54. Darcy

DEX

I am so unutterably sorry for not replying to your lovely messages. It had nothing to do with you, but it makes me feel sick that I caused you doubt. I hope you can forgive me. For what it's worth, I haven't stopped thinking about you all week. You are incredible and I feel so honoured to have had that experience with you. I can't wait to see you on Friday xox

Thank you. I needed to hear that. Roll on Fri xx

It feels like my sister has been away for years, when it's only been a month. I've been excited to see her, obviously, mainly to catch up and hear all the goss from the honeymoon. But this past week I've felt as though my world has been crumbling to pieces and I just need a hug from my big sis, dammit.

Dex's text yesterday made me tear up with relief, which is a bit pathetic, but honestly. That guy put me through the wringer. Max had already called me to tell me he'd "made him see sense", so the text wasn't completely out of the blue, but when Max came over to my place last night I couldn't believe the story that came out of his mouth.

"Made him see sense" isn't code for "gave him a blowjob at his place of work" in any reality I know, but it's given me real hope for the first time since Dex left me on read last Thursday—and all the days after. Because Max and I may not have admitted it to each other in so many words, but we're both insanely attracted to him, and I feel something for him, too.

Don't ask me what, but he tugs at my heartstrings (and my lady parts). It's probably stupid to say, because I'm sure every single human who crosses paths with him falls hard, but after what we did last week, I can't stop thinking about him. Can't stop remembering how it felt to have him lie on top of me and move inside me. The way his dark hair fell over his eyes. The shadows on his face as he came, like he was learning something new about himself.

I definitely didn't realise quite how many new things he'd learnt about himself that night, and I have to admit, I'm really fucking glad Max called him out on everything. That could have gone horribly wrong—Max is so impatient, and so intolerant. His riding roughshod all over poor Dex's Big, Scary Feelings could have been an absolute disaster.

I guess he found a better way of using his mouth to, erm, persuade Dex than by bawling him out.

Fuck, I wish I'd been a fly on the wall to see him undoing Dex. It must have been crazy levels of hot.

So, yeah, I'm feeling a bit more hopeful now that Dex has sent me that lovely text. I've only read it about fifty times. (Maybe sixty.) Still, the balance has now swung away from my worries that Gen will kill me—and Max—when she hears what I've been up to and in favour of getting some sisterly advice.

She and Anton got back last night, and I'm sure she'll have a tonne of work to catch up on, but I bet I can persuade her to grab a bite to eat. I'll rope Maddy into my plans too, and she can help coerce Gen if need be.

My sister looks revoltingly,stunningly tanned. Her skin is a dark, even gold and her hair is platinum and, in her ice-pink linen sheath dress, she's easily the most gorgeous and elegant woman in the Dover Street Arts Club today.

I suspect she's also the happiest. You could see her glow from space.

Maddy's dressed down in skintight grey Varley yoga pants and a cute pink cropped t-shirt. I'm pretty sure she's flouting the dress code, but I don't see any of the businessmen around us complaining. And I'm in an easy sherbet-yellow maxi dress that I've totally failed to iron, but no one is looking at the creases, because it's my boobs' best friend.

Yep. We're definitely the most interesting people in here.

Gen has given us the rundown of her honeymoon (to recap: sex, food, sailing, sex, food, sailing, rinse and repeat). It sounds like it was incredible.

‘It's really nice to know Anton's stepped down, though, isn't it?' I muse. ‘He'll have loads more time to spend with you now—maybe that'll make being back a bit easier.'

‘You say that,' my sister scoffs, breaking open a bread roll, ‘but he's gone into the office this morning. He's got serious IPO FOMO—the man's incorrigible.'

Maddy laughs while I freeze. If Anton's seeing Max today then it's another reason to come clean. No way will Max be able to keep his mouth shut, and my sister needs to hear this from me.

The conversation veers towards Maddy and Zach's wedding, which is happening in Puglia in a month's time. ‘It feels so awful not inviting you,' she pouts in my direction, ‘but Zach's being really strict about the guest list. I'm so sorry.'

