I Choose You by Lopez, Bethany (most romantic novels .txt) 📕

              “Oh, Babe, we should totally try to go home for that,” Briana said to Colin. “Halloween falls on a weekend this year, and it would give us a chance to see our folks. Plus, it’ll be great to see Rich again.”

              “Yeah,” Colin agreed. “We’ll see what we can do.”

              “Yay!” Bree exclaimed.

              They finished the pitcher and decided to head back to the loft to drink and talk in a quieter environment.

              When they got back, Colin excused himself and said he had to get up early and would give the girls a chance to catch up. He promised he would see them for dinner tomorrow and wished them a goodnight.

              “I’m gonna go tuck him in,” Bree said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “There are beers in the fridge. Help yourselves and I’ll be right back out.”

              Kara went into the kitchen to grab them each a beer, while Nicole went to the bathroom to change into her comfy clothes. When she was done, Kara went in to do the same, and Nicole sat down on the couch and took a sip of her beer.

              She looked around the loft and thought about how much she would love to be at the point in a relationship that Bree and Colin were in. They were so obviously in love, it made Nicole’s heart ache.

              Kara came out of the bathroom in her flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, with her hair piled on top of her head. She grabbed her beer and settled across from Nicole in a comfy looking oversized chair.

              They were sitting there talking about how much they loved the loft, when Bree came walking out in her pajamas. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and joined Nicole on the couch.

              “So, tell us everything,” Kara prompted.

              Briana smiled and filled them in on her classes in culinary school.

              “I am having so much fun and learning something new every day. Colin keeps joking about having to hit the gym twice a day, since I started trying my recipes out on him.” Briana looked so happy as she talked. “How’s everything at the bar?”

              “Oh, you know, same old thing.” Kara said as she snuggled further into the chair. “Pam hasn’t changed at all. Remember the time we stayed late after closing to wait for her, and then we realized that she wasn’t in the backroom?”

              Briana started laughing. “Yeah, she went home early and didn’t tell anyone. We would have sat there all night if Pete hadn’t gone back there to check on her.”

              “The day I came in for my interview, I thought Pam was a busser or something,” Nicole chimed in with a chuckle. “I talked to her for about ten minutes before I realized that she was the manager and my interview had already started.”

              Kara and Briana cracked up at that.

              “That is totally, Pam!” Kara chortled. When she calmed down enough to talk again, she looked at Nicole and admitted, “When I saw you, I thought you were going to be a Stone Cold Bitch.”

              “You did?” Nicole asked, surprised.

              “Yeah, but it didn’t take long after talking to you, to realize that you aren’t. You just looked so perfect and put together, I jumped to conclusions.” Kara said with a shrug. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

              “Thanks.”

              “Well when I first met Kara,” Briana cut in, trying to lighten the mood back up. “I knew Kara was a Bitch.”

              They all started laughing at that. Kara was laughing so hard that she almost fell off the chair.

              They stayed up until four in the morning reminiscing and talking about the upcoming Halloween party.

              When Nicole laid down to go to sleep, she realized that she finally had the kind of friends she’d always hoped for growing up. She’d never spent the night gossiping with girlfriends before. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter Eleven

              They slept in the next morning, then decided to put on their bathing suits and lay out at the pool.

              Once the trio was settled into their lounge chairs Nicole decided to broach the subject that had been on her mind, but had been afraid to bring up.

              “Hey, guys, can I get your advice on something?” She asked quietly, happy for the sunglasses that concealed the nervousness in her eyes.

              “Sure, what about?” Bree asked.

              “Kent,” She stated simply.

              “Oh, yeah, you can definitely ask our advice if it’s about Kent,” Kara chimed in with a saucy grin. “Spill.”

              “Well, I mean, I know Bree knows a little bit about my past, so I should probably fill you in on that first, Kara.” Nicole started. “I was raised in a religious home, and was expected to go to college, then return home to marry my fiancé, Jake, and begin a congregation in Dallas. Once I got to college, I realized that those were my parents’ dreams, not mine, and I changed my major, broke it off with Jake, and moved out on my own. That’s the gist of it. Well, um, what I haven’t mentioned is that because I was raised in that way, I don’t believe in having sex before marriage.”

              Kara sat up, threw her legs over the side of her chair, and pushed her sunglasses up on her head. She looked into Nicole’s eyes, the shock apparent on her face.

              “Are you saying you’re a virgin, and you’ve never had sex with anybody? Not even once?”

              Nicole couldn’t help but giggle at Kara’s obvious disbelief. It helped ease her nerves, and she replied, “Not even once.”

              “Oh. My. God.” Kara closed her eyes and shook her head, causing Nicole to laugh again, and Bree to reach over and punch Kara lightly on the arm. “What? I can’t even imagine…”

              “Stop, Kara,” Briana chided.

              “It’s okay, Bree, I know it’s surprising to people. I was with Jake for so long, and he