Page 38 of All’s Well that Friends Well (Lucky in Love #2)

JULIET

Friday passes with only glimpses of Luca. Even when I do see him, he’s usually on the phone or talking to someone on the work floor about whatever they discuss—Paperwork? Kayaks? Bikes? I don’t know.

And maybe it’s better that way. After our conversation about new boundaries for our relationship, I need to regroup and come up with a new strategy.

I also need to talk to my sisters. They can tell something is going on; they haven’t asked, but I see the glances. So, once we’ve all gotten home on Friday, I invite them into the living room. My hands are gross and damp from sweat, and my heart is stumbling drunkly in my chest.

It’s not a great feeling. I don’t mind telling them about Luca—I’m excited to, actually. But the other things I’ve been keeping to myself? Those have been locked inside me for so long, sealed behind closed lips. I don’t even know what I’m going to say. I’ll just be winging it .

I pace a bit as they come into the room, my hands clasped in front of me, my body full of nervous energy that demands an outlet. I could dance right now. I could bake. But I hold those impulses back. And when my sisters finally settle themselves on the couch, I speak.

“I’m ready to talk,” I say simply.

India slumps back on the sofa, rolling her eyes. “ Finally, ” she says, her red ponytail flopping to the side. “We’ve been dying, Jules.”

Aurora nods, looking serious, and I glance back and forth between them.

“Why haven’t you asked?” I say.

Aurora shrugs, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She’s in her favorite spot, tucked into the corner of the couch, and India is sprawled next to her, both of them in their comfortable clothes.

“Usually you tell us,” Aurora says. “Almost always, and right away. So we figured this time was different.” She eyes me. “It’s a guy, isn’t it?”

I can feel my cheeks heat as I stand in front of them, and India points at my face, her eyes widening.

“Look at her,” she says. She leans forward, peering more closely at me. “It’s totally a guy. She’s blushing. Is it Luca Slater?”

I clear my throat primly. “It is partly Luca Slater, yes.” I pause as my heart climbs into my throat, pounding wildly. “But there’s something else first I wanted to talk about.”

Because I’ve been struggling. It’s a lie to say otherwise, and it’s just as much a lie to pretend in front of my family. I always have ups and downs, everyone does, but the last week has been rough.

And honestly? I need them. I just need them to hug me and tell me they love me. More than that, even, I want them. And I think…

I really think I’m ready.

It’s still scary, though.

So I take a deep breath and focus my gaze not on India or Aurora but instead a spot right between their heads. Then I make myself speak, because I think I’ll feel better after I do.

“I got sick a few years ago.”

It’s better to dive right in rather than beating around the bush. And I can see the confusion on my sisters’ faces even though I’m not focusing directly on them—concern, too. But before they can ask any questions, I go on.

“In late high school and then when I was starting college. I was really stressed and anxious and sort of depressed, and—yeah.” I clear my throat, but it doesn’t seem to do anything, and my pulse is trying to jump out of my veins.

“I was doing dance and everything just sort of…” I shrug.

“Anyway, I developed an eating disorder.”

Silence, and I’ve never stared so hard at anything as I’m staring at the speck of couch my eyes are glued to.

“I didn’t really realize it was happening at first. It was gradual.

Little steps, you know?” Then I shrug. “Long story short,” I go on, “I ended up getting sick enough that we decided I should drop out and come live at home and get help. Me and Mom and Dad,” I clarify.

“I’ve recovered decently well, but I’m sort of struggling right now, and I wanted to tell you.

Because you’re my best friends,” I say simply.

There, I think with satisfaction. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

And it wasn’t, I realize slowly. It wasn’t bad at all.

But it seemed so scary before.

We’re still sitting in silence, which I don’t mind, because it allows me to take stock of my heart, my mind—allows me to check how I’m feeling about the step I’ve just taken.

But I also know I’m stalling, putting off the moment when I’ll need to look at Aurora and India and find their reactions. So, with another deep breath, I finally make myself look at my sisters.

I glance at India first, because I can better predict how she’ll react.

