Poppy nodded solemnly.“This is only deciding whether you’re brave enough to let him keep it.”
The room fell silent.
Bea’s heartbeat thudded painfully in her chest.
“I’m frightened,” she confessed.
Georgie squeezed her hand.“Good.Only idiots aren’t frightened when it matters.”
“It matters,” Bea whispered.
“Of course it does,” Poppy said.“You’re not deciding whether to tell him you fibbed about your age or hid a letter from another suitor.You’re deciding whether to give him the truth that defines you.”
Bea rubbed her hands over her face.“What if he can’t accept it?”
“Then he doesn’t deserve you,” Georgie said instantly.
“What if he thinks I used him?What if he believes I kissed him to manipulate him?What if he?—”
“What if he doesn’t?”Poppy countered.
Bea froze.
Poppy shrugged.“What if he chooses you?What if he listens?What if he understands?”
“What if he admires you even more?”Georgie added.
“That seems unlikely.”Bea blew out a shaking breath.
“It isn’t,” Georgie insisted.“He defended you last night in front of two dozen powerful men.He risked everything to support you.”
Poppy nodded.“He looked at you as if you hung the moon.”
Bea frowned.“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to,” Poppy replied, looking dreamy again.“I can just imagine it.Admit it, he’s smitten with you.”
“Him being smitten isn’t the issue,” Bea said, stalking toward her window.“I have a much larger problem.”
“You are the problem,” Georgie said cheerfully.“And the solution.”
Bea thunked her forehead lightly against the glass.
Poppy rose and stood behind her, resting her hand on Bea’s shoulder.“Listen.You’re allowed to be terrified.But you shouldn’t lie to yourself.”
Bea closed her eyes.“What am I lying about?”
“That you trust him,” Poppy said, then added gently, “at least a little.”
Bea’s throat tightened until she could barely breathe.“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Then,” Georgie said, “it is time to find out.”
Bea turned to face her friends.
Poppy and Georgie both looked at her with the quiet, fierce solidarity only true friends possessed.“We are the members of The Wallflowers’ Revolt, are we not?”Georgie asked.
Bea stared at them, heart pounding.Trust him.Or let him go.Two choices.Both terrifying.Both irreversible.
