AllFreeNovel
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Sighing, I snap the lid of the box shut and stuff it in my pocket. I need some fresh air. I need to think things through. I guess I can do that on my way to return the rings. I can start the Christmas shopping while I out there too.
I wonder if Nix would like a pony?
I throw open my door and barrel into Raven who’s standing on the other side with her arm raised ready to knock.
“Ah, shit. Sorry,” I say, reaching out to stop her from falling over.
“What’s wrong?” she asks me, eyes full of concern. She leans round and surveys the mess of the room behind me and frowns. “Did you trash the place in a strop?”
“It was an accident. I didn’t have time to stop and pick it all up.”
“Where are you racing off to all of a sudden?”
“I have errands to run.”
“Do you want company?”
“No,” I reply tersely.
“Rebel, what’s—”
“What really happened last night? Tell me.”
She sighs.
“Okay, can I come in though?”
I step back and motion for her to enter, glad that the ring box is in my pocket and not on the floor where she’d see it straight away. She crosses to my bed and perches on the edge of it looking uncomfortable. I lean back against my dresser, arms folded over my chest, brow raised expectantly.
I know I’m being a bit of an asshole but offence is the best form of defence, right?
“So last night Thorn and I watched a film. We went up to my room together and he...went down on me.” Her cheeks are on fire. “Afterwards he went to get a cloth to clean me up but I-I fell asleep. When I woke up he was gone.”
“Okay,” I say tightly. It’s not that bad. But it still doesn’t explain everything. “But how did you come to be engaged to Ace?”
“Well, I woke when he and Baxter came home. Baxter—” Holy shit. She’s talking about Baxter now? She must be fucking tired. “We kissed and probably would have done more but he kissed my scars and I freaked. Then I noticed blood on my hand and I freaked out even more. I shoved him away and left.”
She takes a deep breath and even though I want to cross the room and comfort her, I don’t. I need to see how this story plays out. She acted like she didn’t know he proposed but it still feels like she made a choice to me.
“I ended up downstairs, where Ace was training. We trained. Then I-I got upset. He asked me to trust him to make me feel better. And he did that damn magic finger trick until I was begging. And he was saying all this stuff in Slovenian. It sounded so nice, romantic, and I was right on the edge and so worked up. He wouldn’t let me come until he said something - I swear I thought he was asking me to beg to come – so I screamed yes and begged him to let me.”
I nod my head, unfolding my arms to grip the edge of the sideboard.
“I didn’t know. I was so tired afterward he carried me up to the lounge and we fell asleep on the sofa together.”
I have to say I believe her. I know it’s the sort of shit Ace would pull. Hell, it’s something I would be tempted to do.
“Are you choosing one of them?”
“What? No!” she cries. “Why would you think that?”
I shrug.
“Do you want to know who Nix’s father is? Is that it? Once she’s home, we open the envelope and you choose that guy...is that why you’re keeping all of us around?”
“What? No! You’re being stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid, princess,” I growl.
