19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Drew
Drew scoured through his closet, attempting to find a t-shirt and sweatpants that wouldn’t completely swallow Bri. He selected a navy t-shirt with a chest pocket from one shelf and then rifled through his small collection of sweatpants until he found an older pair that had shrunk slightly.
He carried the pile over to Bri. “Here, I think these will fit you best.”
She jumped when he spoke and turned to look at him with slightly flushed cheeks. “I’ll be right back.” Bri walked into his bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
I wonder what made her so jumpy.
She’d been standing in front of his desk, so he stepped toward it to investigate. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the picture of her from their mountain hike. The one that he had as her contact photo in his phone. The one she didn’t know he’d taken.
He grabbed the frame from his desk and tucked it into one of the drawers. Drew rubbed the back of his neck as anxiety coursed through him.
I really hope she didn’t see the photo. I don’t know how I would explain having taken it—let alone displaying it on my desk.
He looked back up as he heard the bathroom door open. The moment Bri stepped out of the bathroom wearing his clothes would forever be ingrained in his brain.
Drew couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. Seeing her standing there in his sweats and shirt did something inside him he couldn’t explain. He was weak in the knees and breathless at the mere sight of her. Bri was his entire world, and he knew he could never go back to being just friends .
“This is perfect. Thanks.” She pointed back to the bathroom. “I threw my shirt in the trash and my leggings into your laundry bin. I hope that’s okay.”
He nodded, willing his brain to stop staring at her. After mentally shaking himself, he said, “Ready to head to the observatory? We can send for some food when we get there.”
She nodded, so Drew led them out of his room, down the hall, and up a set of stairs into the palace’s east wing. When they arrived at the observatory, Drew didn’t feel the sense of peace rush over him like he usually did. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the spot where he’d kissed Bri a few short weeks ago.
The whole palace was becoming overrun with memories of her. If she ended up leaving at the end of this rather than staying with him for real, he would never be able to escape her.
Bri’s eyes glittered with excitement as she stepped into the room next to him. He watched her as she took in the setup he’d prepared earlier this morning. A giant memory foam beanbag and throw blanket lay in the middle of the hardwood underneath the large glass dome. A picnic blanket covered the floor just in front of the beanbag, ready for them to eat their dinner once the food arrived.
“You did all this for me?” She looked up at him in awe, and he nodded. “How did you have time? We were gone all day.”
“I planned ahead and had the staff set it up while we were at the race.”
Her eyes searched his, like she was trying to find the missing answer to an extremely important question. Drew did his best to school his expression. It was too early to reveal his true feelings for her. He didn’t want to scare her away by saying Hey, I’ve been in love with you for a decade .
Maybe tonight, lying together underneath the stars, would be a good time to test the waters. He could accidentally have his shoulder or hand brush hers to see how she reacted.
Drew led them over to the beanbag, and Bri fell onto it, her arms spread wide.
“I’ve always wanted to do that.” She giggled.
He laughed with her before pulling out his phone. “Now I have a very important question for you. What do you want for dinner?”
“Oooh, let’s see.” She tapped her lip with her finger. “I could go for a burger and fries.”
“This is why we’re friends.” He grinned at her, typing the order into his phone for two cheeseburgers and a basket of fries before sending it to his butler. Drew made sure to mention no onion and extra pickles on Bri’s burger. He sent a follow-up text, additionally asking for watermelon, peach tea, and some soft pretzels with cheese sauce. He knew soft, salty pretzels were one of Bri’s guilty pleasures. The butler texted back they would have it delivered shortly.
“All right, food will be here soon.” He set his phone aside and sat beside her on the beanbag, looking up through the large glass dome overhead.
“You’re the best.” She kept her gaze trained upward. “What constellations will be visible tonight?”
“It needs to get a little bit darker, but we should be able to see Hydra.”
“I don’t think you’ve told me the story of Hydra before.”
A small smile covered his face at her interest. “Hydra was a mythical sea serpent. It’s the largest constellation in the sky. There are two legends about it, but the one you likely know is the nine-headed monster, Hydra, killed by Hercules. If you cut off one of the heads, it would be replaced with another two.”
“Ah, just like the one from the movie?” She sat up and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Exactly.”
“I can’t wait to see it.”
“We have the best view of it in Glencrest during spring.”
