Page 67 of Call You Mine
Ava opens her mouth to explain, but I answer, not wanting her to feel like she’s taking the brunt of this. “It’s definitely quick and not exactly what we had planned, but it makes the most sense for us and for our other news.”
“There’s more?” Emerson complains, dramatically leaning back against the couch, throwing her tattooed forearm over her eyes.
My lips tip as I look at Georgie as she laughs at Emerson’s antics. The way the warm sound curls in the air has me grinning like a crazy person, but I don’t even care.
She needs to laugh more often.
I feel Ava’s body shake, her quiet laughter barely audible.
She needs to laugh more often, too.
“I’m with Em. What more could there possibly be?” Rumi asks, looking to Jack, who doesn’t say anything, barely showing any surprise at the news—nothing more than a slight raise of the brows.
“Can I tell them, George?” Ava asks her sister, everyone’s eyes volleying between the two of them.
As Georgie’s laughter fades, a soft smile remains on her face as she nods.
Ava exhales, sitting up a little straighter until I don’t feel her against me anymore. I miss the contact instantly, but she leans back almost immediately, her body molding to mine as if it never left.
I don’t know if she does it on purpose.
Either way, I’m happy she’s leaning on me in more ways than one.
“I’ve decided to adopt Georgie,” she announces, her voice clear and strong—just like her decision to do this, never a doubt in her mind.
CHAPTER 21
AVA
Once the wordsleave my lips, the weight of what I’m doing really begins to settle.
I’m used to the weight of people depending on me. Sometimes it feels like I was born with it already pressing against my ribs, like there’s never been a version of me that didn’t exist to hold something—or someone—together.
Even at the expense of holding on to myself.
As far back as I can remember, I was responsible for someone. If my mom was unraveling, I steadied her. If Phoebe or Jasmine needed something, I found a way to give it to them.
I learned how to read a room before I learned how to relax in one. I learned it was my job to stay, fix, and smooth things over. That I was meant to go without.
My needs were always negotiable.
Theirs never were.
“That’shuge,” Rumi says, a hand coming to her mouth. “I didn’t realize—” she pauses, looking at Georgie and then back at me. “I’m so happy for you. For both of you. Oh my god!” My best friend throws her arms around me, pulling me against her, and it feels good to be held.
“Me too!” my other best friend shrieks. Emerson standsup on the couch, jumping over her brother as she hands him her beer and throws her arms around Rumi and me. Anderson and Jack are on either side of our group hug, probably looking at us like we’re crazy.
My entire body relaxing into my two best friends, and it means everything to have their support with this.
It’s something I didn’t realize I needed.
“You guys are so weird,” Georgie laughs from the other end of the couch.
“Kid, you better zip it and get your ass over here,” Emerson says, pointing in Georgie’s direction without looking at her. She opens her arm, and I lift my head from Rumi’s shoulder to see Georgie roll her eyes. She stands up with a scoff, but her smile is bright as she walks over to us, letting Emerson wrap her arm around her slender shoulders and pull her in. I wrap my open arm around my little sister, pulling her into my lap, my heart doubling in size.
“Wait, so you’re getting married for the adoption?” Rumi says as our hold loosens and the four of us lean back to see each other. Georgie and Emerson end up cross-legged on the ground, and Rumi and I join them, the four of us ending up in a circle on the carpet, like friends at a sleepover, sharing secrets. “Is that what Anderson meant?”
This is what I’ve been preparing for and dreading at the same time—lying, convincing the people who mean the most to me that my fake marriage is real.
