29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bri
I think I’m falling for my best friend.
Her breath hitched when Drew rubbed small circles on her arm as they gazed at the stars.
Scratch that. I think I’m in love with my best friend.
But Bri wasn’t sure of the depth of his feelings. He had been flirty with her, but from the beginning, they’d said this engagement would be fake. They had rules. Rules they’d broken…but rules, nonetheless.
Breaking the no-PDA rule had led to her breaking the no-catching-feelings rule. It had started like a small snowball at the top of a hill, but now it was this giant mound, careening at her full speed and hitting her with an avalanche of feelings.
She felt like she was stuck under all the feelings, unable to breathe, unable to process everything at the rapid pace it all was piling on top of her.
Trying to change the subject, she said, “How has work been lately?”
Drew sighed. “It’s been a little like getting thrown into the deep end of the pool without a floatie.”
“Information overload?”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “I thought I already knew everything I needed to know to rule from watching Dad, but I was sorely mistaken. I’m fine at events, because I’ve been attending those my whole life, but being the one in charge of meetings… I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
“That’s understandable. You’ve heard how your father has answered questions he’s asked at meetings recently, but that can only prepare you so much. It’s okay to still be learning as you step into a new role. People don’t expect you to know everything, and it’s okay to seek further counsel before getting back to them. Everyone knows how dedicated you are to Glencrest. You were not only born to be in this position because of your family, but I believe this is the role you were created for. The people deserve a king as kind and caring as you.”
He leaned his head gently against hers. “You give the best pep talks.” Drew pressed his lips to her temple. “Sometimes I feel like my best isn’t enough, so it means the world to me knowing how you see me.”
“I’m happy to remind you anytime.” Her voice came out a little breathless. The press of his body beside hers. The feeling of his lips on her skin. Everything about him was making her heart rate increase and her palms feel clammy.
When she opened her mouth to ask another question, Drew beat her to the chase, shooting up onto his feet and pacing the room.
“Bri, we need to talk about our kiss…and our relationship. I’m done pretending,” he practically shouted.
She sat up on the bean bag, turning to face him. Her heart dropped at his words. She hadn’t been expecting him to say that. If they were done pretending, she didn’t know how to go back to what they were before.
“Where do we go from here now that it’s over?”
He ran his hand down the back of his neck before grabbing fistfuls of his hair. When he turned to her, his eyes were filled with emotion. “What do you mean it’s over?”
“That’s what you said, isn’t it?” She stood, placing her hands on her hips.
“That’s not what I meant, Bri. I’m done pretending.” He crossed the observatory in a few long strides. Drew took her hands and pressed a small kiss to her knuckles.
“I’m done pretending this isn’t real. I’m done pretending I could walk away from you with my heart still intact. I’m done pretending I don’t love you with every fiber of my being. This has been real for me since we attended the Spring Fling carnival when we were twelve. I’ve always known you were different. That you were special. That you were it for me. And I’m ready to treat this relationship like it’s real for both of us.”
Her mouth fell open in shock. Each little declaration he made wiggled its way deeper and deeper into her heart. He was saying he hadn’t pretended. He was saying he loved her… But she needed to protect her heart. None of this is real , she reminded herself.
“But I thought we agreed everything would be fake.”
“Not one part of this was ever fake to me. I told you I don’t say anything I don’t mean.” He cupped her jaw with both hands, looking into her eyes with so much love and devotion it made her feel weak in the knees. “When I asked you to enact the marriage pact, I wanted to marry you for real. I’ve been carrying that piece of paper around with me for most of my adult life, wondering when I could finally use it, but you thought I was joking and said you wouldn’t marry me for real…”
Drew dropped his hands, rubbing the back of his neck again. Her eyes moved to the ground as memories from that day a few months ago danced around in her mind.
“You told me you would fake an engagement with me to get my parents off my back about marrying Clarissa, and I went along with it because I wanted you to be comfortable doing this. But not one moment of this has ever been fake to me. Not our dates. Not our conversations. Not our kisses. Not even the words I said to our parents about my love for you. I’ve loved you for so long I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t.”
