“Should we have him take the armor off first?” Penny teased, laughed, then added, “No, I don’t want anyone else here right now. I am reserved, except with certain people—that’s how I curate my life. I don’t need a giant friend circle. I just need the right friends. My mom thinks that makes me weird.”
“Atlas doesn’t have any friends.”
Atlas shrugged. “This is partially true. I’ve got these two assholes here to deal with, and that’s enough.”
“Who’s to say we need lots of friends? Some people thrive on it. Some don’t.”
“I certainly don’t, which is what makes it so weird that when I’m with the three of you, I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
My heart banged so hard I was surprised you couldn’t hear it pounding on the metal of my armor. “What do you say? Can we get somebody to drive your car back and we get you a ride on a unicorn back to the party?”
“A party… that’s not really my thing, but a ride on a unicorn with a knight in shining armor? How can a girl pass that up?”
Chapter Nineteen
Penny
Given the choice, Iwould notride a unicorn with a knight in shining armor again. First of all, it attracted way too much attention. But worse than that… it just didn’t work. There wasn’t room in the saddle, so I had to turn and face him, spreading my legs around him… not entirely complaining about that.
But, Phoenix was already thick. Add a suit of armor, and if I wasn’t fairly limber, my legs wouldn’t have spread that wide.
Anyway, as Atlas helped me dismount, and kept his hands around me long enough to make sure my legs were steady, I wondered how we would move forward. Even if this thing between us worked at Rawhide Ranch, what would we tell our parents?
Everest carried his helmet under his arm. “I’ll find someone to take over theknight in shining armorthing.”
“No, don’t. I’m not quite done admiring my knights, but like any proper princess, I need to do it from afar at first.” Saying it that way was more fun than saying that I needed a minute to myself but they look confused.
“You know, I have to admire you from the highest room of the tallest tower…”
That got the point across. Turning the final unicorn over to the partiers, Everest took me aside, away from everyone, where I could watch the festivities without being in them.
“Now go see how happy your efforts make everyone.”
“But we want to be with you,” Everest dramatically begged.
“Later. Right now you have a commitment.”
The three of them fulfilled their roles, giving me time to process everything while enjoying the party on my terms.
I couldn’t hold my trio at fault for initially assuming my mother knew best. And while I hated that she made me feel inferior, her actions had worked out.
It was my stepbrothers’ realizations that I was strong and capable,andshy and reserved, that tipped the scales… taught me something about myself.
When it came down to it, they really were good guys who’d gotten caught in an impossible situation.
As they helped guests on and off unicorns, and posed for pictures, they gave no indication how opposed they had been to this event… well, mainly Atlas and Phoenix.
It was so tempting to think this could work, but could I handle having a reverse harem?
Had they been right? I’d need them to take turns? Otherwise, how would I know where to look or what to touch? That last part would be hard enough to figure out with one guy.
I shuddered. Curiosity led me to name five things I could see on a man, four I could touch… Nope it wasn’t calming, it was sensory overload.
Catherine approached with a water bottle. I took it from her and wondered if I could be dehydrated from all of the crying.
Purple shimmering caught my attention. I held the bottle up. Glitter was floating in the water. “Is this safe to drink?”
“It’s edible glitter? So, yes, it’s fine.”
