With a little less pep in my step, I toss on a shirt and go out to see Aulie. I don’t know where we’re headed, but I need to figure my stuff out for my team and her. I need to choose once and for all.
Aulie’s figure stands shrouded in the hallway. Her caramel hair is bound in curls that look…different than she usually wears. She’s draped in my sweater, leggings underneath, and…heels. Okay. That’s weird.
She’s FaceTiming someone with her back to me. Probably Gus, so he can say “hi,” too.
“Hey, there’s my girl. This is the best surprise.” I go up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. “I missed you,” I murmur into the top of her head, a hint of vulnerability in my voice.
The moment my eyes snag on the person’s reflection in the camera, the smell of an expensive perfume tickles my nose. Raven-black hair shows on the screen, even though I swear it’s caramel in reality. They blow a kiss into the camera and hit end on the recording.
This isn’t Aulie. And that wasn’t a FaceTime. It was a live-stream.
“Veronica.” Startled, I instinctively jerk back, as though stung by an invisible force. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Aww, it’s so nice to see you, too. Do you like my hair? I told the hairdresser I wanted quaint fall vibes, and I think they nailed it.” She runs her manicured fingers through her caramel tresses that look far too much like Aulie’s natural color to be a coincidence.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I told you our arrangement was over.”
“Doesn’t look like it’s over from the live we just did. Boy, did you look like a man in love.” Her signature red lips tip into an evil smirk, and I bite back a growl.
“I thought you were someone else.”
“Oh, yes, your fiancée, right? There’s no way you want people thinking you’re engaged to thatthingfrom the North. That’s why I’ve come to save you. I have a proposal of my own.” Her fingers creep up my chest and I take hold of her hand and push it aside.
“Her name is Aulie, and considering I intend to propose to her someday, I don’t mind people thinking it’s true now.”
“I thought Jack Parker didn’t date during the season. Isn’t that your personal rule?”
“Aulie was always going to be the exception.”
A flash of hurt briefly flickers across Veronica’s polished features. “And I wasn’t? What makes her so special?”
God, that’s a loaded question, isn’t it?
I think about the soft feel of her hair tangled in my fingers. Her velvet skin, lightly scented with rosewater and lilacs, flowers that she’s somehow more delicate and lovely than. How is that even possible?
And then I think about the paradoxes within her. How can she be that soft, delicate flower and a complete badass, overcoming so much grief and pain and never letting it fully destroy her?
Fuck, that woman is a queen.
How did I briefly entertain the thought that I would give that up? Even for a room full of guys who mean the world to me?
Aulie is the infinite night sky, littered with sparkling stars. She’s the sun. She’s—
“Everything. She’s the love of my life, and there isn’t one ounce of her that isn’t extraordinary,” I say.
“Well, hopefully, she’s understanding, too. Because, boy, that video looks like our bad boy is two-timing us both. She watches my lives sometimes, you know. Hopefully, that wasn’t one of them for your sake.” She grimaces
My mouth drops as Veronica rises to my cheek, presses a kiss, and snaps a quick selfie before I can register…anything.
I knew Veronica was fake, but I didn’t realize she was evil, too.
Aulie trusts me. Everything will be fine.
Veronica saunters away, and I slide my phone out of my pocket, dialing Aulie.
The phone doesn’t ring before I’m sent to voicemail.
ChapterThirty-Seven
