Page 99 of Stuck with my Mechanic Daddies

I was still hiding things from them. Still holding onto secrets I wasn’t ready to spill. If I called them, they’d ask questions, demand answers I wasn’t prepared to give.

I needed someone who wouldn’t push. Someone who would just be there.

With shaking hands, I fumbled for my phone, barely able to focus on the screen as I scrolled.

Then I found her name.

Lila. The closest damn friend I’d ever had in my whole life.

I hesitated for half a second before pressing the call button.

It rang twice.

“Aurora?” Her voice was bright, a little breathless, like I’d caught her in the middle of something. “Hey, what's up?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. A thick lump lodged itself in my throat, and suddenly, I was struggling to breathe all over again.

“Aurora?” Lila’s voice sharpened, shifting from casual to concerned in an instant. “What's wrong?”

I sucked in a shuddering breath.

“Can you…” My voice cracked, and I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to get the words out. “Can you come to Page Turners?”

“I’m on my way.”

No hesitation. No questions. Just that simple promise.

And for the first time since I’d walked into this nightmare, I didn’t feel like I was drowning completely alone.

Lila arrived in record time.

One second, I was curled up on the floor of Page Turners, heart pounding, hands still gripping that damn folder. The next, the door burst open, and Lila was there, eyes wide, scanning the store like she expected to find a murderer lurking in the stacks.

She spotted me and immediately dropped to her knees.

“Jesus, Aurora.” Her hands found my arms, firm but gentle. “What the hell happened?”

The question cracked something in me.

I’d spent so long trying to hold everything together, trying to convince myself I could handle it. That if I just kept my head down and pushed through, everything would sort itself out.

But now, with Lila here, her presence solid, steady… I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

A sob wrenched its way up my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head. “I don’t know where to start.”

She didn’t push, didn’t rush me. Just shifted to sit beside me, legs stretched out in front of her, one arm draped over my shoulders.

A quiet, grounding weight.

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Take your time.”

So I did.

I told her everything.

The legal battle over Page Turners, the fire, and then Hank Lawson showing up with his threats wrapped in legal documents. And how it was starting to feel easier to just snap up my boss’s offer.

By the time I finished, I was drained.

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