calms and quiets down.

  “Wow,” Shiree breathes out while holding her daughter. “Harlan’s never calmed down that quickly for me. I don’t know if I should be impressed and relieved that it happened that fast or pissed that he doesn’t do that for me.”

  “Zo must be the baby whisperer,” Chaz says, leaning in to check on his daughter. “At least you’re not that fussy, right, Lara?” He smiles at his wife. “We got one good kid. She won’t give us any trouble.”

  “Until she’s fifteen and wants to date,” I mutter under my breath, grinning.

  “Oh lord. Don’t remind him,” Shiree groans. “We have way too much time before he needs to worry about that.” Then she hands Lara over to Chaz, who looks like he’s about to explode.

  With a red face, he grits out, “She’s not dating until she’s thirty-five. And that’s if she’s lucky.”

  Shiree laughs and pats his back. “Okay, honey.” She pecks him on the cheek.

  He just shakes his head and walks away with his daughter. “Thirty-five,” he grumbles. “You hear me, little girl?”

  Zo giggles lightly, still rocking a now-sleeping Harlan. She brings him up to her shoulder and cups his little head. “Should we put him down?” she asks Shiree.

  She nods and holds her hands out. “I’ll be right back,” she whispers as she carefully takes her son out of Zo’s arms.

  Zo smiles to her, but something’s missing. I think it’s the usual light in her eyes. So I give her a gentle poke in the ribs.

  “Hey. You okay?” I ask her.

  Distractedly, she says, “Hmm?” while staring at Shiree as she walks away with the baby. Then she shakes her head. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

  “I know that look. You’re not fine,” I say, tucking some of her red hair behind her ear.

  She tries to wave a dismissive hand, but my other hand comes up to her face.