‘Don't be ridiculous,' I tell her. ‘You've only known me a couple of months. I'd never expect an invitation.' I smile coyly. ‘Besides, I've got some stuff going on that's keeping London interesting for me right now.'

Maddy shoots me an excited grin. She thinks she knows what I'm going to say, but she's not remotely up to speed.

‘Go on,' Gen says in her best headmistress voice as she cuts a wafer-thin slice of beef carpaccio. The subtext is clear: think very carefully before you get yourself into trouble.

I shoot a panicked look at Maddy, who nods encouragingly, and take a deep breath. ‘I've been seeing Max.'

Gen's head jerks up. ‘Seeing as in…'

‘Seeing.' He did take me for lunch that time, after all. Even if I fucked him in his office beforehand.

She frowns. ‘I'm going to fucking kill him. I told him to stay away from you.'

‘Well, he didn't,' I say. I won't mention his attempt to pay me to dance for him. ‘And we're happy.'

That gets her attention. ‘Really?' she asks, her voice softer. ‘I get it, believe me. He's a ridiculously attractive, charismatic guy. But he's Max, you know? Variety is the spice of life for him. Anton says he despairs of him ever settling down. I just don't want him hurting you.'

‘I know,' I say. I feel a bit emotional for some reason. ‘For what it's worth, I don't think he will.'

‘He's really into her,' Maddy volunteers. ‘They've seen each other almost every night since he asked—since they got it on. Isn't that right, babes?'

I'm seriously relieved Maddy just didn't throw me under the bus with an accidental mention of his indecent proposal. ‘Yeah. He's been really sweet. And… protective.' I think of how angry he's been with Dex for ghosting me. I could never have imagined Max getting so incensed that someone didn't follow through after sex, especially because he's probably done it to a million poor men and women himself.

‘Well, that's lovely to hear,' Gen says, cutting into her watercress salad. She says it with feeling, but I suspect she's not totally convinced. Not yet, anyway.

‘There's something else,' I say, my gaze flitting between the two of them. ‘It's pretty crazy, and I don't know what to make of it, but it's driving me absolutely insane, and I need some advice.'

That gets their attention. They both set their cutlery down on their plates and stare at me expectantly. Maddy's grinning—she's the biggest gossip I know.

‘This is really, really confidential,' I tell her specifically. ‘You can't tell Belle—I mean it.'

She screws up her pretty little nose. ‘Belle? What the heck does Belle have to do with it?'

‘Do you promise or not?' I demand, pointing my knife at her.

She puts both hands up in surrender. ‘Promise.'

My sister is watching me with a look of mild terror.

‘Okay.' Here goes. ‘I had sex with Dex last week. Belle's brother,' I add, in case my sister's unclear, though I'm assuming she met him at Belle and Rafe's wedding.

Gen's eyes go wide. Maddy's reaction is less circumspect—she gasps theatrically enough that a few people at the surrounding tables look around.

‘You are fucking kidding me,' she hisses, pressing her hand to her chest. ‘Does Max know? Oh my God, was it amazing? Was he good? And again—does Max know?'

I grimace. ‘Max may have been… there.'

My sister's face is a picture. Maddy pretends to swoon, then pushes her chair back so hard it almost falls over and rounds the table, engulfing me in a massive hug. She pulls away and squeals, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! You had a threesome?—'

‘Shh!' Gen interjects, because we really don't need any more attention on our table right now. ‘Keep it down.'

Maddy backs away from me, giggling as she returns to her chair. ‘You had a threesome with Max and Dex?' she asks in a stage whisper. ‘You fucked the two hottest guys in London, basically—you lucky, lucky bitch!'

I may, at this point, allow myself a smug little giggle, because it's honestly a ridiculous situation and I am indeed the luckiest little bitch-whore who ever lived—as long as Dex doesn't freak out and run for the hills again.

