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When I get inside the house, I make my way to the kitchen and find Asher at the counter, mixing a drink.
“Well hey there, Butler.” He takes a sip of his drink and winks. “Can I make you something?”
“No thanks,” I smile politely as I head to the fridge. “I’m sticking to tea today.”
“Suit yourself.” He places his hand on the counter and takes another sip of his drink, looking at me with a Cheshire smile.
“What?” I can’t help but smile back.
“You know, we never did have that second date you promised.”
I yank the fridge open, and remove a pitcher, setting it on the counter. “I’m aware.”
“Why is that?” he asks casually.
“Because friends don’t date.”
“Ah,” he nods and takes another sip of his drink. “Is that so?”
I reach into the cabinet for a glass and hold it under the Ice Maker, filling it full of cubes. “That is.”
He crosses his arms and watches as I pour the tea, cubes cracking under the liquid. “If friends don’t date, then why areyou going out with Royce?”
I set the pitcher down and look at him like he’s high. “I’m not going out with Royce.”
Asher turns to the patio doors and grins. “Does he know that?”
I take a sip of my tea and suck on a piece of ice before answering. “He asked me to the ball the mayor is throwing back home in a few weeks, but I’m pretty sure he knows that doesn’t mean we’re getting married.”
Asher stares at me, almost as if he wants to say something. But then his sister walks in and he looks down quickly.
“Baby brother,” she grins, then turns to me, smile fading. “Ellery.”
“Miriam,” I reply crisply.
I believed Cruz last night when he said he didn’t touch her. But I don’t believe she didn’t wish it were him that she’d stayed the night with, and not his friend. I was well aware of the crush she had on Cruz in high school and saw her the night of the party staring at him on more than one occasion.
“Is your brother here?” she asks coolly.
“Step,” I correct, irritated that she’s thinking about him. I wonder how she would feel if she knew he spent the night consuming me like I was his last meal. “And no, he’s not. He wasn’t invited.”
“Really?” She arches her brow. “That’s strange.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “Assumed he would be here, doing the same thing he did in high school—keeping an eye on darling little sister. Although maybe he realizes it’s getting a bit old, which means you should let it go, too.”
I place my hand down on the counter and tap my nails against it. “The only thing that’s old here is you.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. “You’ll be there soonenough.”
“Meaning?”
She looks me up and down and gives me a teeth-baring smile. “Meaning, it’s only a matter of time before you’re no longer a princess, but one man’s dowry.”
“Dowry?” I can’t help but laugh. “What century are you living in?”
“Not century, Ellery. World. The same one you were born into. And last I checked, it’s the cardinal rule around here to be wed and bred by the time you’re twenty-five.”
