Free No Simple Sacrifice (Secrets of Stone Book 5) by Angel Payne, Victoria Blue

a staunch one drink limit when we aren’t doing a girl’s night in.”
    We giggled together as she tried to swipe away my beer. I wrapped an arm around the mug, convict style, and took surreptitious sips from it. “All right, fine!” I finally relented. “Just no questions that require me to check your ID before answering.”
    Taylor pumped a fist into the air. “Yaaassss!”
    “Jesus.” I took a bigger swig of the crisp brew.
    “He has nothing to do with this,” she rebutted. “ Spill . Now.”
    I shrugged and lifted a slow grin, suddenly unsure of where to start. The basic truth seemed appropriate. “Things are…great, actually.”
    Her eyes sparkled, turning the gray in them to silver. “Ohmygod. Awesome!”
    “I’m just…”
    “Just what?”
    “Overwhelmed.” I’d racked my brain for something subtler—but that just about said it.
    She tilted her head, contemplating my answer…as always, sensing the thought I’d put behind it. “I imagine life with the notorious ones could be just that.”
    A frown snagged my lips and creased my brow. “‘Notorious ones’?”
    “My term; not anyone else’s. At least I don’t think it is. With Misters Newland and Ford, you never know.”
    I blew out a harsh breath. “That’s just my point. There’s so much more to them than their looks…and even their reputations. So much more.”
    “I’m glad to know that,” Taylor confessed. “I mean, they are kind of legendary, huh?” She looked wistful as she said it, a look I was getting used to by now—at least across the faces of other women when my boyfriends’ names came up. And yeah, I’d started calling them my boyfriends, at least in private.
    Maybe I just needed to hang out with non-SGC people a little more. But who did that leave? My family? I’d take a huge pass on that option. Talking to anyone in my family about the real relationship with Drake and Fletch was a super bad idea—as in “don’t come for next Christmas” bad. The idea scared me so much, especially when remembering how Mama had looked when watching us hugging at Anya’s party, that I had to laugh from sheer nerves. Luckily, Mama hadn’t brought it up since—but I’d also been avoiding her phone calls since last weekend. When she finally did pin me down, I was certain she’d have tons of advice lined up, ready to line drive into my deep centerfield.
    “What’s so funny?” Taylor queried, vaguely echoing my giggle.
    “Nothing…except that I wonder what it would be like to explain my relationship to my mother.”
    She hissed as if severely burned. “Oooo. Yyyeah. That sounds more scary than funny, if I’m going by what you’ve said about your parents in the past.”
    “Funnier than that whole thought?” I countered. “Considering what I’m involved in as a ‘relationship’, yeah…”—I dropped hands from the air quotes I’d put around the big “ship” word—“ that has to be the most ridiculous part of all.”
    Taylor’s frown deepened. She cocked her head back, as if it were on rails between her shoulders. “Girl, what the hell are you talking about? Only half of your thoughts are coming out, aren’t they?”
    “Huh?”
    “Just as many are stuck in there.” She pointed to my head. I rushed out another breath, fully aware I couldn’t deny her accuracy.
    “Oh. Ugh.” I mumbled it as I took another drink. “They say that all the time.”
    Her scowl vanished—though she certainly didn’t morph into a hearts-and happiness fairy godmother either. She folded her arms then looked at me, as if to say explain .
    “Drake,” I explained. Wait. There was more to it than that, wasn’t there? “And Fletcher,” I quickly added—though that wasn’t the “more” part. “They always tell me to get out of my head. They won’t be happy until I’m exposed completely. Totally open.” I added in a fast mutter. “And vulnerable.”
    “And that’s what has your knickers in a twist?”
    I clenched my