Chapter 20
twenty
LACHLAN
“Hey.” Lachlan set her purse onto Ivy’s kitchen counter and sighed heavily. “I take it you heard.”
“About Nathalie?” Ivy glanced over at Lachlan from chopping carrots on the cutting board.
“Yeah. She’s got the flu.”
“Is she going in?”
Lachlan shook her head. “Stubborn, and she refuses to take much for it because of the pregnancy.”
Ivy nodded as she chopped celery next. “Greer said something about isolating.”
“She doesn’t want to give it to the littles.” Lachlan hated that Greer was right, but she didn’t need any of the other kids getting sick, especially Shepherd. Penny would have a field day with that and only add it to her list of grievances against Ivy. “So you and I need to figure out childcare.”
“The boys are going back to Penny’s tomorrow, so it’s really just you unless this bleeds into next week.”
“Right.” Lachlan cringed. “I’ll see if I can find a temporary sitter for them for this week. We can have them watched here, my house, or the office for the days the boys are there.”
“I’d love the office, but Penny will go ballistic over it.” Ivy frowned as she moved into chopping potatoes. “Is Nathalie really that bad? I haven’t been up to see her yet.”
“She is. And on top of it, Abagail was there the day I sent her home from work.”
Ivy tensed.
Lachlan raised her eyebrows in response, half-listening in to the boys playing in the living room. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“Abagail doesn’t tell me much when it comes to the practice. She wants me as separated from that as possible.” Ivy dropped all of the food into a pot of boiling water on the stove. “And it’s probably a good thing that she does anyway.”
“Abagail’s going to come to the office to observe Nathalie, but that’s only a part of the reason why.” Lachlan immediately started to make each of them a drink. This wasn’t going to be a quick conversation. “We’re going to see if anyone is giving out patient information to Penny and thus letting Penny be the one who’s filing so many complaints about Nathalie.”
Ivy frowned, pulling into herself. Lachlan knew she would do that. She did any time they had to have conversations like this. Lachlan hated being the bearer of bad news, but Ivy deserved to know what was going on.
“What’s the lawyer saying about her lawsuit?”
“That the leg she has to stand on is slim. She’d have to prove intent to sell to get out of giving her a portion before you filed for divorce.”
“That’s exactly why I did it!” Ivy groaned. “God, this woman will never give up.”
“Hey, hey.” Lachlan moved around the corner and wrapped her arms around Ivy’s shoulders. “We’ll get you divorced. I promise. It might take way longer than any of us anticipated, but I promise you that you won’t be married to her forever.”
“But I’m stuck with her, because of the boys.”
“Yeah, but at least she won’t have this kind of influence. Okay?” Lachlan tugged Ivy back in for another good hug before she released. Ivy smiled up at her, eyes watery, and cheeks rosy. “You good?”
“No.” Ivy rolled her eyes with a laugh. “I’m a complete fucking mess.”
“We all are.” Lachlan handed the drink over to Ivy. “I did want to talk to you about something else though, something not Penny related—for the most part.” Lachlan’s stomach twisted. She wanted to talk to Nathalie about this too, but since the flu was going through her house and Nathalie was bearing the brunt of it, Lachlan would have to wait on that one.
“What?”
“Greer.” Lachlan watched carefully as Ivy stuttered in her movements, as she jerked her hand away from the hot stove and hissed, as she refused to look Lachlan in the eye. “I know you two had sex.”
“Fuck,” Ivy mumbled before running her fingers under cold water in the sink. “I assume she told you?”
“I asked her, directly, after our girl’s night out.” Lachlan leaned against the counter, holding her drink in her hand, but she didn’t take a sip of it. She wanted to make sure that she had Ivy’s full attention. “I noticed some hints, and I wanted to know for sure if I was right.”
“We only had sex once.” Ivy frowned.
“I know.” Lachlan rolled her shoulders. “So did Greer and I.”
Ivy froze, her eyes wide. “What?”
“I had sex with Greer that night.”
“But you’re straight.” Ivy narrowed her gaze, still keeping her hand under the cold water.
“No, I’m not.” Lachlan smiled. It felt so good to say that out loud to someone other than Greer, to someone she cared about and loved. Actually, it felt amazing.
