Somehow they’d both gotten closer to the mirror, and she could see the stubble coating his strong jaw as it often did first thing in the morning. When Brayden had first started growing facial hair, she’d wanted to reach out and touch it. She still wanted that. She could admit to that now that she was free of her relationship, even if she couldn’t say it out loud.
He lowered his gaze. Was he looking at her chest, or was he looking at something on his side of the mirror? Scarlett was wearing a stretchy tank top with a built-in bra that was admittedly not the most substantial, but he’d seen her in her pajamas before without seeming fazed.
For a split second she imagined him pulling her shirt down and putting his mouth on her chest. The intensity of the ache that arose in response surprised her. What would it be like to sleep with him? She’d only ever been with Alastair.
The reminder of Alastair lessened the building heat inside her. She took a deep breath, willing herself to get a grip.
Brayden’s eyes flicked back up to her face, and he gave her an expectant look. “And you’re okay. Are you sad?”
She grimaced. “Does it make me coldhearted if I say I’m fine? I think I fell out of love with him a while ago and just didn’t admit it until yesterday.”
A flash of guilt squeezed her heart. But then his parting words rang in her head.“You’ll never find this good of a match again. Do you understand that?”She was sure she’d done the right thing. But she didn’t want to get into the details of that now.
He shook his head. “If it had run its course, then definitely not. If you feel fine, it was probably the right thing to do. Do you think you might change your mind though?” He grinned. “I don’t want to move into my post-Alastair mindset today and then be introuble with you tomorrow if you get back with him.” His smile faltered as he studied her.
She laughed, her nose wrinkling as she imagined patching things up with Alastair when her gut was screaming at her for sweet, sweet freedom. “I ended it, then he burned the bridge and pissed on the ashes. There’s no going back. Let post-Alastair life commence.”
His smile returned. “And you’re leaving Soleil in two weeks?”
“Yes. I’m planning on six weeks in Sigur Viður and then on to Evory. If I’m in Clair de Lune around winter solstice, will you be there? I could try to change my plans if you’ll be gone then.” They were the best of friends, but insecurity crept in. What if, after years of being long-distance friends, they missed their first chance to meet in person? What if he didn’t want to meet?
Scoffing, he stretched his triceps, leaving his long torso on full display. “Of course. The only thing that could stop me from being here when you visit is if I get deployed, which is unlikely.” Brayden was in the army, but thankfully, there hadn’t been war on the continent for two hundred years. “I can’t wait to see you without the mirror. We can actually go out together. And hug. We’re about a thousand hugs overdue at this point.”
She clapped her hands. “Yay!”Oh Goddess, I can’t wait to touch him. Please let it turn out to be way more than hugging. I want to feel him.An image of his body hovering over hers popped into her head and made her shiver. She spun around in a circle to hide her giant smile. She was totally losing it.
“Did you just do a little dance over there?” he said with a laugh.
“Fuck yes, I did a dance. We’re finally going to meet!”
A flush of color spread across his pale cheeks. “I’m excited too. Stay strong with your dad. Don’t let him change your mind. Ineedthose thousand hugs. And the deficit will only grow the longer you wait to visit.”
“I’ll stay strong. I want it too badly to cave.” She worried herlip, noticing as she did that his dark eyes found her mouth. “I might go speak to him now, actually, before we leave for the Remembrance Day ceremony. Will you be around later tonight?” She wanted to see him again as soon as she could, so she could tell him how it went.
“Yeah, sure. I’m grabbing dinner with James, but I’ll wait here for you afterward.” James was his brother—and his best friend.
“Are you sure that’s not inconvenient? I can always catch you tomorrow morning.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I want to hear how it goes. James won’t mind. Try not to burn any bridges or piss on them, if you can help it.”
To her delight, his eyes were bright.
“I won’t. See you tonight.”
Scarlett flew downstairs hoping to find her father in his study. Instead her stepmother Laylani’s raised voice reached her in the hallway.
“Why you thought it was appropriate to say this to a reporter iscompletelybeyond me. You speak as if we don’t love you, when every single decision I’ve made in my life was made with your well-being in mind. Nothing has aged me more than your birth!”
Scarlett’s hackles went up. It put her on edge when her stepmother shouted—especially if it was at her younger brother, Beni. The urge to protect him from his mother’s narcissistic bullshit overtook her desire to look for her father, and she followed the sound of yelling to the dining room.
There she found Beni sitting at the ample dining table in his pajamas, black hair still ruffled from sleep. His expression was shuttered, presumably a result of the verbal tongue-lashing Scarlett had overheard from the hallway. Laylani sat next to him, her face fully made-up, though she was still wearing a dressinggown.
Scarlett had long suspected Laylani’s first act upon rising from her bed in vampiric fashion was to immediately put on enough makeup to be photogenic. The woman was so vain and frigid Scarlett had never understood why her father chose her out of all the women in Soleil.
“Happy Remembrance Day.” Scarlett glanced down at the table, where a glossy magazine sat open. A page had been ripped out and crumpled into a ball—she could see it at the other end of the table. “Did something happen?”
“Beaufort was interviewed bySoleil Citizenmagazine,” said Laylani in a clipped voice.
Scarlett sighed. She’d tried to meet Laylani’s expectations for frequency and perfection when it came to their presence in the media for years, but she’d given up on it long ago. She attempted to catch her brother’s eye, but Beni stared down at his plate, looking way too defeated for this early in the morning. Knowing she couldn’t abandon him to this, Scarlett lowered herself into the chair next to him and met her stepmother’s stony gaze with narrowed eyes.