They talked about a few more stars in the sky, and Drew was pointing out Polaris, the North Star, when a palace servant walked in pushing a cart of food.
Drew motioned him over to the picnic blanket and got up from the beanbag. He picked up the plates of burgers and put them on the blanket while the man carried over a tray of snacks and fries. Drew went back and grabbed a pitcher of peach tea, pouring glasses for each of them. The palace server offered him a stack of napkins before excusing himself from the room.
“Thank you,” Bri called out to him.
Drew helped pull her to her feet, and they both sat down on the picnic blanket.
“I’m so excited for this. I’m starving after all that running.” She smiled as she picked the burger up off her plate and lifted the top bun to inspect it. “You even remembered I like extra pickles and no onion.” Her grin widened. “And all my favorite snacks—even soft pretzels. Thank you.”
Of course he remembered. He knew Bri like the back of his hand.
“You’re welcome.” Drew lifted his burger to his mouth, taking a giant bite. Tangy barbecue sauce and salty notes of bacon danced around in his mouth.
“I’m going to have to try some more adventurous toppings next time,” she said as she took a bite.
“What kind of toppings do you consider to be adventurous ?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe a fried egg, jalape?o poppers, or onion rings.”
“So basically, anything fried?”
“What can I say? I love anything deep-fried.”
“You don’t say,” he teased. “What about peanut butter?”
“Peanut butter on a burger?” She grimaced. “That might be a little too out there for me. Would you try it?”
He shook his head adamantly. “Barbecue sauce and bacon is about as adventurous as I’m willing to get.”
“I’ll make an adventurer of you one day, Andrew Whitaker.”
If you say I’m yours, I’ll try anything you want. I’ll take you anywhere your heart desires. I’ll travel the world with you for the rest of my life.
“Maybe someday.” He shrugged nonchalantly while he grabbed a few fries and dipped them in ketchup. “Where are you headed for your next adventure?”
She ate another bite of her burger. “I really want to go to Banff. You should see the scenery there. It’s stunning.” She dipped a fry in what she referred to as fry sauce. “I wish you could come with me. You could row me around Lake Minnewanka, especially now that you’re a championship rower.” She shot him a playful smirk. “But I know it would be difficult to persuade you to leave work behind for a week. Spontaneous and Drew are two words I wouldn’t ever use together.”
“Hey, I can be spontaneous. I travel to other countries all the time.”
“Yeah, for official visits,” she chortled. “When was the last time you went somewhere for fun? When was the last time you went somewhere for you ?”
He took a sip of his tea and then pressed his lips together, thinking about it. He couldn’t come up with anything aside from official state visits, so he said, “We went to Edgemont last year to visit Rosalie.”
She shook her head, eating another few fries. “That doesn’t count, and you know it.”
“We’re flying to the French Open soon.”
“Which is a gift for me, not you.”
“Okay, you got me. I’m a boring, workaholic prince.” He finished off his burger and dug into the fries. “When are you planning to go to Banff?”
“I’m not sure.” Her smile faded. “It doesn’t feel right to leave when I’m engaged to you.” She used her fingers as air quotes when she said the word engaged . “Since we don’t know how long we’re going to have to keep up the act, it seems I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future.”
Stuck here . He didn’t want her to feel trapped. With her independent nature and adventurous spirit, she needed the space to spread her wings and fly.
“You know you’re not a prisoner here, right? You’re allowed to go home or take trips if you want to.”
She threw a French fry at him. “I know I’m not literally stuck here. But I would feel bad leaving you—you need me right now. You know the second Clarissa caught wind I was out of the country, she would be here in a heartbeat.”
He caught the fry and tossed it back at her, laughing. “You’re not wrong.”
They finished eating dinner, saving the snacks for later. When they sat on the beanbag and leaned back, Drew made sure he sat as close to the middle as possible, causing Bri to roll into his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Is this all right?” he whispered.
She shivered against him, and he watched her eyelashes flutter repeatedly. “Yeah.” Bri laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his middle.
He did his best to maintain his composure and keep his breathing steady. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure she would be able to feel it, hear it. He’d planned on a brief shoulder or pinky graze, but now they were in his favorite place—right in the spot where they’d shared their first kiss—cuddling under the stars.
She hadn’t shied away from his touch like he’d expected she would. Bri had embraced it. And Drew had no idea what it meant for them. All he knew was he was going to soak in every last minute of this night.