“Lachlan!” Ivy’s voice rose in pitch. She didn’t even bother to dry her hand off as she walked over and wrapped her arms around Lachlan’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She buried her nose in Lachlan’s neck and took in a deep breath, holding her close. “When did you figure it out?”
“A few years ago, I think.” Lachlan smiled, still keeping her arms around Ivy’s back. She didn’t want to let go. She loved that Ivy could love her like this. It was pure and beautiful and everything that should be in a friendship and more. “But I didn’t… I wasn’t sure until the other night.”
“When you decided to make the first move?” Ivy pulled back to look into Lachlan’s eyes. “Because as much as I loved my night with Greer, no way in hell would she have made the first move.”
“Yeah, until I decided to make the first move.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Ivy stepped away and touched the counter before cursing and shaking out her hand. “Fuck, this burn.”
“That’s what you get for being distracted.”
“You’re the distracting one.” Ivy pointed at Lachlan. “Be helpful and go get me some burn cream and then come back and tell me all the details about creaming .”
Lachlan’s cheeks burned. “Ivy!”
“Oh, no, you’re not getting out of this one, and you should have known better. I want all the dirty little details.”
Lachlan laughed but did as she was told. She greeted the boys as she walked through the living room, giving them both hugs as she came and as she went. They really were some of the sweetest kids around. If only they could stay there all the time instead of having to go back and forth so frequently.
She had an extra sway to her step as she walked back into the kitchen with the burn cream in hand. Everything was out in the open now—at least where it concerned her. Nathalie still didn’t know about Ivy and Greer, but Lachlan was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be a secret for much longer.
“It was amazing,” Lachlan said, leaning against the kitchen counter again as Ivy went back to working on dinner. “Greer was so sweet.”
“Sweet?” Ivy shot her a look of surprise. “She’s a menace. I swear she tried to get me off to the point of passing out.”
Lachlan’s jaw dropped. “Really?”
“Oh yeah.” Ivy stirred the vegetables in the pot. “She knew exactly what she was doing.”
“Yeah, she did.” Lachlan bit her lip. Lachlan hadn’t known a single thing, at least it felt that way. But Greer had been so patient and kind in teaching her everything. They’d stayed up so late, too. “I asked her to teach me.”
“Is that how you came onto her? You dog.” Ivy laughed and shook her head before glancing toward the living room. “She would though. She seems like the perfect type for a baby gay.”
“Baby gay?” Lachlan raised her eyebrows at that.
“Someone just figuring out their sexuality.”
“Ah.” Lachlan shifted her shoulders. “I’m not sure I’m gay though. But I do like women.”
“Fine, pansexual. Be on Nathalie’s side.”
“It’s not about sides!” Lachlan laughed again, the cheer coming back into her voice. She loved this, she really did. She’d never quite felt like she could talk openly about her sexual problems with Baylor because neither Nathalie nor Ivy were interested in them. And it was embarrassing. How do you tell your best friends that you just can’t get off like you used to anymore?
“So you had sex. Did she go down on you?” Ivy grinned brightly. “She’s got a wicked tongue. If she didn’t, you’re missing out.”
“She did.” Lachlan could hardly keep up with Ivy’s questions. She wasn’t ever good at this kind of talk, and she’d always shied away from it. “Baylor never used to like doing that, and having a woman do it? God, that felt good.” Lachlan’s cheeks were burning again.
Ivy laughed fully. “God, you’re adorable.” Ivy squeezed Lachlan’s hand. “And did you go down on her?”
“Yes…” Lachlan pressed her thighs together, feeling wet and tingly all at the same time.
“And did you like it?” Ivy was standing so close to her. If Lachlan wanted, she could step into Ivy’s space and do something neither one of them would expect, but she definitely wasn’t brave enough for that.
“Yes,” Lachlan said confidently as she raised her chin. “I did like it.”
“Excellent.” Ivy’s eyes squinted and she put her hand on the kitchen counter, pressing in closer and lowering her voice. “And how many times did she get you off?”
“I-I don’t know.” Lachlan’s cheeks were burning so hot that she was worried she was actually on fire. Her chest was tight, and her nipples were hard. Why was talking about sex—good sex—doing this to her body?
“I think you really liked it. Look at you. You’re getting aroused just remembering it.” Ivy grinned at her. “Aren’t you?”
