When, though nobody knew it—not even her—she became mine.
I never let it show. I worked hard to hide my feelings whenever I’d been around her, but God, it was getting impossible.
A flash of her smile could make my day. Watching her brush an errant lock of hair behind her ear set my soul on fire.
The nickname I’d given her, little moon, was the best secret I ever kept. Especially since she blushed when I called her that.
That day, though, worry carried me to her room, not my selfish need to see her.
The same nagging concern pulled me there night after night once I became an orphan and moved in with the Montgomerys.
But I digress.
Elowyn was alone, and I had to go to her.
She’d left the living room with her shoulders slumped, the dog she’d brought from the shelter trailing behind her.
Fuck, I hated seeing her walk out like that. Her pain hurt me on a visceral level. Her parents’ refusal to let the dog anywhere near them stung. And Barclay calling it gross? That lit something ugly in my chest.
None of it could show on my face.
Still, I’d wanted to run to her. To assure her that I, for one, don’t hate the adorable dog at all.
And the only way I could do it without raising red flags with the Montgomerys had been to wait a few minutes, then say, “I’m going to check on her. Be right back,” like I had in the past.
No one batted an eye.
I’d risen immediately, already set on the quiet minutes alone with Elowyn.
Now at the door to her bedroom, I rolled my shoulders, working the tension out of my body.
Deep breath, and I knocked.
A bark, then, “Come in.”
My lips pressed together as I stepped inside. I didn’t like hearing her voice like that—subdued, careful.
She shouldn’t be scared in her home.
Fuck me, I couldn’t wait for us to be older. For me to have a good job and my own place, somewhere Elowyn and I could be together. Where she wouldn’t have to be so damn considerate of everyone else’s feelings.
Her family weren’t bad people. I didn’t hate my best friend. But she deserved to smile every hour of every day, and it wasn’t happening in the Montgomery house.
Once it was appropriate, I vowed I’d take her out, do things the right way.
Then she’d have a safe, warm, loving place to rest.
With me.
I was too young to be considering marriage. It was too presumptuous to believe she’d say yes.
None of that made a difference to my heart, which beat for no one but her.
“Duncan.” In her school uniform, Elowyn crouched beside a mutt that rushed to hide behind her. The rapid blinking of her eyes told me she was just as scared. “You’re mad about the dog too?”
I’m mad all right, just not about the dog. I’m mad that you’re here instead of where the hell it is you want to be. That you’re basically being punished for being a good person. Most of all, I’m mad that I can’t hug you.
Since I couldn’t say any of that, I did the next best thing. Squatted next to her and reached out to pat the mutt’s brown coat when what I really wanted was to thread my fingers through Elowyn’s hair.
