I'm having trouble understanding what "開き直った、とも言いますが" means


I wish I could formulate this question in a better way because there's a
million people on here who have posted similar "don't know what this means,
please tell me" and I don't mean this to be low effort, but when I've plugged
away with various dictionaries, it seems like the verb 開き直る is to become
serious or defiant (also read somewhere mention it as to turn on / to turn
upon?) and とも言いますが I think is related to declaring or saying something (I tell
you / I say / etc?).

This is from something I've been (very slowly) attempting to read and the
context immediately before this text is a lighthearted romance tinged scene
that read something along the lines of "she withdrew a little from me but it
doesn't matter, I won't pull away" assuming I read it right, if that context
helps with matters at all.

Thanks in advance, apologies if this is blindingly obvious.

