Epilogue #2
"Can I make it up to you?" I asked. "Next round’s on me.”
“Isn’t it an open bar?”
I gulped. “Then in that case, the next six rounds are on me.” Another pause as his eyes searched mine. “Unless you’re worried I’ll spill all of those on you, too."
"I’ll take the risk," he said. "You seem like you’re worth a little mess."
I glanced at his arm, where a sleeve of ink disappeared under the cuff, rolled to his elbow.
Pulling my hand away from his chest, I tried pushing the cuff higher to see the tattoo more.
It was stunning with surprisingly thin lines.
A compass wrapped in roses and something that looked like coordinates that I couldn’t read as they twisted and wound their way up his forearm.
"This is beautiful," I said, tracing the design with my finger. "How many tattoos do you have?”
He smiled like he'd heard that question a hundred times and still didn’t mind answering. “Too many to count. What about you? Any tattoos?”
I shook my head no as I stared in wonder at his beautiful ink. “Is there a theme to all your tattoos?”
"Depends on the month. I’m a tattoo artist. Comes with the territory."
That made something spark in my brain—the champagne, the restlessness, the need to do something reckless and real and maybe a little painful to take the focus off the pain twinging in my heart.
"Have you ever given someone a tattoo at a wedding?"
That got his attention.
His brows lifted. "You asking for one?"
I tilted my chin. "I’ve never had one. Might as well start with a questionable life decision while wearing heels and champagne lip gloss."
"You don’t seem like a girl who makes questionable decisions."
"You clearly haven’t been watching me tonight,” I said with a snort.
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t like to tattoo anyone who’s been drinking.”
I pressed my lips together as I glanced around the reception that was slowly winding down.
Noah and Rosa were saying their goodbyes to Rosa’s parents.
“What if we go somewhere and give me an hour to sober up a little. I’m not drunk.
Just a little tipsy. And… I could think of a few ways we could spend that time. ”
He glanced toward the thinning crowd. "You’re serious?"
I was. Or maybe I wasn’t. But I nodded anyway.
He set his whiskey neat down, untouched and gave me a nod. “I don’t usually do this, but what the hell?”
“That’s the spirit.”
His eyes met mine once more, appreciatively. “Then let’s go.”
Across the room, Noah gave me a little smile and wave. “Let me just say goodnight to my brother.”
For a moment, West looked concerned. “Why don’t I, uh… wait for you out front by my truck.”
I wet my lips, then weaved through the tables to where Noah and Rosa were standing with Birdie curled between them, his head at Noah’s feet.
This was new for me—the knowledge that if I reached out to my twin, I’d be interrupting something every bit as sacred as what we once shared.
Best to get used to it. Best to just be happy for them.
Rosa smiled at me and gave me a hug. “Thank you so much for everything,” she said. “I’ve always wanted sisters.”
I smiled back at her. “Well, be careful what you wish for. Now you’ve got a whole damn brood of us!”
Rosa grinned, but she was looking at Noah. They did that now, that weird, intimate communication with their eyes, as if the rest of us were faint radio static.
“I’m going to see if your mom needs anything,” Rosa said, giving Noah and me a moment.
When I looked up at my brother, his eyes went soft, blue, worried. "Hey," he said, setting his glass down, "Are you disappearing on me?"
"Just stepping out," I said, and damned if I didn’t feel like a ten-year-old caught sneaking cookies from the pantry. "The air’s a little thick with estrogen in here. Also, Birdie is snoring. He’s got you beat by a mile tonight."
He smiled, then flung an arm around my shoulders. He always did that, even when we were in the middle of a fight—it was his way of saying, You're my home, no matter what.
He didn't smell like aftershave and grass stains and wet leaves anymore, the way he did when we were kids. Now it was expensive cologne and something soft and steady beneath.
"Are you sure you’re okay?" he said. And the thing about twins is, they can see straight through you even when you’re hiding in plain sight.
There was a moment, then. You could’ve filled it with all the air in the world, but it still would’ve compressed down to just the two of us.
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" I said. "You and Rosa look happy. Everyone’s happy. I’ll catch up… eventually."
“You always were a slow ass runner,” he teased.
I smacked his arm. “Hey! I placed fifth on the Maple Grove High mile run!”
“You placed fifth out of six runners.”
We laughed, and the knot in my chest loosened just a little as things between us felt a little normal, despite the big changes.
"Seriously though," he said, his tone shifting. "I know this is weird. Me... being married." He paused, glancing at me. "It's kind of always just been you and me against the world. Even in a family of five kids, it always felt like we were a package deal."
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. "It hasn't felt like that for a while, Noah."
Not since he moved to New York City and became a famous TV star. But I understood what he meant.
"You still have me, you know," Noah said. "Nothing's going to change."
I huffed a laugh. It was naive if he believed that to be true.
Everything was going to change. Only... for him, it was in all the best ways.
He was gaining a wife. A family. A new life.
And me? I wasn't exactly losing anything—just watching the person who’d always been my constant build a world I wasn’t sure I fit into anymore.
I took a breath and looked out at the dance floor where Cam and Lydia slow danced beneath the fairy lights and their daughter, Maddie twirled with her arms reaching up toward the stars.
"It’s weird,” I said. “Watching you get your happy ending. It’s like the book closed on one chapter and now... I’m still stuck on the blank page.”
Noah squeezed my shoulder. “Then write something unexpected. Even if it starts with spilled vodka and a burly tattoo artist.”
I blinked at him. “What?—?”
He just grinned. “I’ve got eyes, Cal. And West is a good guy. Just...” Noah's words faded as he looked over my shoulder at something in the distance.
“Just what?”
“Just don't expect more than he can give. He's been going through things.”
“What kind of things?”
Noah shrugged. “That's for him to tell you. I'm just saying, he's safe. He's a good person and a great friend. But don't expect more than that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I'm not going to fall in love after a one-night hookup.”
Noah glanced across the lawn to where Rosa was talking with Mom. “That's what I thought, too.”
I scrunched my nose. “Don’t make this weirder than it already is.”
“Fine. All I’m saying,” he said, his voice soft now, “is don’t count yourself out before the story even begins. Just know that West isn't the hero of that story. He's like... a great, grumpy side character.”
I looked at him—my twin, my anchor—and felt something shift inside me. A tiny flicker of belief, like maybe I wasn’t as lost as I thought.
“Love you,” I whispered.
“Always,” he whispered back.
And as I turned to go find West outside, my brother’s words followed me into the night.
Maybe I wasn’t lost.
Maybe I was exactly where the next chapter was supposed to begin.
Thank you so much for reading Resisting You!