Page 314 of Reign

That earns another laugh from me.

She looks back, delighted by the sound. “You know I’m right.”

“You’re not even close.”

“Then what happened?”

I could make her keep guessing. I enjoy watching her invent entire lives for strangers based on a single expression, filling whatever she doesn’t know with the most dramatic explanation available.

But I know this story, and I want to tell her.

“The brunette and the man dated in high school,” I say.

Her attention sharpens instantly.

“High school sweethearts?”

“For three years. They planned to attend the same university until she received a scholarship across the country. He wanted her to stay. She refused.”

“Good for her.”

“I thought you’d say that.”

“What happened?”

“She left. They tried long distance for six months, fought constantly, then ended it.”

I nod toward the blonde.

“The women met during their first week of college. They told everyone they were roommates for two years.”

Elena gasps. “They were not roommates.”

“No. They were sleeping together before they finished unpacking.”

“Stop.”

“I’m telling you what happened.”

She twists farther on my lap, fully invested now.

“The brunette came home for a wedding a few years later,” I continue. “She brought the blonde with her.”

“And he was there?”

“He was.”

“Oh, that had to be awkward.”

“It wasn’t. The three of them spent most of the reception together. By the end of the night, the women invited him back to their hotel.”

Her mouth falls open.

I’ve never enjoyed telling this story as much as I do now.

“So there wasn’t an affair?”

“No.”