21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Bri
When Drew had settled down next to Bri on the giant beanbag underneath the stars, his body weight had made the beanbag dip enough that she rolled into him. While her brain might not have fully understood what was going on between her and Drew, it seemed her body had a reaction of its own whenever he was around, and being cuddled up against his side pulled an involuntary shiver out of her.
Again, Bri didn’t know how to think or what to feel. It was like she was a magnet, drawn to him whether she wanted to be or not.
With her head pressed against his chest, she could hear the rapid beating of his heart, matching her own. She realized she wasn’t alone in her feelings, his quickened heart rate revealing his body reacted in a similar way to hers when they were together. Maybe one day they would be able to talk about how they were both feeling and move past these confusing emotions, but for now, she decided to enjoy this cuddle session with her fake fiancé.
They lay in each other’s arms for a while before Bri finally spoke.
“Do you remember the first time you ever brought me here?”
“How could I forget?”
She sighed happily. “I’ve always remembered the story you told me that night about Andromeda and Perseus. You told me one day you wanted ‘a love story so beautiful, people would make a constellation about it and tell our story for generations to come.’”
He turned his head to look at her. She tilted her head to look at him, their noses so close they almost touched. “I can’t believe you remember what I said. That was almost ten years ago.”
She blushed slightly, nuzzling her cheek against his rock-hard chest. “I think about that story and what you said every time I look up at the night sky. You know I love traveling and not being locked down in one place, and I’ve never been sure if love would fit that lifestyle. But the more I think about what you said that night, I feel like I may want a love like that too.”
“What made you change your mind?” He pressed his cheek against the top of her head.
“I could never get over your whole ‘beacon of love’ comment. It made me realize we’ve both grown up with beacons of love to look up to—our parents. We’re lucky to have such good role models for what true, sacrificial love looks like because we’ve seen it day in and day out. I want to be able to show my future children and every kid who looks up to the monarchy to hold out for love like that too.”
With his cheek pressed against her head, she could feel a smile pulling at his lips. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. That’s still what I’m holding out for.”
“I’m sure you’ll find it,” she whispered. For some reason, thinking about him finding love with someone else made her heart twinge. But that was ridiculous. There was no reason for her to feel jealous or upset about him finding love. Bri should be happy for her best friend. Trying to play it cool and avoid her feelings, she said, “Isn’t it every girl’s dream to marry someone like you?”
“Not the only one who matters,” she heard him mutter under his breath.
“What was that?” she asked, trying to make sense of why he would say that.
Drew’s body stiffened against hers. “I said, ‘Not the only one who matters.’”
She was surprised he repeated the words he’d spoken, thinking he hadn’t meant for her to hear them.
He sighed exaggeratedly. “You know how it goes. If it’s someone’s dream to marry royalty, they probably shouldn’t. I only meant I don’t think the one for me would necessarily dream of marrying me—at least until they got to know me.”
Bri huffed out a laugh.
“I’m irresistible once someone gets to know me.”
She squeezed his side, and he twisted away from her.
“More like irritating.” Bri lightly patted his stomach, only to be distracted by the flat planes of his ab muscles. When she realized she had stopped playfully hitting him and started grazing the tips of her fingers against his abdomen, she flushed and pulled her hand back immediately, sitting up. “I’m ready for some watermelon.”
She moved to the picnic blanket and got busy making a plate with a few pieces of watermelon, hoping he wouldn’t notice her hands were shaking.
“I could go for a snack.” He joined her, adding a soft pretzel and cheese sauce to his plate. “Are you sure you’re not just thirsty?” Drew poured her a glass of peach tea and extended it to her.
She set down her watermelon and took the cup from him. After taking a sip, Bri held the glass in front of her like a defensive barrier. She swallowed hard, embarrassment coursing through her veins. He totally noticed she’d been feeling his abs.
Of course he noticed. It’s practically impossible not to be aware of someone running their fingers across your stomach.
She tried to play the situation off as though it were a joke. “Why, thank you. I was parched.”
His lips cocked up to one side in his signature grin. “Next time you want to touch my abs, you only have to ask.”
Bri sputtered on her sip of tea, coughing as it went down the wrong pipe. When she finally felt like she could get a full breath again, she held a hand to her chest. “I don’t want to touch your abs.”
“You made a pretty convincing argument saying otherwise back there.” He motioned to the beanbag.
She shoved his shoulder. “You know how there are times when it’s kind to not say what you’re thinking because it could make someone else feel uncomfortable? This is one of those times.”
