13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Drew
She was totally checking me out. Shout-out to past me for forcing myself to do an ab workout yesterday.
He didn’t know if she was playing up her reaction for the cameras, but regardless, she’d given him the look .
The complete up-down, her eyes roaming over him, a beautiful blush on her cheeks. It made him grin like a fool.
If she was attracted to him, maybe he had an actual chance with her. Maybe he had a shot at convincing Bri he was the right person to love her for the rest of her life.
She sucked in a gasp as he hugged her tightly, likely shocked by the cold water clinging to him. “You’re freezing, Drew,” Bri squealed in his arms.
He pulled his head back with a laugh and looked right into her eyes. “Then I guess I need you to warm me up.” Drew finally released Bri from his arms, not wanting to soak her dress. He could hear the clicking of paparazzi cameras around them.
She gazed up at him, looking shocked by his boldness. Before she could respond, Drew moved past her and hugged his parents. His mother kissed him on the cheek, and his father clapped him on the back.
“Congratulations, son.” His father’s smile was full of pride.
“We knew you could do it,” his mother added. She motioned her head toward Bri. “Especially with how loud your fiancée was cheering for you.”
He turned back to face Bri. “You were cheering for me, huh?”
Her cheeks tinged with pink. “Of course I was.”
His lips turned up at the corners, but they pulled back into a frown when he saw who was strutting toward them in a black gown better suited for a ballroom than a riverfront.
“Clarissa.” Drew’s mother, always prim and proper, greeted the unwanted guest. “It’s lovely to see you. I didn’t know you enjoyed the regatta.”
“I had to come cheer on my Andy.” Clarissa smirked before turning her attention to Drew. “You looked great out there. So buff and handsome.” She leaned forward and squeezed his arm as she bit her bottom lip.
Bri moved to his side, wrapping her arm around his middle and leaning her head against him. “He is buff and handsome, isn’t he?”
The words buff and handsome coming out of Clarissa’s mouth? Irritating.
The words buff and handsome coming out of Bri’s mouth? Exhilarating.
“Thanks for supporting Glencrest.” He offered the generic platitude to Clarissa, nothing more. “I hope you have safe travels home with your family.” Turning his back to her, he faced Bri. Drew motioned toward the crew’s tent. “I’m going to get changed into some dry clothes. Will you wait for me?”
Bri nodded. He brought her hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss to her knuckles. She sucked in a breath at his touch.
Oh, yes. She was definitely attracted to him. Finally .
As he walked toward the tent, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
Once inside, he stripped off his wet uniform, throwing it into a plastic bag. Drew changed into black suit pants and a white button-down before adding a tie and putting on a light-blue blazer with a pin of Glencrest’s flag on the lapel. He pulled on black socks and dress shoes before taking a look at himself in the mirror. His hair was wild, sticking out every which way. He did his best to smooth it down without any gel before heading out of the tent.
He started to move toward where he had left Bri, but someone from his crew grabbed his arm.
“Drew, they’re calling us up to present the trophy.”
The conversation he wanted to have with Bri would have to wait until later. He begrudgingly followed his crew up onto the stage. As Glencrest accepted the championship trophy, Drew scoured the audience until he found who he was looking for. Bri stood in the middle of the crowd, and he locked in on her, smiling at her as she beamed back at him.
That smile alone was what made him feel like a champion today.
As Drew walked to the observatory, he couldn’t help but think his favorite room in the palace was the perfect place to talk to Bri about how they were feeling about their engagement. She was supposed to meet him there at ten, and since everyone else had gone to bed, they hopefully wouldn’t be interrupted.
When he reached the room, Drew placed the bowl of watermelon and pitcher of sweet tea he carried on a small table between two recliners. He looked up to the starry night sky, perfectly visible on this cloudless night through the glass dome above.
He let out a sigh, relieved to be in his happy place. Drew’s eyes wandered around the room, taking in the desk against one curved wall, where he often worked when he wanted a change of scenery from his study. The remaining walls featured curved built-in bookshelves filled to the brim with rolled-up maps and books about the solar system that were far older than him or even his father.
Drew turned when he heard footsteps. Bri walked into the room wearing a beige crewneck sweatshirt, black joggers, and her signature white platform tennis shoes, her hair up in a ponytail. She looked beautiful.
“I’m glad we’re finally getting some time to hang out. It feels like it’s been forever since we had time just the two of us.” She looked at the table in front of him. “Ooh, watermelon and sweet tea? You spoil me.”
Bri settled into a recliner and ate a cube of watermelon. Drew couldn’t help but stare as she licked the juice from her fingers. He blinked himself out of his stupor as she grabbed another piece.
Drew grabbed two cups from a cabinet in the corner of the room and sat down in the open recliner. He motioned to the sweet tea. “Want a glass?” She nodded, so he poured some for each of them, setting her glass on the table and taking a long drink from his. “Also, this isn’t spoiling you. You’re doing me a favor, and I’m providing you with your favorite snack and drink. If someone’s going to spoil you, you deserve a lot more than this.”
She took a sip, but he saw the smile on her lips. “So, what do you want to talk about? Were you going to try to show me proof of your space fact today—that Venus spins in the opposite direction of all the other planets?”
He chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on it, but isn’t that cool? That means the sun rises in the west and sets in the east there.”
Bri shook her head at him as she laughed. “You and your space knowledge.”
“You know you love it.” Drew ran his hand through his hair. “Anyway, I do want to hang out, but I also have a question for you.”
She looked over at him expectantly. “Go ahead.”
