I don’t pay attention to anything else going on around me. I know that everyone is standing now, except Chase, who just sits there with his back to the wall. “I love Alex,” I say again, and every single time I say it, the pressure in my chest gets lighter and lighter.
“We all love Alex,” my uncle Matthew says, laughing awkwardly.
“I don’t mean like that.” My eyes go to Michael, who is sitting with his mouth open. “I mean, I am in love with her.” I wait for the words to sink in with everyone. “I want to be with her.” I look into his eyes. “And only her.”
Max takes a step forward, making everyone spring into action. Matthew stands in front of me, putting a hand on his chest. “Relax,” he says.
“Relax?” he roars, pushing Matthew’s hand away from him. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“I am not.” I don’t even wait for anyone else to speak. “I love her with everything.”
“Don’t you fucking say it.” Max points at me. “Don’t you fucking say that.”
“Max,” my grandfather says, walking in the middle of us and moving Matthew to the side. “We need to take a step back for a second and listen to him.”
“My sister,” Michael says, and Chase is the only one who laughs. “My sister.”
“I know this is a shock to all of you.” I start now. “And I can’t even explain or tell you when it happened.”
“She’s your cousin,” Cooper states. “I mean, not blood-wise.”
“You are not going to even think of doing anything with what you just said,” Max says. “I forbid it.”
“Dad,” Michael says.
“No, are you crazy?” Max yells, his whole body shaking, and I think that maybe I should have told him this when it was just the two of us. “Are all of you insane to even entertain this?”
“Max,” my father says. “This is not easy for anyone to hear.” He shakes his head.
“Do you know how ridiculous you all sound?” Max says as he runs his hands through his hair. “What do you think the press is going to say?” He shakes his head. “They are going to destroy her. They are going to spin this as sinister as they can and guess what? They are not wrong.” He grabs his phone and his keys. “This shit doesn’t leave this room,” he hisses out. “You.” He points at me. “You don’t go near her, do you hear me?” He doesn’t wait for me to say anything before he storms out of the room.
“Well, that went a lot better than I thought it was going to go,” Matthew says, shaking his head and slapping my shoulder. “I hate to be on Max’s side, but have you thought about any of this?”
“It’s the only thing I’ve thought about,” I confess, the tears starting to burn my eyes. “You think it was easy to say any of this? You all took me into your family. You gave me a family, and …” I shake my head.
“We are your family,” my grandfather says, and Matthew looks at him. “Unconventional.”
“Is that what we are calling ourselves?” Cooper looks at me. “But can I just ask a question?” He lifts his hand. “Alex Alex.” He sits now that everything seems to calm down. “The same Alex who was going to pierce your belly button two summers ago while you slept?”
I laugh at him and close my eyes. “Seriously,” Michael says. “Like my sister?”
“I know,” I reply, running my hands through my hair. “And I can’t even explain it, but when she moved here, it’s like a light went off in my head.”
“Was it a flashing white light?” Chase asks me. “Because that could mean a stroke.”
“You’re such an idiot,” Cooper says. We all laugh, and just like that, we move on to something else.
“I’m not a professional in all this,” Matthew says when he comes close to me, and his voice goes low. “But I’d give Alex a heads-up because if it was me and that was my daughter.” He looks at Wilson, who just shakes his head. “I’d be putting her over my shoulder like Donkey Kong.”
Chapter 24
Alex
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Julia asks me as she takes a folder out of her purse that she brought over. The stack of white papers is held together with a paper clip. I rushed home when she called me and told me she had time to go over the whole application process. I haven’t even had the chance to talk to anyone about it, and I know that I’m going to have to talk to Dylan. I’m just hoping he doesn’t try to talk me out of it.
I nod my head. “I’m sure,” I confirm, excited and nervous all at the same time. She turns the papers towards me so I can look them over.