Page 96 of Resisting You
And they’d all just heard what I’d said to Lydia.
Every single one of them.
And none of them looked mad. Not anymore.
They looked ready.
Like they’d fight with me. Like they were already prepared for battle.
My throat tightened.
I’d spent the last twelve hours feeling alone. Like I had to figure this out on my own because I was the one who messed everything up. I was the one who let it fall apart.
But maybe I didn’t have to fix it alone like I’d had to do every other time up until now.
Maybe I didn’t just have one person in my corner; a person I paid to be there and who I didn’t truly trust.
I had a fleet.
A family.
And suddenly, I had an idea.
It hit fast—half-formed and kind of ridiculous—but it made my pulse race and my chest crack open all at once. It was exactly the kind of gesture Rosa wouldn’t expect. Not loud. Not public. But intimate. Specific. Meaningful.
Something only I could do for her.
Something that said:I see you. I know you. And I’m not going anywhere.
I turned to Lydia. “I need your help.”
She grinned. “Of course.”
Then I looked at the rest of them.
Callie raised an eyebrow. “Whatever it is, please don’t make me keep untangling these damn fairy lights”
Ronnie rolled her eyes and took the lights from Callie. “Give them to me.”
“And if there’s glitter? I’m out.” Steve said, voice gruff. But then a smile cracked through his gruff veneer. “But if it involves tools or mild destruction, I’m in.”
Lex nodded. “Same here. Just give me a list.”
Even my mom—tiny but terrifying—stepped forward and said, “Tell us what to do, honey.”
I looked around at the people who’d driven me nuts my entire life. The people who knew every scar, every mistake, every version of me I didn’t always like.
And I knew.
Rosa didn’t need a prince or a press release.
She needed me. And a vision of what our life could be together.
So I grabbed the nearest pen and flipped Lex’s clipboard to the back of the last page.
“Okay,” I said. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
Chapter 35
