Spencer has been my escort, date, babysitter, warden. He was my confidant,mybest friend when I need him, and my girlhood crush.
And my teenage—andtwentysomething—fantasy.
Spencer makes me laugh more than anyone else, other than Kate. He gets me more than anyone,evenKate. He’s always been there, standing there, watching me from the shadows.
And now he’s not, because Abigail Locke came home with Bo’s wife Hettie, and Spencer decided he was in love with her.
Abigail, not Hettie.
It’s a long story, and one I don’t have the bandwidth for right now.
“Lyra,” Kate chides, pulling me back from family drama, starring Spencer.
“That is the voice of the personal secretary of the royal family, not my best friend,” I point out.
“Can’t I be both?”
“Not tonight you can’t.”
I hear her sigh of exasperation, but I can’t see the rolling of her eyes because I’ve turned to my closet, surveying what shoes to take.
“I’m heading to Odin’s first thing in the morning, so I will explain everything to him,” I promise Kate, dumping an armful of shoes on the bed. “He, of all people, should understand because he went on the show first, but of course, he’ll want to forget all about that. But I’ll tell him he gave me the idea, which will make him happy. He’s always wanted me to follow in his footsteps like a good little sister.”
“No, he hasn’t.”
“No, he hasn’t,” I agree. Odin may be a little stick-up-the-butt-ish for my liking, but he has always been an exemplary big brother.
They all are.
They just don’t understand me.
Like living in Chicago. No one has any idea what brought me to the Windy City—except maybe Spencer.
He might be able to figure it out. If I wanted him to.
“Want to explain it to me?”
I turn back to the screen at Kate’s question. “I told you.”
“You said it will be fun.”
“It will be.”
“Lyra, you’re planning on putting yourself out there on television. You’re going to have to be vulnerable—”
“I can be vulnerable.”
“Your shell is harder than an M&M left outside in January,” Kate points out. “You are one tough cookie.”
“Are you trying to make me hungry?”
“And you don’t let anyone in,” she finishes.
“I letyouin.”
“Because you had no choice. No one wanted to play with you because you’re a princess, and no one wanted to play with me, because half of my family are the pariahs of Battle Harbour.”
She does have a point. It was in kindergarten that we bonded as outsiders and if I ever became queen, the first thing I would do is exile that half of Kate’s family.
