“Fuck yeah,” he rasps. “You promise to dance for me like the pretty blonde ballerina you are and I’ll think about letting your brothers win tomorrow.”
God, I love him.
So much.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll have fun wiping the floor with them.”
I can’t stop my smile then as I shake my head. “You’re a villain, aren’t you?”
“I am.” He pulls me even closer if possible, tugging my neck back. “And you’re my fairy.”
“I am.”
“For the rest of our lives.”
“Until the end of time.”
His jaw clenches with emotion and I can’t help but whisper, “I love you, Roman.”
He swallows. “I fucking love you too, Fae.”
At last, he bends all the way down and I stretch myself all the way up so we can kiss after a long, long day of being apart.
Because this is my life now, see?
This wonderful, lovely life where I get to kiss my villain whenever I want. Where I get to tell him that I love him freely, without hesitation.
Where I get to dance for him.
Which I’ll do tonight.
Like always.
And like always, he’ll get impatient and grab me before the song’s done. He’ll take my clothes off and kiss every inch of my skin. Even though I’m not the same after the pregnancy. I’ve got ugly stretch marks and the scar where they cut Halo out of me still lingers.
But it won’t matter.
Because it’s him and he still kisses my belly like it carries precious life.
For now though, we’ll eat dinner.
Later, Halo and I will show him the surprise we made for him — cupcakes with ‘Halo + Mommy loves Daddy’ spelled out in pink frosting.
Which I know he’s going to love.
I also know that he’s going to choke up a little like he always does when Halo and I make him something. Like he thinks he doesn’t deserve it.
But it’s okay.
I’ll keep making him things until he believes it.
It will be bath time for Halo then. Which is all handled by Reed because she won’t let anyone do this but him, not even Mommy. Followed by story time, which Reed is in charge of again.
And then I’ll get to witness another beautiful thing: Halo sleeping on a bare chested and drowsy Reed.
When I’ve had my fill of watching the two loves of my life, we’ll put her in her crib, and I’ll drag him to our bedroom. So I can dance for him.
Because I’m still his dancing fairy and he’s my wild mustang.
And as I said, this is our wonderful and gorgeous life.
THE END
(For Callie and Reed)
His eyes are pretty.
And so are his hair and his face.
I think if I wanted to, I could draw him.
I’m an artist; I draw things. I see things as a piece of art. As lines and angles. As colors and shades. It’s just something I’ve done all my life.
And I’m not going to lie, he is a piece of art.
He has a broad face, a square jaw and high cheekbones. His lashes are curled and dark, almost forest-y, furry. And his hair’s dark too. With shades of brown, just like his eyes.
Brown of the earth.
Ledger Thorne is handsome and worthy of any artist’s time and attention. Especially when he’s looking at you like that. With so much focus and intensity.
Although I don’t know what I did to catch his eye.
I’m not an attention worthy girl.
I’m usually pretty quiet and shy. I like to stand away from the crowd, in the back of a room, close to a wall. I’m a wallflower, if you will. People don’t generally notice me. As they shouldn’t.
Because I’m the artist here. I should notice them.
I do have one quirk though.
I love jewelry. Nothing expensive or fancy. Just cute, quirky stuff. Like toe rings and thumb rings. Ankle bracelets, belly chains, necklaces, leg chains and stuff. You could say that I clink when I walk or move because I usually have at least five pieces of jewelry on my body at any given time.
So maybe there’s that.
Maybe I clinked in his vicinity because I have an arm chain on my right arm, sort of in a butterfly shape with yellow stones. I’m wearing two long necklaces — again made of yellow stones — to match my bohemian looking yellow maxi dress. Not to mention, I’ve got a pair of tinkling earrings and a belly chain under my dress, which is invisible of course but has star like charms that rustle against my skin and my dress when I move.
So yeah, maybe that’s why.
That’s why he had to take notice of me. Because of my crazy love of jewelry.
Because other than that, I can’t think of any other reason as to why he’d follow me in here. Especially when I think there’s something between him and Reed’s sister, Tempest. Whom we’ve all just met and I think who could be Poe’s troublemaking soul mate.
Anyway, by follow me in here I mean, inside this house made of glass.
This is where Callie lives now that she’s pregnant with her sort of ex-boyfriend’s, Reed, baby. She’s having a small get together today because she just got her acceptance letter to Juilliard and we’re all super duper excited.
These days, nothing excites me. Nothing feels right. Not the colors, the sketches I keep drawing because I don’t know what else to do. Not the woods behind our school or green rolling grounds. Things I usually loved because they inspired me to draw.
But I’m really, genuinely happy for her.
My friend deserves all the good things in life. Including the guy she’s in love with and from the looks of it, that guy loves her too. Not sure if he realizes it but still.
Anyway, I’ve gone off topic here.
I have to solve this mystery first.
Mystery being why does Callie’s brother keep looking at me? He has been staring at me ever since the get together started. And why did he follow me in here, the kitchen, where I came to get away from the crowd for a few minutes, from the backyard where everyone’s currently gathered?
But then he speaks and the mystery gets even more… confusing.
“I’d like to take you out on a date,” he says.
Okay, I think I heard him wrong.
Did he say a date?
“I’m sorry?”
“A date,” he says in a deep voice, standing casually against the marble island, his arms folded. “With you. I’d like that very much.”
“You’d like to take me out on a date?”
“Yes.”
I’m standing by the counter, holding a glass of water and my fingers around it tremble. Hugging it to my midsection, I reply, “I’m not… what?”
Something like amusement flickers through his beautiful eyes. “You’re allowed to go on dates, right? I mean, at St. Mary’s. Over the weekend. Or whenever you’re allowed out.”