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What the Navarros had was... a lot. I met Tempest’s older sisters, Catalina and Rosalind, first. If I didn’t have three very intense older brothers and an even more intense little sister of my own, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against them.

“So, Flynn, tell us about your football prospects.” Catalina, Tempest’s eldest sister, directed the conversation as we were seated around one of the enormous tables in the backyard. Everything about her was polished and precise, from her immaculate white suit to her perfectly articulated questions.

I answered politely, watching Tempest from the corner of my eye. She physically shrunk, hunching her shoulders and slumping down when her sisters took center stage, and her earlier animation faded.

“Tempest never brings boys home,” Ophelia said, coming over and ladling more food onto my plate. “Especially not football players. ”

“This is why,” Tempest muttered, but only I seemed to hear her.

“Perhaps you’re just scaring them off with the way you dress,” Catalina chimed in. “All those baggy sweaters and clunky shoes. Please come to boutique and let me style you.”

I noticed Tempest’s grip tighten around her fork.

“I think she looks perfect exactly how she is,” I said firmly, meeting Catalina’s eyes.

A surprised silence fell over the table.

“Well, of course,” Catalina recovered smoothly. “We all just think she could enhance her natural beauty with a little effort. Like Ophelia with her cooking, or how Freddie has her Olympic prospects, and Rosalind with her deviously strategic mind. That one is going to be president someday.”

Tío Pedro interjected, winking at Tempest. “The real question is whether Flynn here has read anything more challenging than a playbook.”

Tempest’s mouth quirked up slightly at that. She liked Uncle Pedro. I did too. More than her sisters. I knew family ribbing, and this judgment of Tempest wasn’t that.

I turned to address him directly, “Tempest and I met in Shakespeare class. She’s been tutoring me, though to be honest, I never needed it. I just like hearing her talk about books.”

“A football player who reads Shakespeare?” Rosalind peered at me, looking skeptical. “I find that hard to believe.”

“‘The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool,’” I quoted with a slight smile. “ As You Like It , Act 5.” Everything Jules had ever done to prepare me to deal with sisters was coming in handy today.

Tempest’s head snapped up, her eyes wide. She glanced around, clearly checking how everyone else reacted to my challenge.

God dammit. She definitely wasn’t used to anyone standing up for her and it had me wanting to throw her over my shoulder and haul her straight out of this party. Family were supposed to be the ones that supported you, not tore you down.

“‘We know what we are, but know not what we may be,’” Tío Pedro responded, raising his glass to me.

“ Hamlet ,” I acknowledged with a nod. Okay, she had one person on her side. I suspected her abuela was too, but she was holding court at another table. We should have sat with her.

“Well,” Rosalind’s surprised timbre said it all. “It seems our Tempest has found someone who speaks her quirky little language.”

I turned back to Tempest, ready to ask if she was ready to go. I didn’t know where, but I’d had enough of this kind of celebration.

“If only she’d find someone who could help her go on a diet,” a slightly older woman, probably one her aunts, stage-whispered from down the table. “That dress is at least a size too small.”

Tempest’s face flushed, her eyes dropping to her plate.

Something incredibly hot and protective surged through me.

“Actually,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I think Tempest’s body is both perfect and sexy as hell.” I turned to look directly at her. “I’m hot for her because of her curves, not despite them.”

The table fell silent again, but this time Tempest looked up, her eyes meeting mine with a mixture of surprise and gratitude that made my chest tight.

“Bien dicho,” Abuela Estrella declared from the other table, her eyes homed in on me. “I knew I liked you, young man. More of my family needs to embrace that energy.”

At least half the table had the sense to look abashed by their matriarch’s chastisement.

Ophelia stood and grabbed one of the plates stacked with grilled meats. “Who wants more food?”

The conversation shifted back to the party, everyone avoiding eye contact with me and Tempest. She leaned closer to me.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You didn’t have to say that.”

“I meant every word,” I told her quietly.

Something flashed in her eyes, vulnerability, maybe, before she looked away. “They’re just used to me being the odd one out. I always have been.”

“Their loss,” I said simply. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re the most interesting person here. Except maybe AbuelaNovela. Where did she get that outfit?”

Her smile then was small but real, and I realized I’d do just about anything to see it again.

“Why don’t you go check on Burrito while I help clear the dishes.” She got up, taking my plate and nodding toward the backyard where Burrito Petito was holding court in his new enclosure.

“I can do dishes.”

She scrunched up her face and shook her head. “And be subjected to more of my family? I don’t think so.”

Tío Pedro appeared beside me and jerked his head, indicating for me to follow him. I went, but was going to keep my eye on Tempest.

“She’s different with you,” he said without preamble.

“Different how?”

“More herself.” He studied me thoughtfully.

“Tempest has spent her whole life trying to fit into spaces that weren’t built for her.

Driven enough for her mother, academic enough for her father, fashionable enough for Catalina, strategic enough for Rosalind, social enough for Ophelia, and athletic enough for Freddie.

” He shook his head. “It’s exhausting being everyone’s afterthought. ”

The way Tempest had shrunk under her family’s attention yet bloomed under Abuela’s and Pedro’s spoke volumes. “She’s not an afterthought to me.”

“I can see that.” His eyes were kind but assessing. “She has gifts none of them understand. Things she keeps hidden because they’ve never been valued.”

“Her writing?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Pedro’s eyebrows rose. “She told you about that?”

“No. But I’ve noticed.” And damn if Jules hadn’t been right. “She’s talented, isn’t she?”

“Extraordinarily.” Pride colored his voice. “But don’t tell her I mentioned anything. She thinks it’s our secret, though I am sure AbuelaNovela knows too. Mamá knows everything.”

“I won’t say a word,” I promised, looking back toward the house where I could see Tempest helping clear the table, carefully maintaining that good girl persona she kept wearing like a mask. “I’d love if she’d let me in.”

Pedro clapped me on the shoulder. “Be that safe space for her like you were today, and she just might.”

The party was winding down when I finally caught Tempest alone on the back porch, away from the chaos of her family. Burrito Petito had been settled for the night, and most of the relatives had dispersed to various parts of the house.

“Sorry about all that at dinner,” she said, leaning against the railing. “My family can be a lot.”

I put myself between her and the house, blocking anyone else’s view of us. Then I put my hands on the railing on either side of her, and boxed out the rest of the world.

She looked up at me, a flush spreading across her cheeks. “Flynn, I’m not—” she started, then stopped, biting her lip. “I’m not good at this. I’m not used to letting anyone see...me.”

I focused on her, so she knew she had all of my attention. “I very much want to see all of you, Tempest.”

Her eyebrows rose questioningly, definitely doubting everything I said. Probably everything I’d ever said. My girl wasn’t just shy, or stand-offish. She had some deep wounds and it was going to take more than charm to win her over .

I had my work cut out for me. And just like I’d told her Tio Pedro, I was up for it.

Because despite all the rules and my determination not to catch feelings, I was falling in love with Tempest Navarro. Right here, right now, I wanted her to know that. But she never believed anything I said. So instead, I showed her.

I lowered my head and brushed a soft kiss over her lips. “Tell me to stop if you don’t want this, Tempest.”

Her breath stuttered, but she whispered, “Don’t stop.”