“The carrot cake?” The first time I was sent cake from an “admirer.” It was him. He used his future knowledge of me to make me fall for him. He was confident in having me.
“It’s your favorite. I always make sure to keep it stocked in our fridge for your mopey days.” He said it like we had an “our fridge” already.
“The shower talk,” I whispered, mostly for myself.
He was so confident and up for anything because he already knew where we’d end up. He didn’t fight marriage because… because.
“Do we get married?”
“It’s not an 80s wedding, but it is everything you’ve ever wanted in that small town we went shopping in.” He walked over, his eyes glazing over. He was looking into the future when that happened? Seeing our wedding like it was in front of him. He smiled and my heart skipped a beat.
“This is a lot, Rylan.”
He refocused on me, the present me, and nodded. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached for my hand. I let him hold it while his thumb rubbed circles on my skin.
“It wasn’t just the visions that made me fall for you. It was the images of you taking care of Piper, Remy, and Imogene. You love so fiercely.”
I sucked in a breath, and he lifted my hand to his lips.
He closed his eyes and inhaled my scent. I probably smelled like the soap we used after our classroom sex. “I love the way you play with me. You fight me, even when you know you want to give in.” His head lifted and he shot me a wink before nailing my heart in the coffin with his. “You may not have known who you were when you came to school, but I’ve watched you grow into a woman you’re proud of. You’re brave, and smart, and capable. You take care of others without wanting anything in return. You are the love of my life, and I’ve been doing everything in my power to be the man you deserve.”
What do you say to that? He watched me with sheer love in his eyes, and I just processed. Coming to the school was supposed to help me figure myself out. Meanwhile Rylan has been… well… stacking the cards in his favor every chance he could. He told me multiple times that’s what he did. He wanted me and he did everything to ensure that he’d get me.
Was I mad about that? I don’t know. Did he manipulate me into loving him? Being the perfect guy with the information he knew would give me no choice but to be with him?
No.
My magic rattled beneath me and out of the corner of my eye, a daisy popped into a glass of water. Thanks, magic. Such odd timing.
“You’ll have to tell me about your obsession with daisies one day,” he said with a smirk.
“It’s a sign of new beginnings. A nurse gave me a bouquet after I had Piper. They’ve been my favorite flower since.”
Rylan nodded and tapped his temple with a pointer finger. “Noted.”
Back to the whole him seeing the future thing, I thought of a question and opened my mouth.
“Tell me—” I was gonna ask him to tell me his favorite cake, but he beat me to it with the answer. This would definitely take some getting used to.
“I’m a cheesecake guy, and while I love you dearly, Star, you never get the recipe right. We keep some store-bought cakes in the fridge for me to sit beside you on mopey days.”
“Do you know everything, or can you still be surprised?” I smiled and rubbed my thumb against his knuckles. He shook his head.
“I’m always surprised. Like Imogene and those cookies. You eating them!” He laughed and I couldn’t help but join him. Which led to him leaning over to kiss me.
The thought this man magically stalking me would be concerning to most people. But I loved him, and it was nice to have someone do anything for you. As intense as it was, I probably would have done the same in his shoes. If I knew he was mine, I’d do whatever it took to win him. Even play dirty if I had to. He meant that much to me.
“Sir,” a voice interrupted us. Ms. Pauline’s voice to be exact. “You need to see this.”
She handed him a tablet, and we watched a news reporter standing in the courtyard interviewing students. Some I recognized, like Ethan and Hannah, a girl from our potions class, and Delanie. But I couldn’t identify the three others claiming to have seen the perpetrator of the explosion.
“It was Rylan McKenzie. We saw him outside the hall through the window before it exploded.”
Ummm, what?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
There’s no better sleuth than a mom
