Page 56 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

He inched himself closer to me, as if he were trying to get a better view of the greenhouse. His suit jacket brushed along my shoulder. “It’s impressive you know all this.”

“Well, I do love my historical fiction and traveling the world,” I said, then took a sip. “What countries have you visited?”

Romeo laughed. “Plural? None.”

“Singular?”

“I’ve never been outside of Pennsylvania.” Silence stretched between us before he cleared his throat. “But I plan to leave this place one day.”

My buzz flattened for a moment. He wanted to leave this place? “Where are you leaving us to?”

“I don’t know. New York maybe,” he said casually, noncommittal. “Somewhere a little more… I don’t know. Aligned with my interests.”

“You have interests?” I joked, swirling my wine. “What do you like, outside of emo music and beating me at video games?”

“Don’t be jealous of my skills,” he said passively, looking out at the garden. He was so sarcastic and dry that I nearly choked on my wine from laughter.

“Okay, but seriously? What is it about New York?” I wanted to know.

He shrugged. “I’d like to catch a few Broadway shows, maybe. Shakespeare in the Park.”

“Plays?” I said, astounded. I couldn’t tell if he was pulling my leg or not. I remembered he was in one of the school plays that I never attended because I probably would have geeked out.

“Is that so surprising?”

“From Mr. My Chemical Romance? Yeah, a little.” I lifted my glass to my mouth, talking into it. It smelled like wild strawberries and rain. “It’s cute, though,” I added, not yet taking a sip. “I like that you enjoy that.”

“I like that you like anything about me…” he answered, his eyes moving from the garden to mine.

My head felt extra fuzzy, but in the best way. Ro and I were standing beside one another, shoulder to shoulder. We both had our hands on our own glasses of wine, and our free hands lay gently on the railing close to one another. Maybe it was the alcohol, but I could have sworn I felt the warmth radiating from his pinky.

“How are you enjoying your first wine tasting experience?” I asked.

“You saw that, huh? That was a bit of a reality check that I’m not part of your world.”

“That’s not true. You are very much part of my world!” And it was true. He wasn’t looking from the outside in. Romeo belonged with us. Ever since he was thirteen years old, when Gustav first introduced him to us.

He scoffed, looking down, not believing it.

I laid my glass back down and turned to look at him, elbows on the railing, my cleavage on display. It took a while for him to say anything.

“You may believe you’re not part of our world, but really, you’re in every moment of it. I can’t think of a single significant memory of my childhood that you weren't involved in.” His eyes barely shifted to mine. He gave me that look of consideration I loved, watching me through his lashes. I had no choice but to avert my gaze back to my uninteresting half-empty glass of wine. “It doesn’t matter if you weren't born into this life or not. You’re here now. And it’s better that you are, because you have a tendency to make things special…” I told him, maybe a little too passionately.

Romeo stared down at his wine glass, tilting it slightly. “That’s really sweet of you, Ivy Jade…” he muttered with a crooked grin. He opened his mouth, but then shut it again. He looked lost for words. “I wish... I wish I could keep us here forever,” he said, chewing the corner of his lip. "I don't know. Maybe I'm sounding crazy right now."

"You're not," I answered quickly, unable to resist. "I know exactly what you mean."

We both just looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak or move. The wedding party behind us started laughing, and a silence settled between us.

Did I say too much? Did he really want to keep us here forever? What did that mean?

God, I don't know!

We both shot back our wine at the same time, killing it. I thought I felt it sloshing in the back of my eyes.

Ro cleared his throat. “The wine tasting was fantastic, but I gotta admit, I’m not really interested in going back to finish up the rest.”

I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, me neither. I think I had enough swishing and savoring to last me through the weekend. You don’t want to see me on more than two tequilas.”