Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part One: Chapter 6

Hello my loves! I put this in Picture Perfect but will do so again here: I'm publishing some books on Kindle this year and want to know if people want my Wattpad books available for purchase there (they will also remain here, free to read for those who do not wish to buy or can't afford to!)

Love, Cam

<3

Chapter 6

Harper

I was on the verge of a panic attack roughly 80% of the week. I had absolutely no idea what was going through Edward's mind, what he had learned about HIV, what he was planning on doing. He had kept to his damn word and not laid a hand on me since I'd told him to go away and think about it.

I'd attempted to distract myself by inviting Raven out for lunch. Ross, despite being his usual self, had clearly liked having his sister on our night out, and I wanted to encourage her to keep hanging out with us. It helped that I liked her in general; she was like Ross in her demeanour, but with less of a jaded eye.

"You're fidgety," she noted, as I checked my phone for the thousandth time. "Something wrong?"

"No," I replied, too quickly, and she raised her eyebrows as if to comment on how bad I was at hiding things. I sighed. "I, uhh, I'm waiting for some news, that's all."

"Job interview?" she guessed, and I shook my head. "Date?" When I hesitated too long, she cracked a smile and said, "You must really like him if it's getting you this bad."

I almost brushed the subject off, but then I realised that this wasn't Ross; I wasn't going to get a thousand innuendos from a man who knew me far, far too well. Raven was new to Edward, and new enough to me and even Ross, really. I could get a perspective from an outsider, and an outsider that might be more emotionally adjusted than me and Ross.

"I, uhh, I kissed Ed," I told her.

Her eyes lit up a little, interested. "I had wondered if there was something there - but I figured you and Ross might be..."

"The day Ross Stone commits to a single person, I shall walk stark naked down the street," I told her, which made her snort. "I mean, we've... experimented with each other. But that was a while ago, I haven't really been with anyone for a while."

"I'm sure Ross more than makes up for your collective sex record," she rolled her eyes at her brother's conduct, which was so infamous she'd probably heard it from several people now. "So why are you so nervous? Was he not into it?"

"No, he was into it," I said, and felt my face heat up as I remembered just how into it he was. "I..." I almost bailed on the topic there and then, not really wanting to redo the conversation I'd had with Edward, but I had at least had practice. "I'm HIV positive, so I wanted him to think about the risk before we did anything that could pass it on. It's pretty much a non-existent risk at the moment as my viral load is undetectable, but that might not remain the case forever."

Raven considered this for a moment, and then nodded. "That makes sense. How long did you want him to think about it?"

I was somewhat floored by her casual acceptance of that revelation, and managed to answer, "A week."

"How long is left?" she asked.

"Two days," I answered.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Then stop checking your phone every five minutes, it's not going to speed the week up, is it?"

"No," I begrudgingly answered. "I've got to find a way to tell Ross, as well, if Ed decides it is something he wants to go ahead with."

Raven connected the dots and said, "Yeah, he's not the biggest on commitment or monogamy, is he? He'll get used to it, though. He likes Jenny and Lucie and they're committed to each other." She considered it, and then said, "Maybe tell him when he's drunk."