Page 192 of Tangled Like Us

We come up to the landing, just as Jane’s door opens and she steps out, cautious. “Thatcher?” Her eyes widen, scared for her cousins.

I act fast. Clutching her waist, I pull Jane further out of the room. Behind my back, and Farrow goes straight to Luna and Sulli’s door. He kicks it open.

“Whoa,fuck,” Sulli curses from inside.

By her surprised tone, I can already tell this is a false alarm. But we need to check her room regardless.

Protocol:Jane can’t come in until it’s all-clear. Neither can Maximoff.

It’s hard to leave her. My chest knots. “Wait here until I call you,” I tell her strictly.She’s safe.

“I will—”

Our heads turn as Sulli suddenly fills the doorway, yanking earbuds out, drenched in sweat. “Uh, guys…is this about the fuckingbangbecause that was me. I’m so fucking sorry.” She wipes her forehead with her toned bicep. “I was doing deadlifts and dropped the bar too hard. Luna slept through the noise, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“It’s okay,” Maximoff says.

Jane lets out a deeper breath. “We’re just glad you’re safe.” Her gaze pins back to me, and our eyes lock. Thoughts and feelings tumble between us. But we’re quiet. Even with Maximoff and Farrow knowing our secret, Luna and Sulli are still in the dark. It’s a reminder that we still have to be careful. Can’t get too comfortable.

But she is right—at least everyone is safe.

Especially her.

41

JANE COBALT

I knewI’d be nervous when this day finally came. But I didn’t know I’d have a swarm of caterpillars crawling around my stomach. So naturally, I called in reinforcements.

“Oooh, I like this one.” Aunt Daisy playfully waves a cheetah print vest.

“Or this one.” Aunt Lily scoots out from the bottom of my closet with a tulle mint-green skirt.

And ladies and gentlemen, behind me is a sword, a cannon blast, a shoulder to cry on, a stroke of hope—my mom.

In a form-fitting black dress, long matte black nails, and dark rouge lipstick, Rose Calloway Cobalt stands pin-straight, her posture stiff and rigid. And cold. But she wields such deep love for me in her piercing yellow-green eyes.

I watch her through my vanity mirror. She curls my hair. Methodical and slow, but she snaps the curling iron at her sisters. “Don’t confuse her.”

It is all very confusing.

I’m about to meet Thatcher’sentirefamily. His mom, stepmom, cousins, uncles, and aunts. The only person missing in action will be his dad.

Pressure is a creature I know good and well, but I find myself caring about how his family perceives me, most of all.

I glance between the skirt and vest. “I like them both, really. They’d look perfectly un-matching together.” Which is what I love best.

“Wow, we’re like stylists,” Daisy says, giving Lily a silly grin and wagging her brows.

Lily takes a sip from a can of Diet Fizz. “Must be why I’m wearing…” She has to look down to remember what she’s dressed in today. “Leggings and…” She frowns as she inspects the Spider-Man T-shirt. “Uh, I think this is Lo’s? Everything gets mixed up in the wash.”

“So true.” Daisy plucks a cat-ear headband off my mirror and places it atop her head. Blonde hair chopped bluntly a little below her shoulders. She smiles at me, radiant like the sun.

My cheeks always hurt when I’m around all of them. But I’ve smiled far less today. Pressure keeps sinking my stomach.

My mom finishes my hair. “You’re done, gremlin.”

All three women turn to look at me as I stand and approach my closet door’s full-length mirror.