Going All In by Jess Dee Page A

their reaction. Did they disagree with her?
    “Fuck.” Jay’s shoulders sagged. “I thought you were about to blow us off.”
    Hunter let out a long, unsteady breath. “Christ, me too.”
    Relief plowed into her. “Yeah, well. No.” As if she’d be stupid enough to give up the best thing that had ever happened to her. “Just the opposite.”
    Hunter sat up and leaned against the couch. Again his eyes saw right into her thoughts. “You want to introduce us to your sister, don’t you?”
    “I do.”
    “Kim?” Jay asked.
    Julia nodded.
    Jay scrunched his nose in confusion. “How did you know Jules wants us to meet her?” he asked Hunter. “What have I missed?”
    “We spoke about it last week,” Hunter told him. “Julia felt awkward about introducing the two of us to Kim as her boyfriends.”
    “Understandable,” Jay mused. “It’s not something you get to do every day.”
    “What made you change your mind?” Hunter asked her.
    “You did.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’ve been so worried what my family would say about my sleeping with two men. And then I looked at you, making love to Jay, to both of us, and I was ashamed of myself. If you could rise above the fears your father instilled in you, I can tell my family the truth about the men I love.”
    She wasn’t an idiot. She knew her parents would be shocked by the choices she’d made, by her rejection of their traditional values and expectations. It would be a long while before they felt anywhere near comfortable with her decisions. She’d have to take her time with the introductions. Make them slowly. Kim was the obvious person to start with. Julia knew her sister would get along famously with both men, and with Kim on her side, telling her parents would be a whole lot easier. Heck, sometime in the not-too-distant future she might even tell her great-aunt Edith.
    “I didn’t get through this alone, Jules,” Hunter said. “You and Jay helped me. Every step of the way. So did my mom.”
    “Your mother?” Jay asked in surprise.
    Hunter nodded. “I went to see her today. Well, yesterday. I told her about all of us.”
    “What did she say?” Jay asked.
    “More than I ever expected.” Hunter closed his eyes. “It took her years to bring up Scott with me. It was only when I moved out of home that she told me how much she hated what my father had done. For her, it was the beginning of the end of their marriage.”
    Julia thought about her conversation with Hunter a week ago. He’d said then he and his mother had issues they’d had to work through. Hunter’s father and Scott had obviously headed that list.
    “Yesterday I surprised her when I explained the nature of our threesome. But she got through it like a trooper. She even gave me her blessing.”
    “She did?” Julia asked. “Just like that?”
    “It took her a while to process everything. But deep down, my mother’s a romantic. She wants me to be happy.” He was silent a minute. “She’s been afraid for a long time that I’d be too scared to find true happiness—because of my father.” He smiled. “I think she’s rather proud of the fact I’ve now found two people I love.”
    “I think I’d like to meet your mother,” Julia mused.
    “That’s a good thing, because she wants to meet you.” He looked at Jay. “How about it? You up to meeting her?”
    Jay thought for a minute. “Yeah, I’d be happy to. And I’d also like to meet Kim. Hell, Jules speaks about her so often I feel like I already know her.”
    Julia smiled shyly. “I’d be proud to introduce you to my sister. Both of you.”
    “Jay?” Hunter turned to him. “What about you? You up to introducing us to your family?”
    Jay snickered. “I’m just thinking how I’m going to break the news.”
    Julia’s heart thumped. “Will it be hard for them to hear?” Surely it couldn’t be worse than Hunter’s father finding out about his son’s bisexual tendencies.
    “My father almost had a heart