He grins. “What about the one with the water bottle they light on fire?”
Her eyes go big. “Yes! I loved that one. My chemistry teacher said she doesn’t have any nerves left in her right fingertips from that experiment.”
Tristan snorts a laugh, and Sasha goes pink again. They share a tiny smile. She asks him shyly why he knows so much about chemistry.
“I have to,” he says cheerfully. “Whiskey is all science, after all. I like figuring things out. I like to know the why of things.” He takes a gulp of orange juice.
“Me too.” Her smile is bright.
“Maybe Emory will let you guys come see the distillery one day. I can take you on a tour.” His smile falls. “I mean, if you want to. No pressure.”
The girls clamor that they would love to, and Emory rolls her eyes, mouthingseriously?at Tristan, who doesn’t see.
He’s too busy answering questions about his job there, hunching over his knees so he can get on their level. Sasha pulls out her phone to ask him a question about her chemistry homework, and their heads bend together over the screen while they talk about it.
“This is so him,” Emory says.
I know exactly what she means. This is the Tristan Prince magic at work, in a whole new way. I’m slightly stunned as I watch him come alive with the girls. He makes each of them feel important as they joke. Harmony sticks close to Emory and me, but the younger ones pester him with questions, their shyness forgotten.
It’s like they can sense he’s a little shy with them too.
“They really like him,” I tell Emory.
She smiles and nods. “He has a big heart. They can tell.”
The back of my nose prickles. “The biggest. He doesn’t even realize.”
Tristan has no idea. He claims not to have one. He claims it’s frozen, but today, I’m seeing how he’d be with kids, with a family. It’s the way he is with his siblings. I catch him on endless FaceTime calls with Whit. I catch him texting dumb memes to Sienna when she’s had a hard day. Aiden is the fixer, the Heir.
But Tristan, he’s the heart.
I told him that the other day, but the evidence is right in front of my face, and he doesn’t even realize. My chest feels heavy with affection. My eyes are hot.
Tristan deserves so much more than he lets himself have.
He catches me looking and gives me a bright grin over the tops of their heads. He raises a brow.You good?
I give him a nod and a smile. I’m good, but I’m also unsettled. I feel big things shifting inside me, things I didn’t expect. It’s what we were after today, but I also feel unmoored, like I’ve found something essential, only to realize it’s already drifting away.
“Can we do this again?” Harmony’s question is quiet.
“You want to?” Emory asks me.
I don’t even hesitate before I say, “Definitely.”
25
TRISTAN
I’m in bed on Thursday night, after four hours spent working on a yeast strain I’m cultivating. I’ve gone from meetings with Grandfather and Aiden to dates with spouse candidates to working late almost every night this week. Luckily, I have very little time to think about Katie or the kiss. The way she exhaled softly into my mouth. The way she trembled under my hands.
I’m trying to read when my phone lights up. I expect the usual text from Katie asking if I’m safely home for the night, but what I get is something that makes me laugh.
Katie
A guy I matched with just asked if I was of legal age.
I grin at my phone.
