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And yet, once I let the instinct fade, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying. That was the hard part. I had to ride out the initial instinct to run from it.

“I think… I love him,” I admitted, the words barely audible. I wasn’t saying them for her anyway. It was more for me.

“No, you love him,” she corrected. “You wouldn’t come out for any other reason than there’s someone to come out for.”

I didn’t argue because I couldn’t. There wasn’t a damn thing to argue anyway, so I just shrugged.

“Oh, Rhodes,” Sariah said. The softness in her voice made my chest tighten as every ounce of humor vanished.

For a long moment, she just stared at me. It was the kind of look that made me uncomfortable, as if she was dissecting every little part of our conversation. I found myself waiting for whatever commentary came to pass.

Instead, she wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed tight. I hugged her back without hesitation, resting my cheek against the top of her head.

“That’s huge,” she whispered against my chest.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“And fucking terrifying,” she continued, pulling a breath of laughter from me, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “You know you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, right? Especially if you’re not ready.”

“I know.” And I did. I didn’t have a clue what the fallout of this would look like, but I also knew that a life with Theo was worth it. “I want to.”

Sariah pulled back just enough to look up at me.

“Okay,” she replied. Her expression held no warning or reminder of everything that could go wrong. She knew my family—she knew my father—which meant she knew exactly what those two words could cost me. “Whatever happens after you tell them, you call me.”

I nodded.

“I mean it, Rhodes. Good, bad, fucking catastrophic… you call me,” Sariah said, and I nodded once more, my throat tight with emotion. “I’m happy for you, and I’m really proud of you, Rho.”

The surge of emotions at her words nearly broke me. I dragged her in for another tight hug, not trusting myself to respond. I had no idea what was waiting for me when I finally told my family, but I knew why. My why was probably passed out in bed with his shoes still on, and he was worth it.

CHAPTER 60

Rhodes

There was something bittersweet about watching my best friend get married. Not because I was losing her. May could drag Sariah halfway across the world, and I knew she’d still find a way to invade my house whenever she felt like it. Their marriage wouldn’t change fourteen years of friendship.

It was everything else that came before this moment that unexpectedly got to me. I remembered the girl I’d met all those years ago, angry at the world and determined to make sure everyone around her knew it. She wore that anger and resentment like armor. I hadn’t been much better. I was quieter about my anger and chose different outlets, but it had been there. We were two people who had learned early that caring about someone created the opportunity for them to hurt you.

Maybe that’s why we lasted. Neither of us had demanded more than the other knew how to give. We didn’t ask questions when the other wasn’t ready to answer them. We sat together when talking felt impossible. We pushed each other when we needed it. Somewhere between shitty apartments, terrible decisions, screaming matches, late-night snack runs, and thousands of ordinary days, we’d taught each other that loving someone didn’t automatically mean they’d hurt you.

It’d taken us fourteen fucking years, but here we were with Sariah standing in front of May, promising forever.

I barely heard whatever was being said around them. My attention remained on Sariah’s face and the lack of fear I saw there. She wasn’t bracing for something to go wrong. She was just happy. Somewhere along the way, the woman who had once treated vulnerability like a mortal threat had learned how to choose someone forever.

My throat tightened. Fuck, I was proud of her.

But watching her made something else weasel its way through my chest—a wave of emotion tied to the realization that fourteen years ago, I would’ve laughed if someone told me this was where we’d end up. I never would’ve believed that she would get married or I would be dating someone.

And Sariah wasn’t the only one who’d changed. I wasn’t standing where she was yet. I still had walls to dismantle and fears to conquer. But I wasn’t a lost cause either. I was about to make choices that would fundamentally change my relationship with my family—choices that would cost me more than I probably realized.

That felt like progress.

I inhaled slowly and forced myself out of my head, turning my attention back to the ceremony just as their officiant reached the part about anyone having a reason to object. Well, that seemed like a good opportunity to slowly raise my hand and be the nuisance they expected.

Sariah shifted just enough to glare at me over her shoulder before I managed to make it more than a few inches. That look promised everything she’d do to me if I kept going.

I froze mid-motion, my lips pressed together as I fought the urge to grin. Her eyes narrowed further, silently threatening violence if I dared to raise my hand any further.