Sloane slid onto the stool next to hers and spread his legs until his knee brushed her thigh. He held his breath, waiting for her to reprimand him or pull away. When she continued to eat her cereal like nothing happened, a roar of triumph crashed through him.
They were silent for a while, but it wasn’t a bad silence. Sloane watched her with perfect focus, his forearms braced on the counter and his breathing steady. Seeing her up close was better than he imagined it would be. He supposed it was something like the difference between observing the moon from the Earth and walking on it with his own two feet.
Absolutely beautiful,he thought, tracing the curve of her cheek and the fan of her lashes with his gaze. Even bruised and recently rolled out of bed, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.
Cecilia set her spoon down inside the now empty bowl. Only a tiny puddle of hot pink milk lay at the bottom, which he found mildly revolting.
Turning to him, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I did some thinking after I went to bed last night.”
Sloane tensed.Does she want to leave?
Before he could begin to panic, she declared, “You like me.”
Still reeling from the instinctive fear that she intended to leave him, it took him a moment to understand what she was saying.
“...Yes?”
She shook her head. Spreading her fingers out on the island’s surface, she said, “No, Sloane. I mean youreallylike me.”
Failing to see her point or where she intended to take that observation, he cautiously answered, “Correct.”
“Right, okay. It seems like maybe you’re not understanding what I’m getting at here.”
Sloane nodded. “I’m not. You’ve only said things that are obvious.”
Cecilia let out a soft laugh and rubbed her eyes. “As weird as this is, it’s actually kind of nice. Lemme just try and reframe how I approach this, okay?”
He waited quietly as she worked out whatever it was she was trying to say in her mind. It didn’t bother him. If anything, it gave him more time to quietly observe her up close. Even though he couldn’t smell her through the air-tight seal and filter of his mask, being next to her was intoxicating. He could feel the electricity and warmth of her radiating through the flushed skin of his chest, and when she moved even the smallest amount on her stool, the air rippled around him in gentle waves.
If he closed his eyes, it was almost like being touched.
“I don’t know anything about elves, really,” she admitted, looking down at her hands. “I mean, I know thebasics.The stuff they teach in school, right? But I’ve never spent time with one, and I don’t know how you date. So forgive me if all of this is standard protocol for your people and I’m just ignorant, but itfeelslike you have romantic intentions toward me. Is that correct?”
Pulse thumping hard in his neck, he answered, “Correct.”
You’re my consort,he wanted to tell her.You’re mine. I’m yours.
Cecilia let out a slow exhale. Her cheeks had gone dark again, but she still didn’t look up when she said, “All right, I’m going to make another assumption here. Tell me if I’m wrong, okay? But it sure seems like maybe you haven’t done that sort of thing before. Dating, I mean.”
More curious than offended by her assumption, he ordered, “Elaborate.”
“Well… for starters, instead of asking me out last year, you decided to stalk me. Then kidnap me.”
Sloane gave her a blank stare she couldn’t see. “Ask you out of where? Your apartment?”
Cecilia gave him an equally flabbergasted look. “Ask me out of— Gods, Sloane, do you not even know what asking someone out is? It’s telling someone you’re interested in them romantically by inviting them to do an activity with you. Dinner. A movie. A walk in the park. Kissing at the front door after a magical night. That sort of thing.”
It wasn’t easy for him to process. “If I had… asked youout,would you have said yes?”
“Well, I know elves only just started dating outside their people, so maybe it would’ve been a little complicated, and let’s be honest, you’re super-duper scary…” She trailed off to take a deep breath. Patting the counter, she continued in a quick, nervous voice, “But it’s not like that’s ever stopped me before, so yes, I probably would’ve.”
Sloane had no idea what to make of that information. Carefully storing it away for later examination, he asked, “Will you go out with me now?”
Cecilia perked up. Pushing her shoulders back, she whirled around on her stool until she faced away from the counter. Fascinated by her energetic movements and astonishing lack of grace, Sloane pushed his boot against the railing of his stool until he faced her again.
She stood in front of him and clapped her hands once like he’d seen the nursery teachers do whenever they wanted to get the attention of rowdy children.
“I’msoglad you asked,” she chirped, “because I can’t stay cooped up in this fortress all the time, and I also happened toheavily imply to my best friend that we’re dating. I don’t like lying to her, so this will kill two birds with one stone.”
