Lily said to me, “Don’t you dare let him talk about the prince like that!”But I was feeling so angry.The words Evan was saying probably should have offended me. At other times, I would’ve been protective of anyone speaking ill of Nolan, ever.But Evan squeezed my hand, and all I felt from him was love.“Thank you,” I told him. “But that won’t be necessary. I love you for offering, though.”Lily didn’t appreciate the joke.“Nolan is your mate,” she growled at me. “How can you let this wolf say such a horrible thing about him?”But Lily didn’t always get to be the boss of me. I told her to be quiet.“I love you too, Yena,” Evan replied. “I’d do anything for you, you know.”“I do know. Thanks.”Evan slipped his hand out of mine and stood up.“So, what do you say we do something fun today?” he asked. “Something different, that’ll take your mind off this bullshit?”“That’s sweet,” I answered. “But like what?”“I dunno.” Evan started stretching his arms, swinging them around as he walked
They were quiet for the first leg of their run, just keeping pace side by side.Evan heard that the patter of his and Yena’s footsteps had fallen into sync and smiled.It made for a nice, rhythmic sound. And made him think about how good it was to be back with Yena. How natural and comforting it felt to be near her.The sun was coming up, lighting up the clouds in shades of pink and orange.Evan’s heart started racing as they neared the turnaround point at the bottom of the hill, where last time they’d stopped to stretch.Yena slowed to a stop and started rolling her shoulders.“Same stretches as last time?” she asked, giving Evan a bold smile. “Or are you gonna teach me something new today?”Evan smiled back and said, “I can teach you whatever you want.”It came out sounding much dirtier than he’d meant it to.Yena noticed. She narrowed her eyes a
We raced back to the house and, of course, Evan beat me yet again. Then we paused outside on the porch to cool down.Now that I knew Evan had these dirty thoughts about me…I couldn’t help that I was enjoying using it against him and watching him squirm.I knew it was bad that I was enjoying it so much. But it was kind of Evan’s own fault.Maybe I was making up for all the times he teased me when we were kids. He always got away with it and got the better of me.Now I had something on him. And he made it so easy…We’d left water bottles on the porch. They were cold to the touch, telling me it was still freezing out, despite how warm I was feeling inside after the exercise.Evan took a gulp of water, then threw some on his face. He took his other hand and wiped some of the water off, then combed his hair back with his wet fingers.I’d seen him do that a million times before. On
EVANHe figured Yena had fallen back asleep after their run, so Evan left her alone for a few hours.She’d been having trouble sleeping, and he was glad the run helped wipe her out.But she had to be starving, too. So he heated up some leftovers around noon and brought them upstairs.He knocked softly on Yena’s bedroom door.After a pause, she answered, “Come in,” in a small, sleepy voice.She was all cuddled up in bed, looking as comfy as a person ever could.“Brought you some lunch.”Yena smiled. “You’re so sweet, thank you.”“No problem. How you feeling?”“I’m okay. How long was I out?” One of Yena’s hands emerged from the tight cocoon of blankets and she rubbed her eyes.“Hmm.” Evan looked at his watch. “Bout four hours?”“Oh wow.” Yena
YENASomething weird was going on with Lucy.I started feeling suspicious on the phone. But when I saw her coming up the porch steps in the morning, I knew for sure.Lucy looked different from the last time I saw her. Not physically. It was just sort of like her energy had been turned all the way down to its lowest setting.“Hey,” I said, welcoming her into the house and quickly shutting the door against the cold. “How are you doing this morning?”“I’m good,” Lucy said, smiling. Her eyes looked tired though.“Come have some pancakes,” I told her. “Or eggs and bacon, or whatever else you want. Tina will whip up anything to order, she can’t help herself.”Lucy laughed. “Pancakes sound great.”I decided I’d hold off on the questions till after we ate.She had a good appetite, so that was heartening.
NOLANNolan asked to speak to Alaster when he called the nursing home, but the person who answered the phone told him that the old man was taking a nap.“Alright,” Nolan said. “I’d like to check on his condition, though. Can you put me on the line with someone who can give me an update on his health?”“Of course, Your Highness. Please hold on for just a moment and I’ll go get the doctor.”The line clicked and some music started playing.Nolan drummed his fingers on his desk.The doctor picked up quickly. “Your Highness, so good to hear from you.”Nolan frowned. This was one of the people he used to know, when he’d sneak out and visit his friend under his secret identity. He didn’t love the feeling it gave him when the doctor addressed him now in such formal terms.“Please, Doctor M., you don’t need to address
“Well,” Evan said, “What do you feel like doing?”Yena grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her.“Evan, I have become such a baby,” she said. “I really did get spoiled at the palace. I’m so freaking cold all the time in this drafty house.”He laughed and looked out the window. It was dark and windy out.“So I take it you don’t want to go out?”Yena shook her head wildly.“Definitely not. I just want to stay bundled up here on the couch the rest of the night. It’s warmer down here than in my room… honestly, I don’t think I can sleep at all up there when it’s windy like this.”I could sleep with you and keep you warm,Evan thought.What a horribly cheesy line that would sound like.“Okay,” he said. “Sounds like we’re doing a movie night
NOLAN“You have a visitor,” the prince’s secretary told him.“I have no appointments.” Nolan looked up, puzzled. “Who is it?”The secretary paused, like he didn’t want to say.“Gina?”“Yes, Sir.”“Alright,” Nolan said, glancing at the clock.He didn’t realize it was almost ten a.m. He’d been in his office working since before sunrise.“Ask her if she’d like some breakfast, and if so, set her up in the dining room. I’ll join as soon as I can wrap this up.”There wasn’t much that Nolan actually needed to wrap up.He just didn’t want to look too eager to greet a surprise visit from Gina, afraid that might give her the wrong idea.He strolled in to meet her about ten minutes later.Gina was waiting patiently at the table. She stood when s