Once she settled a bit, Landon left to get a washcloth from the bathroom. An aftercare routine she didn’t so much as blink at. She watched him go before her eyes drifted to the adjoiningdoor to her room. Longing for Max, too. Perhaps wondering how he might fit into all this one day.
And I had no doubt we’d figure it out.
Her features shifted as she worked through her thoughts, and I stroked her hair so she’d know I was there if she wanted to share them with me. But sleep was pulling her in too deeply.
After Landon came back in and took care of her, her mind wasn’t fully at ease, but she slowly drifted off to sleep, unable to fight it any longer.
Neither Landon nor I could sleep.
Every cell in my body was attuned to his. Aware of his presence. Aware of where we’d touched. The thought of relaxing felt impossible. Not when a million thoughts ran through my head. Words I wanted to give him that wouldn’t even come close to conveying what I’d kept locked in my heart all these years.
I had said goodbye to who he was, but I had also admitted the truth.
It would never quiet, never fully rest.
And in the dark, I fought to make peace with what we shared now. What we would share with her. He was, and always would be, my best friend. The first person who showed me I wasn’t alone. And I’d lost who he was, but he was still here. Still safe.
It was…enough.
It would have to be enough.
Then his voice broke through the quiet in the room and the racing of my thoughts.
“Kingston?”
I cleared my throat four times before I spoke. “I’m awake. Are you alright?”
He didn’t answer right away, quiet while he thought. “I have all these things I want to say. I don’t know where to start. I should’ve trusted you. But…”
Our gazes fell on her. And all I could say was, “I know.”
“It’s hard to put into words.”
“Some things don’t need words.”
He murmured quietly in agreement before he sighed. “There’s a lot I don’t understand. Iknowthat, Kingston.” He stroked her cheek, and she nuzzled into his palm even in her sleep. “But this? Her?—”
“She’s light in the darkness.” I swallowed once I released the words. “Hope. I understand, Landon. Believe me. She’s…exactlywhat Camelot Court needs. What we’ve needed.”
He only nodded as he stared at her, so I kept going.
“Someone who was strong enough to break through a hundred years of tradition because she’d been raised outside of it. Someone who had known pain, but learned to trust herself to get through it, who longed for the truth and vowed to speak hers, and who understands some things…somepeopleare worth fighting for.”
“Yeah,” he choked out. “I thought I’d lost her, and I…Kingston, I don’t know how you did it. How you knew we would get here, even when she walked away after the Knights’ Quorum. I...I’ve been angry with you. But deep down, I’ve just been mad at myself.”
“It’s hard to explain how I knew, just by looking at her photo. Reading the words on her application. It was so much more than that…you’re right. It’s hard to find the words. But she was different, and familiar, all at the same time.”
“Familiar?”
“She was like me, Landon. With the world closing in around her, even though she has Gia and she loves her, she was still…alone. She’d lost something no one can replace. And I…”
“What?”
“I had faith that when she learned what all of it was for, she’d see it, too. But you didn’t have the information I had, and I couldn’t—I still can’t tell you all of it. So, none of this isyour fault, Landon. What happened with Elaine and my father, I could’ve prevented it. It was my choice.” When silence hung between us, I said it again. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah…but you always say that. Even after what happened last year. I’m supposed to be strong for you. Shoulder the burden. That’s not—You shoulder all of it alone, so I don’t have to carry it. That’s not how this was supposed to be.”
“Isn’t it, though?”
