—
Dylan
I heard voices in Saint’s room as I passed, making me pause to eavesdrop, but all I could make out was the timbre of male voices, not any actual words.
I knocked lightly with my knuckles and waited.
“Everything alright?” Colter answered, immediately stiffening.
“Yeah, fine. I just wanted to tell Saint that Syn went for a ride to clear his head. Didn’t want you to worry.”
“Thanks, babe,” Saint said from his spot at the desk.
“Everything alright here?”
“Yeah, we just finished a call with Slash. Wanted to update him.”
“Alright. Well… goodnight,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward, like I was on the outside.
Which I was, I reminded myself.
Even if we were working together on this, I wasn’t a part of the club. I wasn’t part of anything anymore. I was on my own. I needed to remember that.
I blinked at the sting in my eyes as I unlocked my door and unlatched Sugar’s leash.
It was as I was straightening that I saw it.
A big decorative box.
Huge, really.
I wasn’t even sure where you found a box like that.
It was covered in dainty little purple flowers.
I couldn’t help but wonder what about me suggested to Colter that some part of me had always been drawn to sweet little girly things.
I mean, I wore almost exclusively black. I was hard and thorny. I didn’t talk about anything stereotypically feminine. Because in the world I’d grown up in, feminine things were not only looked down on, but relentlessly ridiculed. I’d learned young to pretend not to like girly colors, patterns, or interests.
That said, did some part of me always ache for it?
Yes.
How did he know that?
Maybe he didn’t. I needed to believe he didn’t. Because it was easier to think he simply thought all girls wanted flowers than to assume he understood some unspoken, secret little part of me without me saying anything.
I flipped the lid off the box.
He’d gone with a theme like last time. But not yellow.
Lilac.
I reached for the pajamas first. The pattern was similar to the box on the soft robe and matching nightgown.
I’d never owned a nightgown.
Half my life, I simply slept in whatever I wore during the day. Then, as an adult, I just threw on a T-shirt and slept in that and my underwear.