Lachlan hesitated, fear ramping right up alongside that arousal. But what harm would it be to admit this? Ivy wouldn’t judge her for it. There wasn’t any shame in Ivy’s question, but curiosity and joy. Lachlan curled her lips up, easing into the moment far more than she used to. “Yes. I am. Do you get…aroused…when you think about your night with Greer?”
“Fuck yes,” Ivy whispered, tilting her chin up to meet Lachlan’s gaze. Her look was direct—intense. Lachlan had never seen her be like this before. “I’ve masturbated to Greer every night since. It’s how she found me, by the way. Two fingers deep, spread wide on my couch. She’d come over to check on me after a hard day at work.”
“That was sweet of her.”
Ivy shook her head. “No. Not sweet. Hot as hell.”
Lachlan’s heart raced. Ivy’s gaze dropped from Lachlan’s eyes to her lips.
“So what else did you two do? Toys? Straps?”
Lachlan chuckled nervously. “No. I think I’ll leave that to you.”
Ivy laughed loudly, moving back to the stove to check on the meal.
Taking a chance, Lachlan added, “We did talk about you, though.”
“Me?” Ivy’s brows drew together. “Why would you talk about me?”
“About sex with you and Greer…and me.” Lachlan gripped onto the edge of the counter with everything she had. She hadn’t ever thought that she would actually say this out loud, not to Ivy, not to anyone. But something about Greer and this entire situation was making her bolder by the second. She wanted to know what it would be like to try the strap or to experience both Ivy and Greer naked with her.
“I would assume if you asked about us that you’d talk about us.”
“No, not like that,” Lachlan corrected. “Greer mentioned that she’d fantasized about all of us. Together.”
Ivy froze, the spoon above the pot. She looked over her shoulder and locked her eyes on Lachlan’s. “She was talking about a threesome.”
Lachlan nodded. “Yes.”
“But just with the three of us?” Ivy asked.
“Yes.” Lachlan bit her lip. “I never thought about that before.”
Ivy put her hand up to halt the conversation. “Hold on, because I need a second to process this. You’ve had time to think about it. I haven’t.” Ivy finished mixing the food around and then put the lid back on the pot. She immediately came over to Lachlan, standing very close to her. She took a sip of her drink, glanced out into the living room and then lowered her voice so the boys wouldn’t be able to hear. “Do you want to have a threesome?”
“I never really considered it a possibility before the other night.” Lachlan bit her lip. “Why? Is that not something you’d be interested in?”
“It’s not something I’ve ever done before.” Ivy took another drink, finishing off half of it. She swallowed loudly and paused again. “But not Nathalie?”
“Nathalie…” Lachlan sighed. “I’m afraid that Nathalie is making this worse for all of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“She caught us, and she ripped into Greer about it.”
“Shit. Does she know about me?”
Lachlan shook her head. “No. But here’s the thing, Ivy. Despite all of that and Nathalie being a bully about it, I can’t stop thinking about doing it again with Greer. Like, all the time. It’s distracting me at work even.”
Ivy laughed, her lips curling upward. “Then you should do it again.”
“But it was just a one-time thing.”
“Only if you and Greer agree to that. It could be more. You never know unless you talk to her and ask.” Ivy pressed her hand to Lachlan’s wrist and squeezed tightly. “And like I said before, hell will freeze over before Greer initiates, so it’s going to have to be you.”
“Why won’t she?”
“I think it has something to do with being the employee.” Ivy finished her drink. “I’m not entirely sure, we didn’t exactly get a lot of time to talk afterward. She had to get back to Nathalie’s in the morning to watch Alaric.”
“If the opportunity came up, would you do it again with her?” Lachlan asked.
“Absolutely.” Ivy grinned, the natural smile reaching her eyes as her shoulders relaxed. “Greer is amazing in her own right, and she deserves to be loved in any way possible.”
Love? Is that what Lachlan was feeling? It couldn’t quite be that, not yet anyway. She was definitely attracted to Greer, but she was also attracted to Ivy and Nathalie too. But she missed Greer. Missed seeing her face and smiles and hearing her voice, in ways she didn’t quite miss Nathalie’s. Or perhaps that was just because Nathalie was sick, and Lachlan knew that.
“What’s that thought?” Ivy asked.
“Nothing,” Lachlan answered. “Nothing at all. I was just thinking about how nice it is to have you as my best friend. I can’t imagine coming out to anyone going any easier than this did.”
Ivy moved in for another hug. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”