24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Drew
When Drew woke up the next morning, Bri’s head was in his lap. One of his hands rested on her arm, and the other was tangled in her hair. It felt domestic, like they were an old married couple who had fallen asleep watching a movie together for the hundredth time.
He didn’t want to wake her up, but there was no way he was going to get out of this position without jostling her. If he had the time to let her sleep, he would. He knew better than anyone how Bri needed a full night’s rest to be a functioning adult, but he had a full schedule today.
Drew brushed stray strands of hair away from her eyes, tucking them behind her ear before rubbing his hand along her arm in gentle strokes.
“Bri,” he whispered, and she started to stir.
Her eyelids fluttered a few times before they slowly opened. When her chocolate-brown eyes landed on his, they widened, and she sat up with a renewed burst of energy.
“What happened?” Her eyes darted around the living room like she was trying to remember where she was.
“Everything’s okay. We fell asleep during the movie. I’m sorry to wake you, but I need to get going. My agenda is full today before we leave to visit your family this evening.”
Bri yawned, making Drew feel even worse for waking her. “I’m sorry for keeping you.”
Drew got to his feet and helped pull her up from the couch. He slipped on his shoes and carried their empty bowl of popcorn over to the sink before meeting her at the door.
They stepped outside together, and he watched Bri as she looked around at the guards he had watching over Hillside Cottage. She might think it was excessive that he’d assigned ten palace guards to protect her home, but no amount of protection would ever be excessive in his eyes when it came to Bri’s safety.
She turned back to face him. “Isn’t this a little…overkill?”
“ Nothing is overkill for you.”
She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but he cut her off.
“I should go. I’ll see you for dinner.”
He leaned in and kissed her temple. It was the briefest of touches, barely a whisper of his lips pressed to her skin, but it affected his entire body, filling him with an electric buzz. It felt like a sweet sugar-induced hangover that could only be cured by her hand in his, her lips on his. Bri was the cause and the cure.
His body tensed as he pulled back, already missing the nearness of her. Drew started the ten-minute walk to the palace without a glance back.
He went through the motions of the day, but his mind always wandered back to Bri. When he’d finished his final meeting, Drew was tired, but the realization that it was finally time to see Bri again filled him with a new bout of energy.
With hurried steps, he approached the family dining room, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Clarissa standing in the hallway, blocking his path.
“Andy,” she cooed, sauntering over to him the moment she spotted him.
He instantly clenched his teeth. She was like the human embodiment of getting a cavity filled. Being around her made him feel tense and grated on his nerves.
“It’s been far too long since we’ve seen each other. I’ve missed you.” Clarissa pouted and swatted his arm. She moved closer and closer to him until he was cornered up against the wall.
“I hope you’ve been well, Clarissa,” he gritted out as he moved to the side, trying to keep his distance.
“Come on, Andy. You don’t have to keep up this little charade around me. I know it’s me you want.” She draped herself on his arm like cheap curtains.
He took a step away, and she had to catch herself to keep from falling. Drew didn’t even care. All his royal training went out the window. Pure determination and honesty took over as he said, “Let me be very, very clear. I. Love. Bri. I always have. I always will.”
Love had always felt like a big word…but with Bri, it didn’t feel big enough. It didn’t encompass the depth of his feelings for her.
His face must’ve had the truth written all over it because Clarissa’s flirtatious smile faltered slightly before she put on a confident grin. “You don’t have to put on a show just because she can hear you. I know none of this is real.”
Drew whipped his head around. He spotted Bri standing a few feet behind him. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, likely frustrated with how Clarissa acted around him even though they were engaged. But her eyes… Her chocolate-brown eyes were focused solely on him, looking into his in a way that made him feel naked.
He was sure she could see straight into his heart—that she would realize it beat only for her. Drew dropped his gaze, still unwilling to share the depths of his soul with her when he wasn’t sure his feelings would be reciprocated.
Except. Had she been standing there when he’d told Clarissa he always had and always would love Bri? He shuffled his feet, feeling completely vulnerable in front of the woman he loved and the woman he was desperately trying to get away from. When he peered back up at Bri, she was taking unwavering, deliberate steps toward him with a look on her face he’d never seen in all the years he’d known her.
She stopped right in front of him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his. Drew was utterly shocked, but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to kiss her like he’d been wanting to for weeks, months, years .
Without an ounce of hesitation, he placed one hand on her waist and tangled the other in her silky hair. While their first kiss had been tentative and short, this one was unrestrained and full of confidence. He kissed her with all the passion of a man fully in love. While he may not be able to tell her that yet, Drew could show her—so he did.
I love you. His lips explored hers slowly and then more fervently as he tried to learn this side of her—a side he’d never been able to explore before.