Her freckled skin has turned pale, her eyes wide, her expression stricken.

It’s what I expected, mostly. India isn’t someone to wear her heart on her sleeve.

She rarely expresses her emotions to their fullest extent, no matter how they might feel.

Aurora, on the other hand, is hot and cold. She might keep everything to herself, or she might explode. And you don’t always know what you’re going to get. I comfort myself with the reminder that no matter how she reacts, she’s not going to be mad at me.

So I let my eyes find her after another second—and my jaw drops.

Because there are tears—actual tears, as in multiple—running down her cheeks.

Aurora is crying.

I gape as I step closer to make sure I’m not imagining things, but no—she’s crying. Her mouth is clamped shut and her expression isn’t all screwed up, but those are definite tears.

India’s head whips toward Aurora when she sees me staring, and she startles at the sight too, once again blinking with shock. Then, as though in a trance, she pats around in her pockets, pulls out her phone, and snaps a photo of Aurora’s face.

“Send me that,” I breathe, to which she just nods .

We stare in silence at our big sister for one second, two seconds, until?—

“Stop it!” The words burst out of Aurora. She swipes her cheeks angrily and then holds her hands over her eyes. “Stop staring at me! It’s just crying. Everybody cries.”

“You never cry,” India says faintly.

“Of course I do. I cried when—” But she breaks off, and even though she’s still covering her eyes, her mouth twists into a frown—probably as she tries and fails to think of the last time she cried.

“See?” I say.

“Well, it’s sad!” Aurora says. She finally lets her hands drop to her lap, sniffling slightly. “It’s sad, Jules. That you were going through something like that alone.”

We all sober at this, and India nods.

“You’re doing okay now?”

I shrug. “I’m functional. My mental health has just been a little iffy, which makes it hard.” My eyes burn as I watch another tear trickle down Aurora’s cheek. “So I’ve been struggling with the mindset a bit.”

We’re quiet for a second, and then India says, “So this is why you dropped out at the community college?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah. I guess I could have gone back after I recovered, but I didn’t really want to. I liked teaching dance too much.”

She hums, and Aurora straightens up, looking more like herself now. “So…how do you feel about talking about it?” she says. “Should we not ask how you’re doing? Do you want us to check in?”

My mouth opens and then closes again as this question filters through my mind. I didn’t expect them to ask this.

“I—” I begin as my burning eyes are joined by a lump in my throat. “I don’t mind talking about it if I need to, but it’s not my favorite thing to discuss. I just prefer…normal.”

The two of them nod.

“Got it,” Aurora says briskly. “We’ll discuss it on your terms only unless there’s a need to do otherwise. I do have one question, though.”

I raise my brows, waiting, and I’m surprised to see her eyes narrowing.

“You’re telling us this before Cyrus, right?”

I clear my throat and clasp my hands behind my back. “I don’t think we need to discuss?—”

“You told him first?” Aurora cuts in, and next to her, India looks outraged.

“He’s more emotionally constipated than Aurora!” India says, ignoring the glare Aurora shoots her. She swings her feet to the floor and straightens up. “How come he was first?”

“It just happened that way,” I say soothingly as something light and bubbly rises in my chest. Laughter, joy, love.

“It wasn’t something I planned. He was home and you guys weren’t.

You know I love you all dearly. Now ,” I say loudly, because they’re both opening their mouths to protest again, “do you want to hear about the man in my life or not?”

And I feel like I’ve been pumped full of helium, like any second someone will tie a string to my foot and I’ll float to the ceiling—a big Juliet-shaped balloon, lighter than air.

It’s a giddy sensation, one that tugs a smile to my lips even as I stand there, waiting for my sisters to stop berating me and glaring at me.

Luckily my question catches their attention; they both look at me expectantly, if not grudgingly.

“Luca Slater,” I say as that giddy feeling still bubbles inside. “I like him. ”

Such a simple admission—to my sisters, no less—but it feels different, somehow. I’ve never cared this much what they think about the guys in my life.

