Page 85 of Fight For Me

“I loved being around the whole Ransome clan,” I tell him. “But I always liked it when it was just the four of us, too. I needed that time to decompress, you know? Everything with the Ransomes was always loud and chaotic—which was fun. But I’m not sure I could have lived like that all the time.”

“It’s weird,” he says. “I sometimes forget what it was like to have a small family. Once my mom and dad got married, I was always surrounded by other people. I went from living with just my grandparents to having this big huge family.”

I shift in my seat, bringing my leg up and turning to face him full on. “Okay, tell me one thing you really liked about living with a big family.”

His mouth twitches. “You say that a lot, you know.”

“What?”

“Tell me one thing.I think it’s your little trick to get me talking. Convince me that I only have to share a little and then keep pumping me for information.” He brings our joined hands to his mouth and kisses my knuckles, showing me he’s just teasing. “Okay, one good thing about a big family. You’re never lonely unless you want to be.”

I laugh, thinking about the family lunches at one of the Ransome houses. When all the kids, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are together, it’s nearly thirty people. “Yeah, loneliness seems pretty unlikely.”

I chew on my lip, thinking about my own experiences with his siblings and younger cousins. The Ransome brothers have a tendency to be competitive with each other. When one family got pregnant, it was likely that at least one more would be close behind. Because of their constant efforts to one up each other, the kids all tended to be born in groups. I’m in the older group with Everly, Will, Rose, and River. Then there’s the middle teens, and finally, the Littles, who were all born within just months of each other. That means that all of the kids have at least one sibling or cousin close in age. It was like having built in playmates growing up, and I honestly had a hard time imagining childhood being any other way.

But it would have been different for Wyatt.

“Did you ever feel left out?” I ask. “Because you were older?”

He grins. “See? Totally pumping me for more information.”

I pinch the skin between his thumb and forefinger. “Answer the question, buddy.”

His expression turns thoughtful. “I don’t think I felt left out at the time. I was too busy with music and school. Sometimes I get a little jealous now, seeing how close you all are.”

That makes my heart ache a little. I don’t like to think of him feeling left out. And I probably hadn’t helped that much, making him feel like he had to stay away for the last few years.

“At the time, though?” he continues. “Honestly, it was mostly pretty cool. Because I was older, my experience was different with each of my siblings. With Will, I was still a kid and I was just excited about having someone else to play with, someone to teach shit to, you know? I was a teenager when Silas was born, and that was amazing in a different way. That kid thought I was the coolest thing to ever walk the face of the earth.” He chuckles softly.

“He always was delusional.”

It’s his turn to pinch my hand, but he does it much more gently than I did, and immediately runs the pad of his thumb over the spot. Such a softie. “What about CeCe?” I ask. “You were eighteen?”

“Nineteen. CeCe was…” he trails off, a soft smile on his face. “I think by then I was starting to be old enough to get it, you know? That life is like, this magical, special thing. When you’re a kid you just take it all for granted. But I’ll never forget the day CeCe was born. I was home from college for a school break and I was so hoping she’d be born before I had to go back but it wasn’t looking good. My mom went into labor literally on the way to the airport, so of course I skipped my flight and went to the hospital with them.”

He shakes his head, expression almost awed now. “They put this scrawny little screaming thing in my arms and I just remember thinking how crazy it was that she was going to be a complete person, you know? She was going to grow up and have this whole life that we knew nothing about yet. She was a stranger, but she was going to be a part of my family. It was the first time I really spent any time thinking about what life actually means.”

He shakes his head and looks over at me. “Too heavy for four in the morning?”

I laugh, hoping he doesn’t notice when I wipe my wet eyes. I could listen to him talk like that forever. I love that Wyatt understands what’s important, that he isn’t afraid to talk about his feelings. My old boyfriends, my old relationships, had all been surface level. Granted, they’d been younger. But I can’t remember ever having this kind of connection with anyone. Every time Wyatt talks, I just want to hear more.

“Not too heavy at all.”

My stomach rumbles and I glance at the clock, surprised to see we’ve been driving for more than an hour.

“Let’s find a twenty-four-hour fast food place,” he says, handing me my phone from the center console. “We still have a way to go, but we’re going to need some energy for what I have planned.”

My breakfast sandwich is greasy and too salty but I’m pretty sure nothing has ever tasted better. Not when I’m enclosed in this perfect little world with Wyatt and George here in the car, driving through the dark night to some adventure. I still have no idea where we’re going, but I know if I’m going with him, I’m happy.

Wyatt

We’re about fifteen minutes out when Alex clues in. She grabs my arm across the console and gasps. “Santa Barbara? Are you taking me to the beach house?”

“That’s the plan. I know you haven’t had a chance to surf in a while.”

“Wyatt!” she bounces on her seat, her excitement making my chest warm. I love making this woman happy. “I haven’t been here in years!”

The beach house in Santa Barbara is owned by the record label. It’s a place where they can host investors or important industry people, get them out of LA and show them a good time. They also bring artists there for song writing sessions. When it’s not being used for official Six Man Band Records business, the family uses it as a nearby get-away. When I talked to my dad a few days ago, he’d mentioned it was empty for the week, and that Will and I should head up to surf. I’d given him a vague response, already imagining bringing Alex up instead. When I heard her banging around her room tonight, I jumped at the opportunity.