Scarlett looked up at Brayden, hoping he’d stay with her. But he kissed the top of her head and moved to stand opposite Keeley. She felt the kiss like a brand as he walked away. He was back to touching her every chance he got, even after rejecting her earlier. What did it mean? She was eager to observe him with Minnie and Keeley to see if he touched them as much as he did her.
Minnie handed Scarlett another cup of beer. “Here—this one is actually cold.”
“Thanks.”
“So how’d you meet Brayden?”
“He scared the shit out of me through my grandma’s magic mirror.” Scarlett smiled fondly at Brayden, who was making his first shot.
Minnie choked on her drink. “Elaborate, please.”
Scarlett remembered the night as if it were yesterday. “One night when I was eleven, I woke up from a nightmare and was scared, so I headed to my grandma’s room. Her magic mirror is in the room that joins our bedrooms together. The mirror is illegal in Soleil, obviously, but all my grandma did to hide it was cover it with a thin scarf.”
“Hilarious.” Minnie’s eyes danced.
Scarlett’s mouth twitched, fighting back a grin. “Yes. Anyway, I was walking past when I thought I saw something move in the mirror, beneath the scarf. I went a bit closer and wasn’t sure if it was my reflection, because it moved when I did. As soon as I got close enough to touch the scarf, Brayden screamed, and I nearly pissed myself I was so scared.”
Brayden flashed her a smile and then sank his ball into a cup.Keeley pulled the ball out and downed the cup of beer.
“I pulled the scarf off the mirror, and this weirdo was there, laughing his arse off.” Scarlett grinned at the memory. “Then my grandma rushed in and explained who he was and that his father was her friend. That was the first time she’d really talked to me about magic. She swore me to secrecy and told me I could use the mirror to talk to Brayden if I fancied it. Which was really incredible, looking back, because she could’ve been sent to jail if I’d been caught. Obviously, I took her up on the offer.” Her gaze locked with Brayden’s.
“After that, you were friends?” asked Minnie.
“I wouldn’t leave him alone after I found out where he was from,” said Scarlett. “My mother grew up in Clair de Lune. She died when I was nine, so meeting someone from her country was special to me. He was the first person from Clair I’d met outside of my family.”
Minnie gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about your mother. That sucks.”
“Thanks,” said Scarlett.
“Scarlett couldn’t get enough of my accent,” said Brayden between shots, lightening the mood immediately. He’d already sunk the ball into several cups, but Keeley hadn’t made any shots. “She used to always ask me to say ‘power’ and ‘film.’”
“I love the way you all say certain words,” admitted Scarlett.
“Aww, you like our accent!” said Keeley as she missed another shot.
“I do.” Scarlett laughed.
“Then, when we were thirteen, we started playing Verity or Gauntlet,” said Brayden. “That’s when I learned she has balls of steel. She always picked gauntlet.”
Minnie waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, do tell.”
Scarlett waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, it wasn’t that wild. Just teenager stuff. Once, Brayden dared me to run nakedthrough my stepmother’s dinner party.”
Minnie’s eyes lit up. “And you did?”
Scarlett’s shoulders shook with laughter. “I convinced him to let me do it in a swimsuit and a devil mask. I’ve never seen my stepmother try so hard to keep from screaming at me in front of company. The Zaharan ambassador was there!”
Keeley snorted, and Minnie gasped.
Scarlett winced. “I was grounded for a month that summer—no phone, no computer.”
“Which was great, because you were around whenever I wanted to talk.” Brayden sank a game-winning shot.
Keeley happily downed her beer in one long gulp. Brayden returned to Scarlett’s side, and she handed him her half-empty cup. He raised it in her direction before finishing it.
“You made being grounded more fun.”
They’d talked late into the night so many times she’d often fallen asleep in the chair opposite the mirror and awoke to see him asleep on his father’s couch. She’d definitely been crushing on him by the end of that summer. He was the first boy she’d had feelings for, although she’d never admitted it out loud. She assumed he knew she adored him.
