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I hadn’t slept at all that night, thoughts of Mira and whatever she was feeling replaying in my head. She’d threatened me not hours before that, threatened Royal, but she hadn’t seemed sad. None of this made sense.
If confusion was my reaction, a chill was Royal and crew’s. They wouldn’t talk about any of it all, letting the conversations happen around them. At times, I caught the boys whispering to each other, leaving me out of things, and the day of Mira’s funeral, Royal’s vault of a demeanor was basically the same. He picked me up in his Audi, a stonewall aside from the affection he gave. Since we got back together, he hadn’t allowed me out of his sight except to go home and sleep at night.
Even then sometimes he’d make it through my bedroom window.
Hershey always announced his presence, a soft yip, and after he petted her, he’d join me in bed. He’d hold me, not letting go. He didn’t let go, not anymore. Even now on the way to the funeral, he had his fingers looped in mine while he drove, a lot going on in this car that wasn’t being said. Though I didn’t like that, I allowed it for the time being.
We were going to a funeral today.
The whole school was going, something I think was expected of the town. There wasn’t even any debate that we’d all be going, this town. It was just what was going to happen, everyone coming. Birdie had texted me earlier that morning that she and a bunch of the basketball girls were going together. She’d invited me, but I told her I had a ride. Royal and I pulled up to a large white church with just the two of us, and when he left my hand, it was only for a few moments for him to let me out. Soon, we were united again on the other side of the car, entering a church together filled with so many people. I honestly think the whole town was there, pews upon pews of people, like this was a wedding.
Not yet another dark day.
This town seemed to keep having those, a cloud over this place’s head. Blending in with the masses, I let Royal lead me to an open pew. It had a few people sitting on the end, but the majority of it was free. After taking off my coat, I sat down, and he joined, throwing an arm across my shoulders and smelling so good. I loved that heat about him, his warmth, as his green gaze circulated the crowd. He wore his blond hair pushed back and moussed, a stress lining his face I didn’t like. Again, he was a vault. Albeit a beautiful one. He’d arrived at my house in a
suit not much unlike the tux he’d worn when he took me to homecoming. It hugged his muscular arms and chiseled thighs in all the right places, the pewter tone a wonderful offset to his eyes. When I was with him, I felt protected and usually settled.
But not today. Today I watched him look anxious, a tension tugging dusky blond eyebrows together. I’d only leaned over to talk to him about that when several boulders masquerading as teenage boys arrived at our pew. Knight, Jax, and LJ had obviously driven to the church separately but they were here now. They each clasped Royal’s hand one by one, an assembly line of acknowledgment. The pretty boys wore suits, looking like handsome men today, and after, they looked at me. I sat there, knowing I hadn’t really associated with any of them since the initial assembly. School had been let out early that day due to Mira, and then had been the weekend.
Well, here we were now.
Royal and I were obviously a new development, and though we sat together at the assembly, there wasn’t much talking then. At least to me.
Royal’s arm lowered, and he moved his big body back to allow the boys to pass and sit. In my black dress, I wiggled back too, receiving a “hey” from LJ and nothing but a chin tip from Knight. That’s just how Knight rolled, not ever much for words. When Jax started to pass, he stopped. He made a parting motion for LJ to shift his weight and make room as LJ had sat next to me.
Rolling his eyes, the tall blond moved enough for Jax to push his body into the space, and settled, Jax placed an arm around me. This maneuver caused him to inadvertently touch Royal’s shoulder, which got Jax a swift growl on Royal’s end and a death stare that might scare me had it been directed toward me.
“Sorry, man.” Jax cleared his throat, returning his hand to his lap. He gave me a little wave. “Hey, December.”
It seemed things of the past had been forgotten, his aversion to my relationship with Royal. I had a feeling that had to do with things I’d been waiting to hear about from Royal’s end, but honestly, I wasn’t mad at Jax anyway. Maybe I should be, but a part of me really liked him, liked all of them really. Even Knight. They did always look out for me, there when I never really seemed to know I needed them. They all played a place in my life due to connections with my sister.
I sat back, Royal’s arm returning behind me. Squeezing, he pulled me forward, and I noticed a silent exchange between him and the guys. Even Knight had looked at him, nodding before reaching forward and taking a program off the back of the pew ahead. I had a lot of questions here, and they started with that.
I tugged Royal’s lapel. “What’s going on?”
Lustrous green eyes shifted in my direction, a slight smile to them before he cradled the back of my head. He brought my head down, kissing the top.
“Nothing, princess,” he said, nothing like I was stupid and that he hadn’t just promised me something not a few days ago. He promised me information, that he’d let me in on everything regarding my sister and what happened to her. He said he’d put it out there and not keep anything from me anymore. All that seemed to fall to the wayside after all this with Mira, the road trip he promised me put on the back burner. I hadn’t questioned it at the time. After all, the day of the assembly had been the day we’d planned to go. We didn’t know when her funeral would be, so we stayed around for that. I hadn’t forgotten though that he said he had to show me something, something he said couldn’t just be told.
I hadn’t forgotten a lot of things, my tongue held now only because my cell phone decided to buzz in that very moment. Ignoring it, I shoved it deep inside my purse, but that didn’t stop the illumination.
Royal noticed.
Reaching across my lap, he slid his hand inside my purse, his proximity to the place he’d made me ache in the past too close. He retrieved the phone quickly and, after checking the face, held it out to me.
“It’s Birdie,” he said and, having handed me my phone, returned his arm to behind my neck. His eyes warmed. “Shouldn’t make her wait, princess.”
How easily he could distract with those eyes and he obviously knew it. I wouldn’t question him in this moment, his fingers brushing the delicate hairs behind my neck, and considering where we were right now it was probably best. It wasn’t appropriate, and that was the only reason I decided to read the texts from my friend, who was currently blowing up my phone with variations of the same message. She wanted to know where I was, if I was here and if so, where.
Birdie: We saved you a seat, toward the right side of the church if you’re just coming in.
I gazed around the area, people standing up everywhere. This made it quite difficult to see anyone, but one thing I could see was the crowds were making an assembly line toward the front. When we had sat down, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to see anything or anyone, but my eyes in that direction, I knew exactly why people were lining up.
She’s up there.
Mira… Mira in a casket. She, herself, was still too far away but an ivory-colored casket with people bowing their heads over it could definitely be made out. She was up there for the world to see, obviously, since that’s how these things worked.
I swallowed before gazing down back at my phone.
