20. We Ride At Dawn, Bitches

WE RIDE AT DAWN, BITCHES

PENELOPE

M y heart pounded against my chest so hard I thought it was going to pop out. Everett's hand hovered over the doorknob like he was seriously considering opening the door. Naked.

Declan was on the other side, and with him, the potential collapse of my lovely little bubble. I'd thought I could just live in this ideal place, getting loved by Everett and not having to face my real fears or feelings for a while longer.

My career, my newfound confidence, my relationship with Everett—all of it felt so precarious, and I wasn't ready for it to all go away.

"Wait," I whispered, grabbing Everett's arm. He turned to me, surprise and concern etched on his face. "I can't... I can't do this right now."

Everett's brow furrowed. "I know he's going to freak out, and he might punch my lights out, but Pen, he's family. Once he sees how we really feel about each other, he'll understand. We're gonna need that support system."

Family. The word echoed in my head, foreign and frightening. I shook my head, willing him to understand. "No, no, I need to talk to Neith and Kelsey first. We need to figure out what kind of damage control we're looking at before we involve your whole family."

I could see the conflict in Everett's eyes. He glanced at the door, then back at me. "Pen, hiding isn't going to make this go away."

"I know, I know," I said, my words tumbling out in a rush. "But please, just... give me some time. Let me talk to Kelsey and Neith. We need a plan. I have to figure out a fix first."

Everett ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear in every line of his body. "I don't like lying to my brother."

"It's not lying," I argued, even as guilt twisted in my gut. "It's just... postponing the truth. Please, Everett."

He held my gaze for a long moment, and I could see him weighing his loyalty to his family against his feelings for me. When had I ever won out in a battle like that?

"Okay, baby. Go do what you need to do. But Pen, we tell them soon. All of them. Promise me."

I nodded quickly, relief flooding through me. "I promise. Soon."

Just as soon as I fixed this.

Everett stole a quick kiss and then waited for me to grab my clothes and pull them on. I grabbed my things, my hands shaking as I tried to smooth my rumpled clothes, then I bent over to be as small as I could and scooted toward the back door.

From the side of the house, I could hear Everett's deep voice greeting Declan, making up some excuse about getting ready for a shower.

I hurried across the street to Declan and Kelsey's house, guilt and fear warring within me. Everett's words sent all kinds of alarm bells off inside.For him, family meant support, unconditional love, a safety net. For me? Family was my father's disappointed sighs, my mother's absence, a lifetime of feeling like I was both too much and not enough.

I shook my head, pushing away the memories. I couldn't think about that now. I had a crisis to manage.

At Kelsey's front door, I took a deep breath, steeling myself. Whatever storm was coming, I'd weather it. I had to. I'd worked too hard, come too far, to let someone like Odin tear it all down.

With one last glance back at Everett's house, where I knew he was facing Declan alone because of me, I let myself in. It was time to face the music—just not the tune Everett had in mind.

"There you are." Kelsey's voice, tinged with worry, greeted me before I even rounded the corner. She and Neith were huddled on the couch, a laptop open between them. "We've been texting you for ages."

"Sorry," I mumbled, self-consciously smoothing down my rumpled clothes. "I was... preoccupied."

Kelsey's eyebrow quirked up, a knowing look in her eye that made me squirm.

"I bet you were," she said, but her tone was gentle. "With Everett, I assume?"

Heat crept up my neck like little ant bites. Of course Kelsey would put two and two together.

Neith, ever the professional, cut straight to the chase. "Have you seen Odin's video yet?"

I shook my head. Ever since I'd admitted earlier this year that I was the woman behind Besties' Bestie, my entire life was all over social media. It was the life I'd chosen, and I was proud to have the platform I did and help Kels spread her really important body positivity message to people all over the world.

But why did my hardest struggles have to be so damn highlighted? Why couldn't everything just continue to be the best parts of my life? No one needed to see the battles, the hardships, the pain.

But I had a feeling they were about to.

Kelsey and Neith exchanged a look. Kelsey turned the laptop towards me. "You need to see this."

As Odin's chiseled face, his open flannel shirt showing off his six-pack abs and tattoos, filled the screen, my stomach clenched. His voice, dripping with false concern, filled the room. "Hey, beautiful people. Today, we're talking about real body positivity. Not the fake stuff you've been fed."

I watched in growing horror as Odin walked through a wooded area, his axe over his shoulder, and expounded on how true self-love meant taking care of your health, which, in his narrow view, inevitably meant losing weight. Each word felt like a personal attack on everything I stood for.

But was he right about me. Did I genuinely love myself?

I didn't want to answer that.

"But don't worry," he said with a wink that made my skin crawl. "In my next few videos, I'll be exposing the biggest frauds in the body positivity movement. You won't believe how these so-called advocates really feel about themselves."

The screen flashed, and suddenly I was looking at myself. It was a screenshot from one of my Besties' Bestie posts, where I'd talked about my journey to self-acceptance. The image lingered for just a moment before flashing to another of me, standing outside the speed dating event, looking stressed. Then Odin's face returned, promising more truth to come.

"That manipulative jackass," Kelsey growled, breaking the silence. "Who the fuck does he think he is?"

Neith leaned forward, her eyes intent. "Penelope, do you have any idea what he might be about to say about you? Any... compromising statements or photos?"

