Page 116 of All's Well that Friends Well

“My list was successful?”

“I guess so.” I pause, trying to remember all the things she wrote. “Just—get rid of the last part. The part about moving on to someone else if you and I don’t work.” Clearing mythroat, I add, “We work just fine.”

“It’s already gone,” she says, her voice serious. “Disappeared. Poof.”

I pull her into a hug of the kind I haven’t given in years—all-encompassing, curled around her, the only way I know how to hold a woman I’m falling in love with.

And that’s why I’m scared to fall, isn’t it? Because when I fall, I plummet.

“I’m yours,” I repeat. My heart still races in my chest from our kiss, my pulse pounding in my veins, so I inhale deeply before I speak again. “Only yours, Jules.”

JULIET

“Dearly beloved,”I say, looking around the kitchen.

It’s a little small for all the people crammed in here, but we’re making it work. India and Felix are hovering over by the fridge, their heads together as they whisper back and forth, while Aurora is propped against the counter, inspecting her nails. Next to her, Janis Joplin the fish swims in fishy little circles, completely unaware of the tension rising around us.

“Dearly beloved,” I say again. “We are gathered here today?—”

“This isn’t a wedding, Jules,” Aurora says, her blonde hair flicking as she looks up at me.

“Or a funeral. Yet,” Cyrus adds, glaring across the kitchen table at Luca, who stares back.

I clear my throat nervously, my gaze jumping back and forth between my brother and my boyfriend. Luca and I have officially been a couple for two weeks, and althoughhe’s seen Indy and Aurora before today, he hasn’t met Cyrus since the Kitchen Incident.

The two of them have their arms folded, expressions set in scowling frowns. I think the table might splinter under the weight of all that testosterone and self-importance.

“Right,” I say. “Okay. So. I would officially like to introduce Luca Slater”—I gesture at him—“as my boyfriend.”

No one says anything. No one even moves. So I scurry over to Luca’s side and tap his shoulder. “Introduce yourself,” I say. When he continues his stony silence, I roll my eyes. “Come on,” I say, poking him harder now. “You need to win these people over. They need to like you.”

Still nothing, and from over by the fridge, I hear Felix start to chant quietly. “Fight! Fight! Fight!” he says, but he breaks off with anoofas India elbows him in the ribs.

Slowly, looking pained, Luca turns his attention to me.Do I have to?his expression says.

“Yes, you have to,” I say. “And in return, they will also introduce themselves to you, and we will all forget about the Kitchen Incident. We will live in peaceful harmony.”

“Of course we will,” Poppy says warmly from where she’s standing behind Cyrus’s chair. She taps Cyrus’s shoulder the same way I was tapping Luca’s, nudging him to speak. “We’re thrilled for you both.”

But Cyrus doesn’t look thrilled. He finally unfolds his arms and leans forward, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t understand how this even happened,” he says to Luca.

“We became friends while I was working in his office, and then we decided to date,” I say before Luca can answer, because I’m scared of what he might say.

But it’s too late; Luca speaks anyway. “Juliet forcedherself on me,” he says to Cyrus. “She just kept trying until she wore me down.”

For all Luca’s grumbling about this meeting, he’s still wearing his nicest—and only—pair of jeans, and his casual button-up pulls across his chest and shoulders in a truly delicious way. There’s also a hint of humor in his voice, I notice, despite his words.

Cyrus just grunts and leans back, still eyeing Luca with distrust. “Fine. Introduce yourself.”

Luca sighs. “I’m Luca. I have a stable job?—”

“That youdidn’t tell her about?—”

“And a stable living situation?—”

“He bought a house!” I pipe up. “He’ll move out of Mom and Dad’s in a few weeks.”

Luca nods. “But mostly I just really like Juliet.”

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