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I came into the room ready to start a fight to relieve some of my tension, but I found her sitting at her desk with her head buried in her arms.
“Eva?”
She immediately popped up and smoothed down the figure-hugging lines of her bold red dress. “What are you doing in here?”
The weary note in her voice triggered all kinds of protective instincts I thought I’d buried years ago. Eva did not need my protection. She was more than capable of eviscerating her enemies without my help.
I nodded at the door I’d just come through. “Why is Henry hiding on my side of the bathroom?”
“I wasn’t aware we had sides of the bathroom.” She dismissed me and turned to the mirror she’d propped in the corner.
I held out my hands. “I was just checking to be sure your duck was okay.”
“Why does it matter? You don’t care.” She sounded tired and sad, which was apparently my weakness because the truth slipped out before I could stop it.
“Yes, I do.” Her gaze whipped around to me, and I shrugged. We probably should have had this conversation after the car. Might as well go all the way. “I care about Henry, and I care about you.”
Eva’s lips parted as she stared at me. “What?”
“I’m not the monster you seem to think I am.”
Her brows came together, and she studied me for a long beat. Her mouth opened like she was going to ask another question, then she closed it again with a shake of her head.
“I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“Oh, so now we’re lying to each other?”
Her lips tipped up. “Okay, Ididthink you were an asshole, but I’ve recently considered it might not be malicious.”
“Did?”
“Good point, that should have been in present tense since I still think you’re an asshole.”
Some of the fire had returned to her eyes, but I didn’t like the way she kept tugging on her dress as if she were nervous. The Eva I knew didn’t get nervous.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “You okay, Princess? Someone disobey a royal order?”
She set her phone on the desk and turned toward me. “I don’t have time to battle with you right now. Henry’s okay. She’s pouting because I’m going out and your door is closed.”
“Why didn’t you ask me to open it?”
“Henry isn’t your responsibility. She’s fine on her own for a few hours.”
Eva turned back to her mirror, her dress riding high on her thighs, and I jerked my eyes back up to her face. As much as I wanted the freedom to look, she didn’t need me ogling her when she was clearly upset about something.
“You don’t sound too happy to be going out.”
“I’ll work on that,” she muttered, tugging on the damn dress again and peeking at her phone on the desk.
What was it about this girl that slipped past all my defenses? There was something about her vulnerability that split me open. I’d assumed Eva was a spoiled, entitled brat, but I’d been wrong. Or mostly wrong. Evawasa brat. She teased and taunted and refused to give an inch unless she was in charge.
But she wasn’t spoiled or entitled. She cleaned and arranged food and took care of all of us without complaint. I’d seen how hard she worked at cheer practice, and I’d witnessed the risks she took to be the best at her sport. She loved Henry—more than her own comfort—and like the day in the courtyard, I couldn’t stand to see her upset.
I came fully into the room. “You going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Her head dropped for a second, and when she looked up, she’d donned her smile like armor. “I’m fine. You can go back to whatever you were doing before Henry bothered you.”
Eva expected me to leave, but her smile was still brittle on the edges and her knuckles were white where she gripped her desk chair. The similarities between this moment and the day in the courtyard weren’t lost on me.
