“Ay, Fallon’s here,” Ariyon yelled behind him and then opened the door wider to let me in.
I shook my head. “I’ll stay out here.”
Ariyon frowned as Ayden rushed to the door wearing a huge grin.
“Wanna talk in the garden?” I asked him.
He nodded, shutting the door on Ariyon’s worried face, and then scooped his hand into my gloved one, squeezing hard. Hug hard.
A tear fell down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly, unsure I was going to be able to do this. How did you break up with the nicest guy you’d ever met?
We walked to the bench in the garden and sat down, Ayden finally turning to face me. When he saw my tears, he froze.
“Are you okay?”
I sighed, facing him. “I like yousomuch. I need you to know that.”
“No,” he whispered as if he knew what was happening and pulled his hand from mine.
“Ayden, we can’t kiss, we can’t make children, you can’t even hug me. This won’t last. Your needs won’t get fulfilled, and I will feel guilty, and you will resent me—”
“I wouldn’t,” he interjected lamely, though it sounded like he didn’t even believe it himself.
I laughed. “We’re so young, you say that now, but you can’t do this forever.” I held up a gloved hand to indicate what I was talking about.
He stared out into the garden for a full minute, not speaking, as I sat beside him, also not saying a word.
He finally turned to look at me and seeing his steel-grey eyes, hinting towards ocean blue, my stomach flipped over nervously. “Can we try, Fallon? Can we just try to see if we can make it work? Ireallylike you.”
In that moment I knew that I owed this to him. Ariyon was a lost cause, drinking at school, kissing Blair every second he had. He went from hating me one second to staring at my lips the next. I couldn’t do that. I needed stable. I needed someone who was sure about how they felt about me.
I needed Ayden.
“Okay, let’s try.” I smiled and his hand slipped into mine. “But if it becomes too much or either of us can’t do it anymore, it’s okay.” I knew one day this would get old and he’d no longer want to just hold my gloved hand.
He squeezed my hand and looked over at me. “If I could kiss you, Fallon Bane…you’d never try to break up with me again.”
I tipped my head back in laughter. “Oh, you think one kiss would seal the deal?”
He nodded. “You’d be hooked for life.”
“I can’t technically break up with you if I’m not your girlfriend,” I reminded him. We had never really talked about this. After the cookie incident he was so scared of hurting me it seemed like we were friends that just held hands. But I guess that’s all you could do with me, so now I was questioning everything.
The shocked look on his face told me I’d said the wrong thing. “You’re not my girlfriend?”
I winced. “I mean, if you want me to be. But you never officially asked and…”
“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked suddenly, and I smiled.
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.
What was I doing? I’d come over here to break things off with him because I was having feelings for his brother and now, I’d just sealed the deal on our relationship. But the reality was that Ariyon was emotionally unavailable and a more complex creature than I knew how to deal with. And having feelings for a guy who was the only one in the realm who could touch you was normal. Especially when he had the exact same face as your boyfriend.
Boyfriend. I had a boyfriend. Holy Fae.
“I should get back. My dad was hurt at work today—”
“Is he okay?” Ayden sat up erect, concern etched on his face.
