Page 23 of Why Broken Wings Fray

I was relieved when Raegan continued to bore into me with his gaze, his eyes peeling apart all that I was and revealing to him the heavy truth in the way I flinched away from such an intense stare.

But he did not comment on the fact it was an excuse. He simply accepted it.

“Alright,” he said, taking a small step into the room. “Do you need me to send for someone?”

All I could manage was a small shake of my head, my eyes still as cowardly as I was.

Silence stretched for a few moments, almost causing me to believe he was gone. I didn’t need to look up to confirm he still lingered, because his mere presence would never fail to alert every inch of my body.

He did, after some time, start moving. Those movements were swift and silent, because he was all of a sudden behind me, pulling a collection of my hair over my shoulder where he let his fingers run through it.

“I may not be a master in such things, but I would like to help you. If you’ll let me?”

Though he said otherwise, he did not let me protest. With a tight jaw and grinding teeth, I let him maneuver around me for a few moments as he gathered a brush and a handful of my hair.

It was on the third or fourth brush of my hair that I finally let out a deep breath. Feeling him behind me, his hands working quietly just as his breathing rushed over my scalp – it was the strangest of comforts that I leant backwards against. My spine grazed his legs, releasing a chuckle from his throat.

“You are going to be late to your own dinner,” I hummed as my eyes fluttered shut, my whole body giving in to the simple peace of this strange interaction.

He chuckled once more. “You say that as if I should care.”

I couldn’t help but let the corner of my lip curl upwards.

He was Raegan. He was the Raegan that I knew, that wore many masks and could contort his face into that of wickedness, but that always remained beneath it all.

Everyone was wrong. He had not changed.

His movements were so soft, so subtle, that on one of many passes through my hair with the brush, I didn’t notice as one of his hands wandered. It was only for a moment, the quickest of seconds, but his calloused fingers dragged along the base of my neck, sending a refreshing shudder through my body that caused me to melt into his touch. I didn’t mean to release the soft gasp that came from me, but when I did, he removed his hand and returned to brushing.

“Actually,” he murmured as he slipped a large section of remaining hair back over my shoulder and set the brush down next to me. “We need not go to dinner, Olivia. Let me go and get some food for you. Let us just remain here. Perhaps we can even talk?”

I twisted around ever so slowly, until I finally allowed myself to look him in the eye. The Raegan that I thought had been lost, the one that stood on a balcony with me to say goodbye, was staring down at me.

Though he sounded hopeful at the suggestion of talking, I did not. Not because I didn’t want to talk, not because I did not trust Raegan or his ability to listen. But because he was Raegan, and I knew that if he asked me to, I would soon be baring my whole soul to him.

“It’s okay,” I said, pushing up to my feet and stumbling away from his chest. “I want to see everyone again.”

His eyes flicked over my face several times, as if he was capable of seeing beneath a mask just as I could for him. Narrowing his eyes, he nodded a few times and offered me the bend of his elbow.

“Well, then let us go to dinner.”

~

Raegan led me through the hallway, down the staircase, and only paused once we were back on the main level.

“You are sure you wish to dine with them?”

“Yes.”

He let out a deep breath and a grin crept over his face. “They’re rowdy, you know. Some of them missed you.”

“Some of them, hey?”

That shred of humour slowly faded from his face as his eyes softened. “Some of them more than others, yes.”

“Raegan–” My words were halted by the sudden need to swallow as I stepped closer to him. “I want to talk to you about something. Well, I want to ask you something, really.”

His eyebrows formed a straight line as he looked down at me, his head angled awkwardly just to do so. “What is it?”