Chapter 56
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Briar
I gawked at him. “You want to walk with me?”
This time, his smile was sad as he caressed my arm with his thumb. “I think it’s time for us to get to know each other again.”
“Oh,” I breathed as a shining hope bloomed so brightly in my chest that I was scared it might burst out and blind everyone.
Things had been so awful between us that this was the last thing I’d expected. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to get to know him again until he suggested it. It was easier to be mad at him than to love him.
“So would you like to?” he asked.
The hope in his voice and the look in his eyes reminded me of the first time we met. He’d looked so astonished to see me as he gazed at me across the broken stones and aqueducts of No Man’s Land.
“Would you like to play?” I’d asked, feeling hopeful and vulnerable.
I had no other friends, and the thin boy—with unruly black hair and eyes the most beautiful, clear blue I’d ever seen—looked as vulnerable as I felt. I’d yearned for him to say yes, and when he did, it changed everything.
And now, he was the one asking me. While I remained angry that he’d fucked me and walked out before tossing me over his saddle like a sack of potatoes, I couldn’t say no. All those years ago, he’d taken a chance on saying yes; I would take this one with him.
However, I still expected an apology from him, but I’d already gotten a half smile; I couldn’t ask for two miracles today. If this went well, I’d make my expectations clear. If it didn’t, then we’d most likely be choking each other by the end of the day.
Smiling, I squeezed his arm. “I’d like that very much.”
When a grin lit his face and brightened his eyes, my heart somersaulted all the way down to my stomach. Even if I did end up choking him, it would be worth it to have seen that smile.
You might end up with a broken heart by the end of this day, a little voice warned.
It’s already been broken. There’s not much more he can do to it.
But there was, even I could admit that. His smile had just proven that, as it brought forth more emotion than I would have believed possible a few short minutes ago.
“There’s a waterfall I think you’d like and a river. Do you enjoy fishing?”
“I’ve never done it before.”
“Then we’ll remedy that.”
I felt like I was floating as I grinned like an idiot back up at him. You’re going to end up heartbroken again.
It was a very real possibility, but I chose to believe this was a step in the right direction. It wouldn’t be easy, but we could do this. If we’d survived my mother, then we could fix what she’d broken.
“Want me to come with you?” Gizzi asked. “In case he turns into a dick again.”
“No, I can handle him. You stay here and play in the trees.”
“Yay!”
Gizzi’s excited jittering filled the air. Dromon remained standing by the doorway as the sprites watched us with slack jaws. They scattered when Knox’s attention shifted from me to the room.
They flew into the rafters, where they’d set more boots on the wooden beams, probably to hit Lyra and Pierce with them. They tried to pretend they were focused on their prank, but they couldn’t hide their whispers or stares as we walked across the entry to Dromon.
I expected Knox to tell them to put everything away and to clean up, but he didn’t. Maybe he really was changing.
I tried to stifle the bubble of hope in my chest. I couldn’t get too ahead of myself with this, but it was almost impossible not to get overexcited. I was tempted to throw my arms around his neck and squeal with happiness.
Don’t do that, I told myself.
It would look absolutely pathetic if I did, and I would take this slow. If he expected sex today, then he was going to be sorely disappointed.
“Keep an eye on things while we’re gone,” Knox said to Dromon. “I’m going to take her to the waterfall.”
Dromon bowed his head. “I’ll be here.”
We were almost through the door when a sprite with flaming orange hair and matching butterfly wings threw open the front door. He’d flung it so hard it crashed against the wall; the loud bang reverberated through the room.
The sprite’s clear green eyes were wild, and strangled cries erupted from his throat as he fluttered wildly with his hands.
“Oh, Atlas, calm down!” one of the sprites called from the rafters.
“He loves the drama,” Zephyr said with a roll of his eyes.
I refrained from telling him that was the pot calling the kettle black.
“The roses!” Atlas blurted. “The roses are dying!”
My hope burst as an invisible punch launched into my gut. For a long moment, nobody moved, and then I felt Knox’s eyes boring into me.
I didn’t have to look to know he wasn’t smiling anymore.
We weren’t going for that walk.