You’re the most precious thing in the world to me. Drew pulled his lips back so he could kiss her cheek, her nose, her temple, her forehead, her jaw, the soft spot beneath her ear.
I want this to be real so badly it hurts. When she tugged him back to her lips with an impatient sound, he softly tilted her head back to deepen the kiss.
Only when Clarissa cleared her throat beside them did Drew finally pull back. His heart raced, and his mind swirled with thoughts of Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that really happened. When he opened his eyes and saw Bri looking up at him, wearing the same kind of disbelieving expression, he smiled.
It gave him hope to see her chest rise and fall to catch her breath and the love-dazed look in her eyes. Though it wasn’t much, even the smallest implication she might love him too made his heart swell with optimism.
A grin spread across Bri’s face while he was still reeling from the effects of her lips all over his. “How’s that for real?” She placed her hand on her hip as she turned to Clarissa.
Clarissa’s face was so red with anger he was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of her ears. After a few deep breaths, she looked at Bri with pinched lips before turning to Drew. “You can’t honestly say you would pick her over me.” Clarissa spouted her words with vitriol.
Drew held onto Bri’s hand as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. All he wanted to do right now was press his lips to hers again, but that would have to wait. He kept his gaze on her as he said, “I would choose Bri a thousand times over.”
Clarissa pressed her lips into a thin line. “Then why was she alone all day yesterday? For being engaged, it seems you don’t spend much time together.”
“We spend plenty of time together, but I have royal duties that require my attention, as I’m sure you know.” He paused, the reality of her words hitting him. “Wait, how do you know she was alone yesterday?”
Clarissa shrugged, but her cheeks flushed. “I was only trying to get a few photos to expose your engagement for the sham it is.”
“So, you were the one outside her window?” When she didn’t deny it, he continued, “I don’t understand how you could take photos to sell to the paparazzi. As someone who holds royal standing, you know what it’s like to have your entire life under a microscope. I’m appalled you would stoop so low.” Frustration oozed from Drew, holding no room for discussion.
Clarissa sputtered, looking back and forth between them. When she realized no one was going to come to her defense, she stood tall, and her eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to apologize for it. We’re meant to be together, Andy. You might be fooling everyone else, but you’re not fooling me.” With that, she spun on her stilettos and marched down the hallway and out of sight.
Bri popped her lips once they were alone. “Well, that was…something.”
“At least we know who was outside your window yesterday.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It makes sense that the guards wouldn’t have stopped her since her family visits frequently enough.”
“Honestly, I should’ve known it was her. She said she was going to keep a close eye on us at our engagement ball. I didn’t realize she would go to such extreme measures to try to prove we aren’t together.”
“I didn’t either.” He rocked on the balls of his feet, not wanting to address the elephant—the kiss—in the room but knowing he should. “Should we talk about what just happened?”
Bri blushed a bright shade of pink. “I—”
“Oh, good. There you two are.” His mother stepped out of the family dining room. “We need to eat now if we’re going to make it to Westridge in time for family game night.”
Drew was about to tell her they would be in shortly so he could talk to Bri about the kiss first, but she answered before he was able.
“Right, so sorry we’re late.”
His mother smiled, looking between them. “Don’t apologize, dear. I know what it’s like to be so caught up in the honeymoon phase that the rest of the world around you fades.”
Bri’s blush deepened, and Drew felt his own cheeks flush. “We’re not in a honeymoon phase. We’re not even married yet, Mom.”
“Oh, pish posh. You’re young and in love and distracted by each other’s company. It’s the same difference.”
Does it count if only one of us is in love? Drew shook off the thought. He felt like Bri had to feel something, even the smallest inkling of feelings for him, after that kiss.
Drew was able to remain quiet throughout most of dinner and the ride to Westridge, only participating in conversation when he was directly asked a question.
“Are you all right?” Bri nudged him with her shoulder as they sat side by side on the couch while they waited for her father to pick out a game to play that evening.
“Yeah, of course. Everything’s fine.”
But it wasn’t. His mind was going a million miles a minute. He wondered what Bri had thought of their first real kiss. He wondered if her feelings for him had grown beyond friendship or if she’d only done it to get Clarissa off their backs. Drew felt like there was a big red flashing “Just Kissed” sign over their heads, and he wondered if their parents could see it too.
It was ridiculous for him to think that. They probably assumed he and Bri had already kissed. They thought they were engaged, after all. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt awkward around them. But everything felt different to Drew now that he’d fallen asleep cuddling Bri last night and kissed her for real today.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t been able to talk to Bri yet when all he’d wanted to do was talk to her about the kiss, confess his love, wrap her in his arms, and kiss her again.
When Edward announced that his game of choice was charades, Drew bit back a groan. He was tired of this charade—tired of acting like this was all fake around Bri when it was so very real to him. And he didn’t know how much longer he could pretend.