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That shit felt too good. Especially when I lowered my head. I rested it on top of hers, drinking her in.
“Thank you,” she said, and I recalled what I’d just done for her. I’d forgotten about it that quick.
I’d do it a hundred times over if I got a hug like this. “No problem.”
She laughed a little. That raspy, light sound like its own kind of music. I hadn’t made her laugh in a while, so much time had passed, distance. She settled into our hug. “No, you have no idea what you just did. You have no idea…”
I guess maybe I didn’t. I’d just done it.
And the hug was over too soon.
She fell away from it first, and then I felt obligated. I noticed her wipe her eyes a little after, and I realized she had tears in them.
Their presence alarmed me, but as she seemed to be attempting to hide them, I didn’t call attention to them. Instead, I gazed around in the room we were in, my sight falling over various states of Regency dress. Soft music chimed in from the main ballroom, and everyone in this room started dancing to it. I held out my hand. “Snow?”
It’d break up the tension a little, a dance, and maybe take her mind a bit off what just happened. I didn’t know someone like her would ever get stage fright, but maybe that was a common misconception amongst artists. No matter how big they were, I supposed they could get it too.
Aspen studied my hand, but eventually, she took it. She pocketed her fan and mask in the deep pockets of her dress first, and the moment her hand touched mine, I realized me asking her to dance had another objective.
She felt right up against me the moment she was there, and I drank that shit in greedily. It was rare the two of us weren’t arguing or hurting each other. The closest we’d been to that was our short friendship, but she’d taken that away.
I slow-danced with her, and eventually, she gazed up at me.
I smiled. “What?”
She didn’t say, a subtle smile so warm on her full lips. She just proceeded to press her face against me, and that silenced me.
I tried to draw our dance out as long as I could, but all good things always come to an end. It did end, but when I asked her if she wanted to get some punch, she took me up on my offer.
We ended up taking it upstairs, and only my frat brothers had access to the high levels of the chateau via the elevator. The owner had given us access codes since we’d rented the whole place out, and lots of my frat brothers planned to stay here tonight since we did. I mean, when the fuck did we just have access to a fucking castle? Needless to say, the brothers were taking full advantage of it. Aspen and I passed a few of them stumbling along drunk, which looked hilarious in their old-timey outfits. Many of them had a girl or guy on their arm, and I had a feeling they’d be taking up use of some of these bedrooms.
I probably would have been too if not for Aspen. I was a fuckboy like the rest of them, but I actually hadn’t had physical sex with another person since she’d come into my life. My hand got plenty of action, and there’d been invitations, but I hadn’t taken up any offers.
It was something I didn’t address with myself, just like the fact I didn’t get high off my ass or party anymore.
“You tell Phil where we are?” I asked, Aspen and I settling against a banister. We were at the top of the chateau and could see people milling around at the bottom. They were a sea of colorful dresses and feathered masks, so it was kind of a trip. My lips turned down when Aspen didn’t say anything. “I haven’t seen him tonight.”
That didn’t mean he wasn’t there, though, and he was paid to be discreet. I knew for a fact he hadn’t come with us, though, because only myself and a select few had access to the top level of the castle. Perks came with being a Reed, and it was trippy how silent it was up here. It was like the walls were speaking history with the old statues and paintings.
Aspen opened her mouth, but then closed it. She’d taken off her gloves and placed them and her stuff on the floor. She studied the people below with a small smile. “He’s around.”
I was sure he was, and he was probably freaking out. I took out my phone. “Should we text him?”
I had his number and planned to give him the code for access up here so he could do his job.
Aspen waved her hand. “You don’t need to.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I put my phone away even though I didn’t agree. Aspen was talking to me again instead of ghosting, so I figured we’d be okay for a minute.
Her smile directed toward the punch in her hands. “So you play piano?”
“Uh, yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. I shrugged. “If that’s what you want to call it. My gram showed me a thing or two.”
She’d taught my sister and me both, and my dad before that.