The image of Everett and me at the speed dating event flashed through my mind. I swallowed hard. "I... I'm not sure. But I met him at a speed dating event before Christmas. I may have ignored him and spilled my water on him. But I swear that was an accident."

"Ooph. So he's feeling scorned. I see. We need to get ahead of this and shut it down before the Grampys," Neith said, already tapping furiously on her phone. "We need a statement, maybe a counter-video. The Besties will?—"

"Wait," Kelsey interrupted, her gaze fixed on me. Her voice softened. "Pen, honey... I think it's time we talk about what's really going on between you and Everett."

I looked between Kelsey and Neith, seeing concern in both their faces. The urge to deflect warred with my desperate need for help, for someone to tell me what to do. I was the one who always took care of everyone and everything else, and I didn't know how to be anything else. I didn't know how to take care of... me.

And I was exhausted. And sad. And mad.

I was smadsausted. All the way to my core and back.

In that moment, looking at these two women who had become more than just colleagues, I made a decision. To let someone else help me for a change. I took a deep breath and said, "You're right. Everett and I are... it's more than just dating lessons now. I... think I'm in love with him."

The admission hung in the air, and I braced myself for their reactions, wondering if I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life. Who says something like that? Who admits to falling for a guy who was so much more than a ten, he was like an eleventy-hundred?

The silence that followed my admission felt endless. I watched as Kelsey's eyes widened, a mix of surprise and something else—was that joy?—flickering across her face. Neith, ever the professional, merely raised an eyebrow, her mind no doubt already racing with the PR implications.

"Oh, Pen," Kelsey breathed, reaching out to squeeze my hand. "I had a feeling. That's huge. I'm so happy for you."

I nodded, feeling simultaneously lighter and more terrified than I had in years. "I've never felt like this before. But it's all very new. That picture was taken before we... got together. I don't want to drag Everett or the Kingmans into this mess."

Neith leaned forward, her expression serious. "Penelope, I understand your desire to protect Everett, but we need to consider all angles here. People have already seen the picture of you two together."

"Neith's right," Kelsey said gently. "Plus, take it from someone who's dated a Kingman in the public eye—they're tougher than they look." She grinned, some of her usual spark returning. "And they look pretty tough to begin with."

Despite everything, I found myself smiling back. "I just... I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to be the social media maven here, and I, well, this is why I hid behind a secret handle for so long. I barely know how to be in the public eye. How do we handle this?"

"Well," Neith said, slipping into strategy mode, "we have a few options. We could get ahead of it, release a statement about your relationship before Odin has a chance to twist it."

My stomach clenched at the thought. "I don't know if I'm ready for that."

Kelsey nodded understandingly. "What about a joint statement from the two of us? We could challenge Odin's narrow view of health and body positivity, without necessarily addressing your personal life."

"That could work," Neith mused. "We could also reach out to other influencers, create a united front against this kind of attack."

As they bounced ideas back and forth, a whole new feeling washed through me. It was warm and calming. Gratitude. Here I was, facing what felt like the biggest crisis of my career, and I wasn't alone. It was a novel feeling, one that both comforted and terrified me.

My phone buzzed, and for the first time in a long time, I dreaded looking at it. Expecting it to be Everett, I was surprised to see Jules's name pop up on the screen.

"Guys, hold on," I said, interrupting their discussion. "It's Jules."

I opened the message, and despite everything, it tugged a smile from me at its contents:

Saw Odin's skibidi fucking Ohio video. Gathering the Take Up Space Network as we speak. We ride at dawn, b*tches. #BodyWarriors

"What is it?" Kelsey asked, leaning over to peek at my phone.

I read the message aloud and Kelsey burst out laughing. "God, I love that girl. Odin should be afraid. Very afraid."

Neith raised a finger. "I'm guessing skippity fucking Ohio is bad? And the Take Up Space Network?"

"I don't know about the Ohio part. I think that state is kind of nice. The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame is there." Kelsey shrugged. "But the Take Up Space Network is a group Trixie started with Marie Manniway and Sara Jayne Jerry for plus-size celebrities to support each other. I'm in it. Just haven't done much with it yet."

I nodded, confirming Kelsey's answers, a wave of emotions washing over me.

"This is perfect," Neith said, her eyes lighting up with possibilities. "Having them on our side could be a game-changer."

They went all in discussing how to leverage the Network's support. Jules knowing about this meant that soon, the whole Kingman clan would be in on it. The thought was both terrifying and oddly comforting.

I'd spent so long feeling like I had to face everything alone, and now, suddenly, I had not just Kelsey and Neith in my corner, but potentially an entire network of body-positive influencers and the infamous Kingman family too.

"Pen?" Kelsey took my hand again and squeezed. "You're good with all of this, right?"

I looked up, trying really hard to hold back the tears, mostly ones of gratitude. "Yeah, I'm just... processing. It's a lot, you know? Going from trying to hide everything to suddenly having all these people ready to fight for me."

Kelsey's expression softened. She reached out and squeezed my hand. "This is what having people in your corner feels like, and I'm sorry if I never made you feel that way before now."

Oh cheez its. Those tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them back. Now wasn't the time for crying. We had work to do.

"Okay," I said, straightening up and looking between Kelsey and Neith. "Let's get organized. We've got a lot to do."

Odin thought he could tear us down, but he had no idea what he was up against. We had love, family, and an army of body-positive warriors on our side.

And as Jules so eloquently put it, we would ride at dawn.