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She smacked my chest. “Hey!”
“Ah!” I pretended to wince. “You are hitting me more often than last time! This is abuse.”
Her mouth dropped open, and I could not stop myself from laughing. She tried to get off me, but I held on to her again until she finally just gave up. Somehow, we both managed to twist and turn until we ended up facing one another on top of the pillows.
“I missed you.” Even though I knew her for such a short time, I really did miss this even without realizing it. She made a face at me. “You are supposed to say you missed me back, Odette.”
“Give me a second.”
Snickering, I nodded, waiting. When she didn’t say it, I sighed dramatically.
“Fine, I missed you too.”
Why did I find her so amusing? I should have been annoyed with how reluctant she was with her feelings, but it actually made me want to pull them out of her more.
“I missed you more than I wanted to miss you,” she whispered, not looking at my eyes but at my chest.
“Good,” I whispered, lifting her chin. “Does that mean you did not cheat on me then while I was away?” I bit my lip as her face bunched up, and she lifted her hands into the small space between us. I waited for it, but she just flipped over, looking away from me.
“Me, cheat on you? I barely went on dates before you. You, on the other hand, have been photographed with so many women lately—models, actresses, some princess.”
She was so cute.
“You have been reading up on me also?” I questioned, bringing her body to mine, her back against my chest. “So, you have been learning Ersovian, and you have been keeping up with the news. Wow, you truly like me.”
“See, there is no need for me to inflate your ego—you do it by yourself,” she grumbled, pulling the sheets.
Placing my head beside hers, I took a deep breath. “Do you know what I saw whenever I was with those models or actresses or even that princess?”
“I do not want to know. Probably how beautiful—”
“Nothing,” I interrupted her.
“Sure,” she scoffed in disbelief.
“I know it is odd. But over the last few months, I have been introduced to so many people. And they all pass by in blurs. It has not been long, and yet they have all moved on from my brother. There are moments in the day where I simply pause and look around, wondering if they know I am not supposed to be here. And yet they laugh and talk and keep going as if nothing is wrong. As if we did not suffer a great loss.”
She twisted, turning back to face me, and I looked away. Not wanting her to, but just like she did that day at the airport, she held my face.
“Forgive me. I do not wish to keep bringing it up. We have reunited and should be happy—”
“You lost your brother,” she said. “You cannot just be happy going by everyone else’s time. It does not work that way.”
“As the prince, I have to be, even if I do not want to be.”
“You are not the prince to me,” she reminded me again. “We can be happy, and we can be sad. We can fight and then be happy all over again before the evening comes up. When my father passed, I would break out into tears at the most random times. Walking, singing, getting groceries. It did not matter. That was when the feelings hit, so that was when I felt them.”
I sniffed, trying to regain my composure. “So, I shall save those emotions for then? Can you handle them?”
“You won’t let me run away.” She chuckled, and so did I, placing my forehead against hers.
“I wish to stay with you here.” I felt better here with her.
“But you have to go back to the palace.”
“We do,” I replied, and when I saw the fear on her face, I hugged her. “But let us not think about that now. We still have a few hours here, to ourselves, as just Gale and Odette.”
“Odette and Gale,” she shot back.
