32. Amelia
CHAPTER 32
AMELIA
Today has been one of the longest days I’ve had since we came to the palace. The final wedding dress fitting and the last of the decisions for the wedding have been made. I get the feeling tonight is the last night Tristan and I will ever be normal again. It makes me sad, we had gotten into such a good routine, and now here we are. I haven’t even seen him today. Tomorrow night we won’t be sleeping with one another, so we have to make this count.
Entering the bedroom, I shut the door, sighing. The wood catches my weight as I slump back against it.
“Sounds like your day has been as long as mine.”
The deep tone of his voice is welcome, and I can’t help but smile. I’ve missed him, and all I’ve wanted to do all day is see him. “It has been.”
He comes walking out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, another towel scrubbing against his hair. “ I’m sick of everyone pulling at us from all different directions.” He throws the towel on the floor.
“I can see why you like it better at the house in the country,” I admit, reaching up to remove the pin holding my hair. It feels good to let the heavy mass down. My scalp throbs with soreness where it was secured. Pushing away from the door, I rub at the back of my neck as I walk closer to where he stands.
When I get within touching distance, he pushes his hands into my hair, massaging the soreness out. I moan loudly. This feels heavenly. “Don’t stop.”
There’s a deep chuckle in his chest. “Usually you’re saying those words and they have an entirely different meaning.”
I glance over my shoulder at him. “Don’t turn this into something it isn’t, Tristan. You have no idea how much my hair follicles hurt.”
He chuckles as he continues massaging my scalp. “Beauty is pain, Lia.”
I roll my eyes, turning around to face him. “Or so they say.”
He pulls me into his arms, running them up and down my body. Instead of the normal fall into passion it usually is, it’s soothing, calming me down from the crazy day I’ve had.
“In two days we’ll be married,” he whispers, a touch of awe in his voice. “Six months ago, it seemed so far away, and now it seems like it’s been nothing but a blink of our eyes.”
“I know,” I answer back, the same awe in mine. “Are we ready?” It’s a question I’ve been asking myself since we came back into the city. I don’t love it here as much as I thought I would. I guess I was under the impression I’d be a princess in a castle, but it’s not been that way at all. This is work, and I’m more than expected to pull my weight.
He sighs, brushing a kiss against my temple. If there’s anything I know, it’s that we’re a team against anyone who wants to tear us down. “We’re ready.” He tightens his arms around me. “I’m ready, I’m more than ready to be with you for the rest of my life. I’m unsure if we’re ready for the media onslaught and the invasion into our personal moments, though.”
Pulling back, I look up into his dark eyes. They’re the eyes I’ve come to love, the ones I’ve started looking for in crowded rooms, what I see when I turn over at night in bed. He seems to not sleep lately, either afraid he’s going to miss something, or maybe his brain is churning with all the things we must do. I don’t know, because I haven’t asked, and that’s my fault.
Something I’m going to correct.
“Are you okay?” I caress his neck, pulling my hand along his whisker-covered jaw.
The side of his mouth lifts up in a small smile. “Yeah, but I’m anxious.”
My stomach turns slightly, worry creeping in. “Anxious about what?”
“Not about you,” he’s quick to assure me. “For you. Like I know what comes with this life, I know what the people of this country are going to expect. You don’t.”
“But I do,” I argue. “I’ve lived here my entire life. Part of my life has been researching your family and knowing what’s expected of me. As your betrothed, I had classes. Granted they aren’t the same as real-world application, but I’ll get through it. What I don’t know, I’ll learn. That’s what Shannon and the others here are for. I want to make you proud, Tristan.” I lean in, kissing him quickly.
“You make me proud, no matter what you do. I can’t believe I’m going to have you beside me for the rest of my life.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to have you for the rest of my life either, but you have to promise me we’re going to work together.”
He nods. “It’s not something I’m used to. You have to understand.”
“I do understand.” Because I saw what happened when his mother died. I watched as his father kept a firm hand on the monarchy and I have to believe he did the same with his son. “At the same time, you have to tell me your feelings.”
“I know, and that’s not where I excel.” He grins, rocking back on his feet.
“Maybe there’s something we can do to work on that.” There’s an idea niggling at the back of my mind. One I want him to agree with.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Why don’t you get dressed in your comfy clothes, I’ll get dressed in mine, and we can meet right back here.”
His eyebrow quirks, but he nods. “Okay, I’m trusting you, soon-to-be wife.”
The fact I’m about to be his wife makes me happier than I ever imagined it would, to hear him say those words means everything to me. “If you give me your trust, I promise I won’t break it.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
Quickly I start changing into the clothes I like to lounge in. A weird thought crosses my mind. When we get married and move into the big bedroom here, do I have to stop wearing shorts and a T-shirt? I make a note to ask the question.
Brushing out my hair feels amazing, especially since it’s been up all day. I do the rest of my business faster than I normally do; I want to be with Tristan more than I want to do my nightly routine.
He’s lying in bed, waiting on me, making the best picture I’ve seen in a long time.
“Took you long enough,” he teases.
I give him a look.
“Ohhh there’s that sass.”
Climbing into bed, I face him, pulling my legs in front of me. Shifting around, I sit cross-legged, putting my hands underneath my chin. “I’ll show you sass.”
We stare at one another until he breaks into a smile.
“Okay, Lia, tell me what we can do to work on our feelings.”
“Each night before we go to bed, we reserve a few minutes for one another. We talk about our days, if something is bothering us, if something great happened. We have to communicate in order to have a successful marriage, and there’s no better way to communicate than to talk.”
“Oh I can think of a few other ways we can communicate.” He winks at me.
Giggling, I reach out, smacking his arm. “Stop, I’m being serious, Tris. I want our marriage to work. When the world looks at us, I want people to see a couple who truly loves each other. Partners in both life and work. I don’t want us to hate each other. ”
He grabs my hand, pulling it up to his mouth. The simple kiss he drops there is enough to make my heart flutter. “We’re never going to hate each other.”
There’s a part of me that wants to tell him not to make promises he may not be able to keep. “How do you know?”
“I don’t hate people I love.” He pushes my hair back from my face.
“People we love can be the first we hate,” I argue softly.
“Let’s not invite trouble where we don’t have any, Lia.”
I lean in, resting my head against his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his waist. He holds me tightly, and I know I’m never going to feel safer than I do in his arms.
“As long as we stand together, no one will be able to break us.” I swallow roughly. “We have to keep a united front, if we have a disagreement, it gets handled here. At night, where we can talk about it in the comfort of our own bedroom.”
“I promise.” He kisses my neck softly. “Do you?”
“I promise.” I kiss him on his neck.
We pull apart, he lays down, and I lay next to him, snuggling up to his side. I can smell the shampoo and body wash he uses; it’s become one of my favorite scents. The way his beard scratches against my forehead as he tucks my body in beside him.
“Our lives are going to change.” I play with the hem of the shirt he’s wearing.
“But it doesn’t mean we have to.”
In reality I know it won’t be so easy, it’s going to be work. But I’m willing to put in the work as long as he is.
I make a noise in my throat, grabbing his hand. Our fingers entwine together, and tonight as I drift off to sleep, I do it with a smile on my face.