“Hey, Dad.”
He spun; worry etched all over his face. “Are you okay? I tried to check on you, but you were out. Ariyon said it was the tincture.”
I nodded. “I’m fine. It was a total accident; I feel so stupid. It ruined a really fun night with my friends. But the tincture was a lifesaver.”
He heaved a dramatic sigh, his brows still bunched together in worry. “You’re lucky to work for that kind woman. We need an apothecary on the West Side. I’ll have to thank her.”
“She’s the nicest person I know,” I agreed.
My dad set some fresh fruit and hot cereal in front of me and looked me in the eyes. “Are you sure you can go to school today? No harm in skipping.”
I wanted to skip for the fact that I wouldn’t have to see Ariyon, Eden, and Hayes after last night, but I was feeling fine. Thank the Light Ayden was still out from school because I didn’t want to face him just yet. Whatever beautiful thing we’d built came crashing down last night when we both realized he couldn’t touch me. Now I had no idea where we stood.
“I’m good, I promise,” I told him.
He sat down next to me and began to eat his breakfast, looking at me curiously. “When I got home, Ariyon explained everything to me, and I went in with him to check on you. He reached out casually and pulled a chunk of hair away from your cheek and I almost punched him. I forgot he could touch you.”
I gave him a sad smile. “Yeah, it’s pretty wild.”
“I was jealous,” Dad said. “He can hug you and I can’t.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand, hard. “It’s the thought that counts,” I told him, and he nodded, knowing it wasn’t fully true. A full-on hug from my dad would be amazing. But it would never happen, so there was no sense in thinking about it.
Eden came over then to check on me, and we finished breakfast together and went to school.
On our walk, I asked her to level with me. “How awkward was it after I left?” I asked her.
She winced. “You played it off pretty well that you weren’t badly hurt, but when Ariyon was gone for two hours, we figured he was waiting for your dad to come home to explain things. Ayden kept saying he was an idiot and wasn’t thinking. He’s pretty distraught.”
I could imagine.
“I’ll have to talk with him, tell him it was fine. It happens.” I really didn’t want him to cancel going to the dance with me over this. I liked him, I did. But I also knew we were on shaky ground after last night, possibly killing something before it could even start.
She nodded. “Are you sad he can’t touch you like Ariyon can?”
I sighed. “Yes and no.”
“No?” She frowned.
For some stupid reason I liked that Ariyon was the only guy who could touch me. It made it special. But I felt like I was cheating on Ayden by thinking that, even though we weren’t a couple yet. We were in that fragile early phase. I asked him to a dance, he said yes. He asked me to make cookies and have dinner, I said yes. Then it all burst into flames as my body jerked on the floor from one touch. It was depressing.
“I don’t know. It’s a lot to process,” I admitted, and she nodded. “More importantly, did you invite Hayes to the dance last night?”
She grinned. “Yes.”
I stopped walking and faced her. “And!”
“He said yes!” she admitted, and we both started jumping up and down and squealing.
We skipped the rest of the way to school, laughing and grinning ear-to-ear, only stopping when I saw Ariyon at the front gates. He held something small in his palm and stared right at me intensely.
“I’ll see you in class.” Eden winked.
I nodded, walking up to Ariyon. “Hey.”
This was so awkward I wanted to die but I knew he might want to talk about last night. I was just grateful it wasn’t Ayden.
“You okay?” he asked.
