Page 62 of Bottle Rocket

Page List

Font Size:

“What’s the issue?” Rosie said. Or maybe she screeched it.

Both her siblings stared.

“I can’t …” What? She couldn’t what? Figure out how to live a perfectly happy life with a wonderful man who, oh yeah, she was madly in love with? “I can’t live in a trailer half the year.”

Benji rolled his spoiled little eyes.

“Watch it, bub,” Rosie spat. “I will tell William that you slept with a baby blankie until you were eighteen.”

Sasha took Rosie’s hands in her own and pulled her focus from their younger brother. “Okay, most important question: Do you love him?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts, Rosie. You love him.”

“Love isn’t everything. My divorce is proof of that.”

Benji raised his hand as if he were a kindergartener asking for permission to speak.

“What?” she growled.

He bit his lip, uncertainty flashing in his eyes. “You once told me that the right love makes you the best version of yourself. For you, that meant it would be full of wonder, affection, and discovery. Do you remember that?”

Of course she remembered that. It had only been five months ago when he’d been having his own love crisis with William.

“Yes,” she said reluctantly.

“Does this love feel like that?”

She finished her mimosa. Rather than answering him, she said, “All I’ve ever wanted is to be settled. I’m worried this will upset that.”

“I don’t think it will,” Sasha jumped in. “He’s just asking for a new normal. For both of you.”

“What if you guys need me? If I’m spending my summers traipsing all over the country with Leo, I won’t be able to be there for you, and I—”

“Whoa there, Ms. Thing. We’re not your children or your students,” Sasha said. “We’re your adult siblings. I know you’ve got the responsibility bug, but that’s not a good reason to stop living your life. That’s what this whole Summer of Rosie experiment was about. Living. Your. Life. You need to turn that shit off.”

Tears pooled in Rosie’s eyes again. She tried to brush them away, but not before she saw alarm on Sasha and Benji’s faces.

“It’s not that easy.”

Benji reached across the table for her hand. She gave it to him. “I’ll always need my older sisters. I’ll always need you. Nothing will change that, but you can’t let your hot erotic artist go because you like cleaning up my messes.”

Rosie poured herself more mimosa.

“Okay, I think you need to eat your pancakes first,” Sasha said, plucking the plastic champagne flute from her hand.

“So, again,” Benji said. “Does this love with Leo tear you up inside? Does it hurt you? Or does it make you your best self?”

Rosie’s heart was going wild in her chest. She thought back to William telling her that she was made of sturdier stuff and Dean whispering in her ear that he’d never seen a better match than her and Leo. She thought about the way these six days with Leo had made her happier than she had ever been. She had been able to discover things about herself that she’d never thought possible. Like how much she enjoyed pegging.

“Yes,” she said finally. She loved him, and it didn’t hurt. Not anymore.

Benji clapped his hands. “Great. Now, you need to grand gesture him. It’s the only way.”

Rosie shot out of her seat. She wobbled. “Grand gestures are not my style.”

“But that’s the best part of making up,” Benji whined.