He smiles again, and I watch a spark dance in his dull eyes.
Even knowing he isn’t fully himself, there’s still something…lighter about him. I can’t help but wonder if it’s a mask—a way for him to forget about the pain he’s feeling. And if that’s what he needs tonight, then I’ll give that to him. If only for one night.
He can’t run from what happened in the Vale forever, but that doesn’t mean he needs to deal with everything right now.
“Brat,”I mutter through our connection.
At that, his smirk only grows wider.
It makes me think of a time when we did this for show, when I had no choice but to go along with pretending to be his fiancée and we had to make everyone around us believe our lie.
But it isn’t a lie anymore.
Adrian is back to drumming on the table with his hands, completely unaware of the tension thickening in the air between Graylen and me. Unaware of the way Graylen’s finger starts to play with the fabric of my dress on the inside of my thigh.
I’m two seconds away from dragging Graylen upstairs andstraddling him the way the woman in front of us is straddling that man.
But Graylen is so…happy. So free of that haunted glaze in his eyes that I don’t want this moment to end. Instead of pulling him into our room, I stick to teasing him instead.
“So, since we’re in Crea again, does that mean we’re back to pretending we’re engaged?”I send into his mind, my skin on fire in each place he touches.
I peek at him out of the corner of my eye, catching the way his shoulders shake slightly with silent laughter.
“Lunaria, there is no pretending this time,”he murmurs. The way he says my name…even in my mind, it sends a rush of heat through my entire body.
A blush spreads across my cheeks at the same time he chooses to turn his head and look at me. His gaze zeros in on the pinkness tinting my face, his eyes darkening and nostrils flaring. He leans toward me, his hand creeping higher on my thigh until my legs melt open for him. He smirks, and I know that little shit knowsexactlywhat he’s doing to me.
Well, two can play that game.
I turn my attention back to the dancing crowd, mimicking a bored expression as I slide my hand onto his chest, pressing it where his shirt gaps open. My fingers brush against his bare skin, finding the new scars peppered across his flesh.
Graylen sucks in a sharp breath, and I withdraw my hand. The spell of ease between us breaks. Did I hurt him? Or bring up the reminder of the things that happened to him in the Vale?
I sit back in my seat, kicking myself for ruining the moment.
Suddenly, Graylen grabs my hand and tugs it toward him as he whispers, “Dance with me.”
I blink, the words taking a minute to fully process.
“You want to…” I turn to him, our noses almost touching. I didn’t realize how close he had gotten. “Dancewith me?”
A prickle of frustration bites at my chest. I want nothing more than to pretend I’m not losing my magic and I’m still thegirl he fell in love with. But as his gaze meets mine, I can see that wariness in his eyes. There’s a pain that wasn’t there before, one I want to know more about. He seems content to ignore his problems, just as I do, and I’m starting to think that isn’t the right way to do it.
“If I didn’t know any better,” he mumbles, his eyes filled with mischief as he pushes himself up and offers me his hand, “I would say you’re scared of a little dance.”
I shake my head and send into his mind,“I’m scared of losing you.”
The admission slips through the cracks in my heart, pouring out from the darkest corners of fear I keep locked away. If we keep ignoring our problems, what will that mean for us long-term? Will we ever get to the place we used to be?
The light in his eyes dims, and I immediately want to bring it back.
I plaster on a smile and get to my feet. “Well, I suppose I’ll need to prove you wrong,little soldier,” I sass half-heartedly.
In front of us, Adrian grunts, slapping his empty cup onto the tabletop. “On that note, I will see you both in the morning.”
Graylen doesn’t question the obviously fake grin on my face, and that stings. He’s always called me out for not being real with him.
But he needs this.