“Jules,” Aurora groans, slumping back into the couch cushion. “ Luca Slater? ”

“Be nice,” I say with a little frown as a few of my giddy bubbles pop, bringing me back down to earth.

But as India’s eyes dart over my expression, she nudges Aurora, who freezes. Aurora straightens up, her features going from disapproving to sharp, interested.

“Oh,” she says after a second as the two of them look at me.

“You like him,” India says.

“A lot,” Aurora adds. She quirks her brows at me. “Don’t you?”

I press my hands to my cheeks, trying to cool them. “Yes. I really, really like him,” I say in a small voice.

And for a second, they just blink at me. Then a smile splits over India’s face, wide and bright.

“Jules,” she says, tossing a pillow at me. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

I press my cheeks harder, trying to hide my own smile. “It’s all been very quick, and he’s a work in progress.”

“Has anything happened?” India says, and Aurora nods. A little smile has tilted over her lips too, small but genuine and warm.

“We may have kissed,” I admit. “But—but!” I say quickly before they can react, “It’s complicated.”

India nods, her eyes wide, as does Aurora.

“He’s straight-up your boss,” she says briskly. “So what are you going to do? ”

I sigh and slump over to the couch, settling next to India. “I don’t even know,” I say.

“I think you need to tell us more about him,” Aurora says. “If this is the man you’re going to fall for, we need to make sure he’s worthy of you.”

I smile a little at this. “It’s true he’s grumpy and a little abrasive, but…

” I trail off. “He’s kind. He has a good heart.

” I pause. “The bag of stuff he gave me when he said he needed closet space—it was just an excuse. I didn’t tell you,” I add apologetically when they look at me with confused expressions.

“But he put work clothes from our closets in there. Stuff I could wear to work after he saw my pink tweed. I think he didn’t know if I had other clothes, and he realized I probably needed some. ”

I watch them digest this piece of information, their expressions clearing as they both nod slowly.

“I can admit,” Aurora says grudgingly, “that that does boost him a little in my book.”

“He tries to take care of me without looking like he’s taking care of me. Like he wants to do it secretly,” I say. “And he has this face he makes when he wants to laugh but he’s trying to be serious—and he’s so fun to tease, and he—he?—”

Finally I break off, because I don’t know how to explain it. So I shrug. “I just really like him.” I pause for a second and then add, “He sees me. Me —the real me. Past the pink and the blonde—and I love those things about myself, they make me happy, but they’re not all there is to me.”

“Of course they aren’t,” Aurora says, her voice soft.

“And he doesn’t think I’m dumb.”

“He’d better not,” India says hotly, while Aurora says, “Yeah—because you aren’t . ”

I swallow as my eyes begin to burn, seeing them look like they’re ready to go to war in my defense.

“But I sort of feel like I am, you know?” I can’t quite look at them when I say this. “And I know I’m intelligent in different ways. But it still really sucks to feel—to feel stupid. To feel like there’s not a place for me in modern grown-up society.”

They must be able to tell that I’m not looking for automatic assurances, because neither of them say anything, and I’m grateful.

“Anyway,” I go on, exhaling slowly and playing absently with the ends of my hair. “He says we’re not going to kiss again since I’m going to be his assistant.”

“So…are you giving up?” India says, sounding skeptical.

A little smile flits over my lips. “No,” I say.

“I’m not going to be his assistant forever.

And even if I were…” I shrug. “I would figure something out. He’s the first man I’ve ever wanted to have a future with, and I think he’s developing feelings for me.

I can tell. So I may have to adjust course a little or approach things differently, but…

” I shake my head. “No. I promised I would take my cues from him. But as long as he’s okay with it, I’m going to keep trying. ”

“And what will that look like?” Aurora says. She almost seems scared to hear the answer.

I think about it for a second before deciding. “He said we’re not going to kiss again, so we won’t. And I’ll try not to be so pushy. But …I could show him what he’s missing,” I say, and my eyes jump to India as an idea begins to form. “In fact…”

“That look scares me,” India says.

“Mm-hmm,” Aurora says, her brow furrowing.

I just smile. “Could I borrow your boyfriend?”