He looked down, scared to speak the words. “Do you think we should practice?”
“Practice what?” Bri asked, popping another piece of watermelon into her mouth.
He pressed his lips together, trying to think of the right word to convey his thoughts without sounding too over-the-top. “Being…cozy together.”
She looked at him quizzically. “You’re going to have to spell it out for me, Drew. What exactly does it mean for us to practice being cozy ?”
Drew wrung his hands. “We have our engagement photos tomorrow, and I don’t know if they will make us…if we will have to…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. “Do you think they’ll want us to kiss for a picture?” Drew felt like he was in middle school, whispering the words.
There would be absolutely zero problems from his end. He would love to kiss her—something he’d been dreaming about for the past decade. But he didn’t want his first kiss with her to be for the sake of a picture. He wanted it to be on their terms—because they both wanted it.
Bri stopped moving, her hand stalling mid-air on the way to the plate of watermelon between them. “You think they would make us kiss? Most of the royal sphere is opposed to PDA.”
“We both know that’s less of a rule in Glencrest and Westridge, thanks to our lovestruck parents.” Both of their parents had been so in love that PDA from the royal family had become more of a common occurrence in their countries.
He stood and looked up through the domed glass ceiling of the observatory into the clear, starry night sky. “Our palace photographer will be taking the photos. The press team will release the standard formal engagement portrait to news outlets. However, I think they’ll expect to take more personal photos for us to remember our engagement. What are we going to do if she asks us to kiss for a photo tomorrow?”
She tapped her nails on the leather arm of the recliner. “Well, we can’t have it look like we’ve never kissed before. That would definitely give everyone something to talk about.”
Drew’s gaze shot back to her. “What do you suggest we do?”
“Exactly what you said we should do.” She stood and joined him in the middle of the room, underneath the stars. “Practice.” Her voice was breathless, and a slight blush covered her cheeks.
He stepped closer to her, placing one hand at the nape of her neck and cupping her cheek with the other. He looked her in the eyes, waiting for her consent to take the final step. She gave him a slight nod, and that was all the encouragement he needed.
Drew tentatively pressed his lips to hers, soft and gentle, the barest whisper of a kiss. The sweet taste of watermelon on her lips nearly did him in. He wanted to dive in deeper, kiss her with all the love and affection he’d held back for so long, but Drew didn’t want to scare her away. Instead, he pulled back before the kiss had barely even started.
It was the kind of kiss that shouldn’t have any major effect on a person, but to Drew it was earth-shattering. His world tilted on a new axis now, only spinning for her. If he thought he’d been in love with Bri before, he knew it with complete certainty now. He would wait forever for her.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “You good?”
“Mm-hmm,” Bri murmured, though she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I just need a second.” She placed her hands on his stomach, resting perfectly on his abs before drawing in a gasp and dropping them as if she’d been burned. “Sorry.” She rested her head on his chest, taking in long, slow breaths.
Drew gently grasped her hands in his. “You don’t need to apologize.” After giving her a minute to gather her thoughts, he squeezed her hand. “Want to talk about it?”
She released a puff of air, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “I can’t even look at you. How do you expect me to talk about kissing my best friend?”
There was the word he was starting to loathe. Friend . It sliced Drew’s heart like a dagger. He wanted to be so much more than that.
“I’m the same Drew you were talking to three minutes ago.”
“You’re right.” Bri finally stood straight and peeked up at him. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He smiled at her. “Do you want to sit and talk now?”
She nodded, and he led her over to a small loveseat, barely big enough to fit the two of them.
His shoulder and knee brushed against hers as he said, “I’m sorry, Bri. I shouldn’t have suggested we—”
“It’s okay,” she said, placing her hand on his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “If we were a real couple, holding each other close and kissing would be a usual thing for us.”
“I know, but we said no PDA unless it’s necessary to keep up our fa?ade, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way.” He pulled his hand back and rubbed it along the scruff covering his chin.
“It’s fine, Drew. I overreacted. It was barely even a kiss, right?”
Yes, but it was still one of the best moments of my life.
“Right,” he lied. His eyes roamed over her, taking in her tense shoulders and tight smile. “Are you okay? How are you feeling about…all this?”
“It’s…confusing.” Bri sighed. “I don’t want things to be confusing between us, Drew. You’re my best friend, and I don’t want that to change after this charade is over.” She looked down at her lap.
It’s not an act. This is all real. I love you.
“I already told you nothing’s going to change. You’re never going to lose me, Bri. You mean too much to me,” he said with every ounce of sincerity he could muster.
She leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his middle. He hugged her back, releasing a relieved sigh at her touch. “Do you mind if I ask you what’s confusing about it?” he whispered into her ear.
Please, just tell me you wish this wasn’t fake, and then everything can be real.
Bri was quiet for a minute, so he rubbed small, soothing circles on her back.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet, almost shy. “I guess it’s weird acting one way in front of people and another behind closed doors. It’s getting hard to tell the difference between fiction and reality.”
“How about we pull a Katniss and Peeta? You can ask me anytime if something is real or not real .”
“You know I love it when you talk about my favorite books.” She laughed.
Drew leaned down to look her in the eyes. “Or I could tell you right now that I would never say or do something I didn’t mean. You’re the most important person in my life, Bri.”
Her laughter came to a sudden stop. Bri’s expression softened as she looked at him. “You’re my favorite person too.”
“Whoa.” Drew held his hands up, eyes wide. “I never said anything about you being my favorite,” he teased, gently nudging her shoulder.
She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You’re the worst. You know you love me.”
I sure do.