Her eyes wandered around the room, looking everywhere but at him. It was a lot to take in. This giant love confession. How he said he’d loved her for years when she’d had no idea.
“Why did you never tell me?” she asked, her voice shy. “You say you’ve loved me all these years. Why wait until now?”
“I would’ve told you in a heartbeat if I thought you felt the same way, but I never saw you look at me that way…not until recently.”
He wasn’t wrong. She’d never noticed Drew in a romantic sense until these past few months. Her attraction to him had grown, slow and steady over time, until it was a feeling she couldn’t hide anymore.
“Look at you what way?”
He shot her a sad smile. “Like I might actually have a shot with you. Like you might feel even a fraction of what I feel for you.”
She blushed under his gaze. “I do think I might feel something for you too. There’s something real between us. We have so much shared history, and I’ve always cared about you, but these past few months…I can admit something has felt different. But I’m not sure what to believe right now, Drew.”
“What do you mean?”
Bri sighed. “It’s hard for me to sort through my thoughts right now. It’s like you just handed me all the pieces to a thousand- piece puzzle and want me to see the finished product, but I haven’t had time to put it together yet.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I need a day to process everything. Can you give me that?”
“Of course.” Drew looked down shyly, kicking his feet against the hardwood floors before looking back at her. “Will you meet me here in the observatory tomorrow evening? I can answer any questions you may still have then.”
“I’ll be here.” She nodded, looking more sure of herself than she felt.
Bri hardly slept a wink, tossing and turning in bed all night. Her mind was full of thoughts and memories she needed to sort through before talking to Drew.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to talk to Drew about her feelings for him. Bri was still attempting to understand them herself. And the thought of settling in one place forever still scared her.
When she finally climbed out of bed, she selected her outfit for the day: a blush-pink midi skirt and a short-sleeve ruched white shirt. After throwing her hair up into a ponytail, she added a few curls and put on minimal makeup. She slipped on her tried-and-true white platform sneakers and took the short walk from her cottage to the palace. Once inside, she made her way to her favorite room in Glencrest Palace.
As she rounded the corner and walked through the doorway into the large space filled with natural light, her shoulders immediately felt like a weight had been lifted.
In all her time living there recently, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t ventured to this room. Maybe it was a testament to how much time she’d been spending with Drew…how she craved being around him compared to other things that brought her joy.
On one side of the room, floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the space with the morning sun and made her feel like she was out in the woods. Bri stood by the windows and closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth of the sun beaming down on her. The warmth filled her up, giving her the strength to take a seat, pull out her phone, and open the photos folder entitled Ride or Die .
She took a minute to scroll back to the beginning, smiling as she took in the grinning young faces of her and Drew at seven years old. Their faces were squished together, and the camera was way too close to them, but they looked like they didn’t have a care in the world except for what freshly pressed juice they would request for snack time.
Those were the days she dreamed of now—to go back in time and have nothing to worry about. To not have to sit here and process her romantic feelings for her best friend.
She swiped through the photos until she reached their early teen years. Bri stopped when she saw a picture of her holding a funnel cake up, staring at it with her mouth open in excitement. Beside her, Drew was staring with the same awestruck expression, except his eyes were focused only on her.
The look on his face could only be described as love. There wasn’t any other explanation for it. She continued looking through the photos, noticing the same softness in his eyes and admiration written all over his features in almost every photo. It was like she was seeing the pictures for the first time.
“All these years… He’s loved me all these years. How did I never see it?”
It became even more obvious, especially in the more recent years’ photos. She had no clue how she’d failed to see it all this time. She had been so focused on their friendship that she’d been blinded from the truth. But now the blinders were off, and their past collided with the present as she reevaluated their entire friendship.
She swiped to the next photo, one from their later teenage years. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his middle, her head pressed to his chest. Her chest bubbled up with emotion as she stared at it. Bri had loved Drew her whole life. Not in a romantic way but in a he’s-my-best-friend-and-I’d-do-anything-for-him way.
But throughout the time she’d been fake dating him, the lens through which she’d seen him had irreparably shattered. She would never be able to see him as just a friend again. Instead, she couldn’t get over how attracted she was to Drew and the way her heart felt whenever she was around him. Not to mention the way he knew her better than she knew herself and the fact that he was the most kind, considerate, strong, caring, and giving person she’d ever met.
