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I don’t answer, but I guess I didn’t lock the door because she comes inside and closes it behind her. We lock eyes in the mirror, and I’m not sure what she sees in my face, but she steps up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing her cheek to my back.

For a moment, I’m stiff, waiting for her to ask what’s wrong or try to make me talk about it.

She doesn’t. She just holds me. And holds me.

“I …”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Naomi says after a moment. “Not until you’re ready. And only if you want to. But I’m here either way.”

This is more comforting than anything else she could say.

Unless … she told me she loved me. Because I’ve been waiting for her to say it. Waiting for her to reassure me she feels the same. Maybe her actions are already telling me, already showing me.

But now, with the sour feeling swirling in my gut, my head still pounding, and the memories of my family invading my thoughts, I could really just use the words.

She doesn’t say them.

It’s not about her, I remind myself, relishing in the warmth of her body against my back.I don’t need her words.

What I do probably need is to deal with my hurt over my family or it will just keep festering under there, popping up at the most inopportune moments.Avoiding them won’t fix anything, Mike said tonight, an echo of an exact conversation we had years ago.

And he’s right.

But now that it’s been years of doing exactly that, I’m not sure how to go about fixing any of it. Or fixing myself.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and Naomi’s arms tighten around me. I let go of the sink and turn so I can wrap my arms around her in a real hug.

“Please don’t apologize. I just want you to be okay. Are you okay?”

“Not really,” I admit. “But I’ll work on it.”

CHAPTER21

FHL

Parker:HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE NEW AND IMPROVED GROUP CHAT!!!

Amelia:Hi, y’all.

Bailey:Hey!!!!

Evie:Hi! And Juno says hi.

Gracie:Give that baby a kiss from me, please.

Bailey:Me too!

Evie:Done.

Summer:Parker—you know this is the same group chat, right?

Parker:Okay, it’s not NEW.

Greyson:So what’s the improvement?

Amelia:IS there an improvement?

Parker:I renamed it! I finally came up with a name.