"And you stood up to her parents, then you took her outside so you and Teagan could comfort her."
"What's your point, Jason?"
"Add compassionate to the list,tesoro. You have such a big heart, and you don't even realize it."
Even though she didn't really agree, she added compassionate. And underneath it, in large, flowing script, she added Jason's name.
"Going to explain this?" He tapped his name on the pad.
"I like the way you see me. And I want to be the person you see in me."
"You already are,tesoro.Hopefully, you'll see it yourself, someday soon."
* * *
Once she'd finishedwith the list, Jason led her upstairs and put her to bed. But she couldn't sleep. She lay in bed, alternating between tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling for nearly an hour. Just when she'd decided to go downstairs and make some tea, the door to her bedroom creaked open and someone slipped inside.
"Fancy? Are you asleep?" a familiar voice whispered.
"Ro? What are you doing?" she whispered back.
"I couldn't sleep. I'm worried about you." Ro tiptoed across the room and slipped under the covers beside Evie.
"I'm fine. I think I'm just wound up from tonight. I can't sleep, either."
The door to the bedroom opened again, and another slender figure slipped inside. "Ro? Evie?"
"In bed," Evie said, not even bothering to sigh. "Come join the party."
Teagan slipped under the covers on the other side of Evie. "You okay? I feel like something's wrong."
"It's our telepathic connection," Ro declared somberly.
"I'm fine," Evie said before Teagan could launch into one of her lectures about how such a connection didn't exist. "I'm not the one with a freshly paddled backside," she teased, hoping to distract them from interrogating her.
"Don't remind me." Ro shifted so her head was resting on Evie's chest. "It was awful. I haven't seen O so mad in a long time."
"Same with Luca. Apparently, being a decorated police detective doesn't mean anything to him."
Hearing the bitterness in her sister's voice, Evie looped her free arm around Teagan's shoulder and squeezed. "He loves you, Teagan. He's never going to be okay with you putting yourself in harm's way."
"Yeah, I know. It's just a hard pill to swallow some days." Teagan sighed and snuggled into Evie's embrace. "What about Jay? Was he mad?"
It only seemed fair to share, given the circumstances. "We didn't discuss it. But he did punish me, sort of."
Her sisters gasped in unison and sat up to face her. "He did what?" Ro asked at the same time Teagan growled, "I'm going to kill him."
"Calm down, Teagan. He didn't spank me."
Her sister relaxed and gave her that typical curious Teagan look. "Oh. Then what happened?"
"Nothing big. I had to write some lines and make a list of things I like about myself."
"Aww." Ro pressed a hand to her heart. "Our Jay is such a teddy bear."
"It was hard." Evie twisted the comforter between her fingers. "He had to do most of the list for me."
"Why? You're gorgeous, sophisticated, organized, sweet."