“Well, I guess that’s why you said I’m irritating instead of courteous.” Then he winked at her.
Bri pressed her lips together to keep from laughing as she shook her head.
“So, what would you rate them?” He tore off a piece of his pretzel and dipped it into the cheese sauce before popping it into his mouth.
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “I haven’t tried the pretzels yet, so I can’t really say.”
“Not the pretzels.” He smirked, looking pleased with himself. “My abs.”
She couldn’t help it; a belly laugh erupted out of her. “You want me to rate your abs ?” Bri asked between gasping breaths, still giggling. “How many abs do you think I’ve felt in my lifetime to be able to accurately rate yours?” A blush climbed her neck. “I might need to find some more test subjects. I’ll give you a solid seven until I’ve found others to compare to yours. Maybe some of your palace guards will be amenable.”
His eyes took on a steely expression. “I don’t want your hands on any other man’s abs.”
She was caught off guard by his change of tone and how protective and jealous he seemed. Bri took a bite of watermelon before responding. “Fine, I’ll upgrade your score to a nine, but that’s my final offer. Now, enough talk about abs. Tell me about your week.”
His features lightened. “I can accept a nine.” He ate another piece of his pretzel. “My week was good. Dad had me attend a few more meetings with him. It’s interesting to see a little more behind the curtain. I’ve spent my whole life being trained for this role, but you never really know what it actually entails until you start living it.”
She frowned. “I’m sorry I haven’t asked about that lately. I can’t believe your parents want to pass the throne to you so early.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “You don’t need to apologize. I still can’t believe it myself most days. I’m twenty-three—”
“Almost twenty-four,” she piped in.
“I’m almost twenty-four , and I never imagined ruling so young. I’m worried my people and other rulers in Fenimore won’t take me seriously.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “First of all, if they don’t take you seriously, that’s on them. I believe you’re going to be the best monarch Glencrest has ever seen. You take your work seriously, and you dedicate so much of yourself to ensuring the well-being of your citizens. Secondly, look at King Liam of Wistonia. He was only twenty-six when he ascended the throne, and he wasn’t very well-liked or respected by his people until after his dating competition aired.”
He let out a long sigh, and his shoulders visibly lowered. “You have this way of talking me off the ledge when no one else can.”
“You also rarely share how you’re feeling with anyone. Even I don’t know everything going on in that brain of yours.” She took another bite of watermelon before wiping her hands on a napkin. “I know you like to take care of everyone around you—sometimes to your own detriment. But when you’re so focused on everyone else, you tend to close up and not let anyone in.” Bri leaned over and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. “It’s okay to not always be the strong one. You can always tell someone else—me—what you’re going through.”
Drew pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of it. He’d kissed her there in formal settings plenty of times over the years, but it hit differently now, knowing how his lips had felt pressed against hers. His lips gently grazing her knuckles sent a tingling sensation up her arm and had her feeling flushed. As if everything between them wasn’t already perplexing enough, now her body had to add more confusing reactions to the mix.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” He dipped his pretzel into the sauce and took another large bite out of it.
She ate another slice of watermelon, trying to appear unaffected. When she looked back over at him, she stifled a laugh. “You have a little cheese…” She motioned to the corner of her mouth, mirroring where a glob of cheese sauce remained on his face.
He swiped at his cheek. “Did I get it?”
“Not quite.” She started reaching her free hand out. “May I?”
He nodded, so Bri leaned over and wiped the rogue cheese sauce from the corner of his mouth. His pupils dilated, and his lips parted, making him appear both surprised at her touch…and eager. He seemed to be as affected by her touching his face as she had been by his kiss on her knuckles. She debated licking it off her finger but refrained, wiping it on her napkin instead.
It made her think of the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . If she licked the cheese sauce off her finger, Drew would likely look at her lips. If he looked at her lips, she would look at his. If she looked at his lips, Bri would wonder what a real kiss from him would feel like.
And she couldn’t think about sharing a genuine kiss with him. When they’d had their practice kiss, she knew he had held back—for all the same reasons she had. We’re best friends. This is fake. We don’t want to ruin our friendship. We can’t break our rules. But the more time they spent together, the more attracted to him she was becoming. And if he kissed her for real, she wasn’t sure their relationship would ever be the same again.
However, the idea of settling down with a serious relationship was only now starting to not feel stifling. She would never forgive herself if she risked their lifelong friendship to see if it could become something more, only to realize she wasn’t willing to say goodbye to her adventurous lifestyle or she didn’t have feelings for him beyond friendship after all.