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“Come in,” I called out after asking the girls to hang on. The door swung open and Nick poked his head through with a small smile. I wanted to die.How much had he heard?
“Uh, hi, Nick,” I squeaked out. I could hear Lexie and Maia laughing hysterically through the phone.
“I wanted to ask if I could talk to Max when you’re done with Maia and Lexie. There’s something I need to chat with him about.”
“Yeah, sure. Of course. No problemo,” I rambled. “Just give me a sec. We’re wrapping things up. I’ll come find you in a minute.”
“No rush, thanks.” He disappeared out of sight and closed the door behind him as I flopped onto my back on the bed with a groan.
“Do you think he heard?” Lexie asked through her laughter.
“Probably,” I grumbled as I pulled the comforter over my head.
“Why is your voice muffled all of a sudden?” Maia asked through gasps of air.
“I’m hiding,” I groaned from underneath the mound of fabric, as a fresh round of laughter assaulted my ears.
“At least you and Nick are the same age, and about as experienced as each other, from what I can gather,” Maia said when she’d finally stopped laughing enough to talk properly.
“Uh, about that. I have to confess something.” I fiddled with my charm bracelet nervously. When I was younger and the bracelet was looser, I’d been able to spin it around and make the enameled bluebirds fly. Now, it fit snugly to my wrist.
“Ava?” Lexie asked, her voice sharpened suddenly, and she sounded concerned. Her levity disappeared in a heartbeat.
“I’m twenty-three, not twenty-one.”
“How is that possible? You would have had your debut. Unless the Palace didn’t know. Oh my god, did they not know? You sneaky little squirrel. How did you get away with that?” Maia was floundering. I think I broke her brain.
“She might tell you if you stop asking her questions,” Lexie said in a dry tone.
“They didn’t know,” I confirmed. “I looked young for my age. So my mom lied and said I’d hit puberty early when they came to take me in, and the Palace didn’t question it. She figured it would give me more time.”
“Time for what?” Lexie asked.
“That’s a story for another day,” I said. Thinking of my mother and the people who had disappeared from my life so long ago made me unbearably sad. I had no idea where any of them were now. I’d have to ask the twins, and that was going to be a tense conversation.
“So Nick will be your boy toy, because he’s only twenty-one,” Maia said, a note of glee filling her voice. She’d recovered quickly, and I was glad she didn’t hold the lie against me.
“Sure, that sounds fun,” I said, shaking off my momentary melancholy.
“Okay, moving on,” Lexie said, taking charge as she tried to get serious. “We need to find out what the omegas at the Palace need. That was the point of the call, and apparently we’re wrapping it up.”
“Fine,” I smiled to myself as I threw off the comforter again. I could do this.
I let Maia and Lexie know there was no food left at the Palace, but other than that, the omegas seemed okay. There were too many to bring to the farm. Maintaining them at the Palace long term was going to be tricky, though. There was a small kitchen garden with a chicken coop that was the pet project of the head chef, but other than that, it wasn’t set up to be off grid. If Nick could sort out an alternate source of power, that would be a start. The Palace had relied on central heating and winter was starting to make its presence known. In a few weeks, this place would become a tomb without some big changes.
“I’m heading down to meet with Emma now. She seems to have taken charge of the omegas. I’ll find out what else we need here.”
“Okay, we can get some canned food from town brought up this morning, and we can send some fresh supplies this afternoon,” Lexie said. She sounded confident, and I trusted she’d get it done.
“Thanks, Lexie. We’ll talk again when I know more tonight. I’ll grab Nick if you grab Max,” I said as I peeked my head out my bedroom door, hoping and dreading to see Nick. He hopped up from the couch as soon as he spotted me, and came over with his usual long, loping stride. Nick was tall and a little lanky, with floppy brown hair and gorgeous light brown eyes that sparkled to match his infectious grin. He had light freckles smattered across his face that matched my own. He was all easy going, boyish charm.
His usual smile was missing though, as he stopped in front of me and searched my face. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but stopped. I was staring at him, like an idiot, not sure what to say, when I heard a voice and realized I still had the phone against my ear.
“Hey, Ava.” Max’s friendly tone made me feel nostalgic for the farm. Everyone had been so open and welcoming when we’d arrived. The entire community had felt like a giant home.
“Hey, Max. Nick’s here, I’ll put him on, now.” I passed the phone over hastily, but fumbled it as he reached out. We both grabbed for it at the same time and his warm fingers wrapped around mine, as well as the phone. He stared back at me as a blush spread over his cheeks that matched mine, and tingles ran up my arm. A slow, hesitant smile spread across his face, before someone coughed pointedly in the living room behind him.
Nick gently took the phone from me, then he raised my fingers to his lips and kissed them lightly before he let my hand go. It was an old school move, yet a sweet one. Full of intention. I hadn’t expected Nick to be so bold, though. A storm of butterflies erupted in my stomach as I watched him casually saunter away into one of the other bedrooms, as if he hadn’t just rocked my world.
