“Why do you say that?”
“My life.” She gestures impatiently with her free hand. “It’s a mess. You all think so.”
“I don’t know about that. It’s your life. Are you happy?”
“I thought I was. And then I got here, and things slowed down. It showed me what I was missing.”
“What are you missing?”
Lyra takes a deep breath and I think she’s about to confess some secret dream about being an ambassador to the world, or even to take on more responsibilities at the castle.
I’m not prepared for what she says.
“You.”
38
Lyra
I
saidit.Ifinallysaid it.
I saidsomething. Not all of it, but it’s a start.
But will Spencer…
“I’ve missed you, too.” He stands in front of me, blocking the view, and brings a hand to push back a tendril of hair that escaped my ponytail.
His fingers brush my cheek.
“I missed having you in my life,” I correct. “I missed having someone to count on. Who believed in me. Who I could tell things to.”
“I kept every one of the letters you sent to me when I was away,” he says.
Hope bubbles in my chest. “Really?”
“Every single one of them. But then you stopped writing.”
“You had your life, and I wasn’t a part of it. I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I always wanted you, Lyra.” His thumb curves over my chin, so close to my mouth.
“Why didn’t this happen before?” I whisper, pressing my lips together in preparation for his kiss.
How do you prepare for a kiss you’ve been waiting your entire life for?
“It wasn’t the right time.” He doesn’t kiss me. Instead, Spencer brings our joined hands to his mouth and presses his lips against my knuckles, bowing his head.
I lean into him, feeling the warmth of his body so close to mine. “Do you think this is our moment?” I breathe.
His cups my cheek, his thumb stroking along my jaw. “If it is, I don’t want to mess it up.”
“You could hurry it up,” I suggest. “Maybe you could—”
“There’s a picnic,” he says, looking over my shoulder.
“What?”
