Everything has changed.My whole life has been turned upside down, but I wouldn’t change anything about it.
Ever since Briggs openly claimed me as his, no one has dared to do much as look at me wrong, and with the threats disappearing along with Robert, there is nothing to worry about anymore.
Briggs and I have been spending every day together. Even after he nursed me back to health. We’re basically attached by the hip, or at least that’s what Carter keeps teasing us about.
I still have my dorm room, but I spend most of the time at Briggs’s house with him and Tia. Briggs had to take temporary custody of his sister so she wouldn’t have to go into foster care since Robert has been MIA for the last two months. Not much has changed for Tia since Briggs already took care of her most of the time.
After a meeting with the five families, they told Briggs he can take over his father’s territory as soon as he finishes school. Until then, the remaining four families will manage it for him. I had asked Briggs if he was worried about the responsibility of being the head of the family and managing the territory, but he assured me that this is what he was raised to do. It just happened a little earlier now.
I’m curled up on the large comfy sectional with one of my romance novels when Briggs walks into the living room.
“Hey, little bird,” he greets me, a mischievous grin playing on his lips.
“Oh no.” I close my book and place it next to me on the side table. “I know that look. You are up to something,” I accuse.
“If up to something means the same as I have a surprise for you, then yes,” he says cryptically.
“A surprise, huh?” This could go either way. “It’s not another pool party, is it?”
“No,” he quips. “You are actually going to like this surprise.”
Briggs closes the distance between us. Standing in front of me, he holds out his hand for me to take. I place my palm into his and let him pull me up to my feet. He keeps his hand in mine as he gently tugs me down the hallway to a part of the house I haven’t been in.
We come to a stop in front of a door. Briggs reaches for the handle and turns the knob. He pushes the door open, and I gasp when I see what’s on the other side.
It’s a beautiful, large room, lined with white large bookshelves filled with books. The walls are painted in a pale pink and a plush colorful rug brightens up the space.
But what really catches my eye is the brand new art station sitting in front of the giant bay window lined with hundreds of paint bottles, pencils, and brushes.
“What is all of this?” I ask, with my mouth gaping open. I haven’t even stepped into the room because it looks so picture perfect, I don’t want to disturb it.
“Come in and see for yourself,” Briggs urges. “It’s your new room, after all.”
“Mine?” I ask, perplexed, as Briggs ushers me into the beautiful space.
“Yes, I set this room up just for you.”
“How? I mean when?” We spend all of our time together. I’m don’t understand how he could have done this right under my nose.
“I have my ways… Maya helped,” he admits. I smile at the mention of my friend, though my friendship with Maya has been strained since Briggs and I officially started dating. She still has a special place in my heart, and I wish things between us were better.
“I’m surprised she agreed to help,” I say sadly.
“You know, the only reason she is pulling away from you is Tucker. You sit with us at lunch, you hang around us after school, and in your free time. She doesn’t want to run into him.”
“I think it’s more than that.” Maya has been acting weird around me, even when it’s just the two of us.
“Maybe invite her over here for dinner this weekend?”
“Okay,” I agree. That actually sounds like a good idea.
“Now, tell me what you think about your new room?”
“I love it,” I tell him honestly. “And I think I love you too,” I add in a small voice.
“Is that so?” he asks smugly.
“You don’t have to say it back. You’ve already told me what to expect from you, and I’m okay with it, but I still want to tell you how I feel.”