‘Right?' I say to her, and then I point my finger at my sister. ‘And before you say anything, Genevieve, I'd like to remind you that people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones.'

Her mouth twists. ‘I absolutely agree. But are you okay? That's all I care about.'

I sigh and put my elbows on the table. ‘I'm not gonna lie. It's been a whole thing. But yeah, I'm okay. I think.'

‘Tell us every disgusting detail,' Maddy demands. ‘Because I can't work out how the fuck you pulled that off. I'm sorry—Dex Scott in a threesome? There's no fucking way.'

And so I tell them. I tell them how crazily attracted I was to Dex when I met him that night at drinks with Maddy and the gang. How I came clean to Max, and the look on his face when I showed him Dex's photo. How I begged Dex via text to come and watch me dance, and how Max agreed to help me lure him backstage afterwards (my sister definitely isn't happy when she hears that, but I know what I confess next will blow her no-fraternisation rules out of the window).

I tell them, in broad strokes, how the evening went down, that Dex seemed pretty happy with me and not at all comfortable with Max… until I caught them kissing as I finished Dex off in the shower.

By this point, Maddy has her face in her hands and is drumming her feet on the shiny floor. ‘I can't bear it. I think you've broken my brain. Could you not have had the decency to sell tickets? I can't believe I missed it!'

‘It wasn't exactly an open invitation,' I point out, but I get it, because Max and Dex naked and wet and kissing… it was pretty fucking special. I stand by my not-a-joke screensaver comment from the other night.

My sister is frowning. ‘So Dex is bi? I hadn't realised.'

I laugh, but there's no mirth in it. ‘Funny you should mention that. So, no, according to him, he's not, and he basically had an almighty freakout right after and ran off. He's given me the cold shoulder all week, and I got upset…' I trail off at the pissed-off purse of Gen's lips, because I really don't want her to hunt Dex or Max down and bollock either of them.

‘Fuck,' Maddy says. ‘He must have been going crazy, though. I mean, he's a lovely guy, but he's pretty square, you know? He looked seriously uncomfortable the other night at drinks, so I can't even imagine what must've been going through his head when Max grabbed him and kissed him.'

‘Believe me, he was into it at the time,' I say. ‘I was right there. But I'm sure when his orgasm wore off he got pretty stressed.'

Maddy grimaces. ‘Yeah, that's a lot of reality to be hit over the head with. So he's MIA, is he?'

I glance at my sister. ‘Not anymore. Max went and… had it out with him yesterday at work.'

‘And by had it out…' Gen murmurs.

I look around quickly before miming a blowjob using my fist, my tongue and my cheek. Classy, nope, but it gets the message across. Their jaws drop open.

‘Fuck,' Gen says, sitting back in her chair.

‘I'm dying.' Maddy picks up the cocktail menu and proceeds to fan herself. ‘Dying, do you hear me? Dex, Dex, Dex. What would Daddy say? Well, I think that answers your question about whether he's bi, Gen. This is going to make their dad shit a fucking brick.'

‘That's why you need to keep it quiet,' I hiss. ‘He needs to tell Belle himself in his own time, if at all, okay? This isn't my secret to tell. And, from what Max says, he's got a hell of a lot of stuff to figure out before he even thinks about coming out.'

‘Where does that leave the three of you?' Maddy wonders.

‘Not sure. But Max has basically summoned him for dinner on Friday at his place.'

‘Dinner.' She laughs. ‘Nice euphemism.'

‘Here's hoping,' I say, shimmying my shoulders, because the idea of getting those two guys to myself again without an epic meltdown from Dex has me all kinds of hot and bothered. ‘Oh, and he sent me this yesterday. After Max—you know—sorted him out.'

I unlock my phone and show them my message from Dex.

Gen gives a little smile. ‘Well, that's lovely.'

‘Lovely?' Maddy demands. ‘You should frame it. If only he'd sent it a few days ago, he'd be perfect.'

He would.

But he's not far off.