She could go on and on describing how wonderful he was…so why couldn’t she seem to come to terms with the idea of a future with him?
Bri opened the photos folder from her travels and began looking back at her most recent trip to Spain. Her tour through the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia. Walking along the shoreline of Costa Brava. Going cliff jumping in Menorca. Looking at all the pictures brought back a rush of adrenaline—a feeling she only got when exploring the world.
But when she thought of going on her next trip, something about it didn’t feel right. The things that had made her feel alive and most like herself didn’t make her soul sing anymore, because she would be alone doing it. Because Drew wouldn’t be there with her.
“I’m in love with Drew. I want a future with Drew.”
It felt freeing to finally say the words out loud.
“It took you long enough to realize it,” Bastian huffed, stepping into the room. “I could’ve told you that after your kiss in the woods. I had to rub my eyes for a solid hour, trying to remove the image from my memory.”
Bri gasped, holding a hand to her chest. “Bastian, you need to let someone know when you walk into a room. Not all of us are ninja bodyguards with bionic hearing.”
“I thought my statement was enough to announce my presence. I’ll try to walk extra loud next time.” He crossed the room with exaggerated steps that echoed off the marble floor.
“Good. Now, what’s this about you seeing our kiss in the woods?” Bri rubbed her face, mortified he’d seen the kiss she and Drew had shared.
“You know it’s my job to tail you, right? Trust me, I wish I hadn’t seen it as much as you do.” His lips pulled into a grimace. “I know I said I wouldn’t ask any more questions, but do you want to talk about it?”
“That depends. How much do you know?”
A blush covered Bastian’s cheeks. She hadn’t thought it possible the stoic man in front of her was capable of blushing.
“Everything, Your Highness.”
Bri’s voice dropped to a whisper, “You know our engagement is fake?”
He offered only a curt nod.
“How long have you known?”
“From the beginning. Did you think I believed you would get engaged to your best friend after never going on so much as a date with him?”
She shrugged. “Everyone else seemed to believe it. Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you move here with me if you knew it wasn’t real?”
“I figured you had your reasons for not sharing the truth, and I moved here because I took an oath to protect you, whether you’re living in Westridge or elsewhere.” He stood tall, his hands clasped in front of him.
“We agreed not to tell anyone, but that’s beside the point now.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “Last night, Drew told me he loves me.”
“Yeah, and?” Bastian stared at her blankly. “I could’ve told you that years ago.”
She groaned. “Did everyone know but me ?”
“Everyone with eyes,” he muttered.
A laugh escaped from her lips. “If you ever decide not to be a bodyguard, you would make an excellent comedian.”
He shook his head, but the barest of smiles covered his lips. “You really didn’t know?”
“No clue. I’m not sure I would’ve taken the news well before now. It took this time where we were together more consistently for me to realize I felt the same way. Right before you walked in here, I realized I love him too.”
“Then what are you still doing here talking to me? Go put the man out of his misery.”
“I will. I’m meeting him in the observatory tonight. For now, I’m going to enjoy the day my life changes forever. The start of my future.” She stood, a smile gracing her lips as she started to walk toward the door. At the last second, she turned around and said, “By the way, I thought you should know that Elaine, the head chef here, is single and beautiful. She makes great food too, which is always a plus, in case you are interested in finding love of your own…”
Bastian barked out a deep, hearty laugh—a sound she’d never heard from him before. “Are you looking for another reason for me to stay here with you once you’re married and officially residing in Glencrest?”
Bri smirked. “Is it working?”
He walked out into the hall with her trailing behind. “I think I could use a snack before lunch. Maybe I’ll make a detour to the kitchen.”
She laughed as he walked away. When he was out of sight, Bri let out a long exhale.
The thought of settling down had always terrified her, but now she was more terrified of living life without Drew right by her side. He was her best friend, the love of her life, and the person who knew her better than anyone, all wrapped up in one handsome, magnificent man. And she knew with every beat of her heart and breath in her lungs that she wanted to be with her best friend for real.