Page 107 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

“Yeah.”

I waver, fiddling with the zipper on my jacket. “I guess I can do that.” But I still feel a drop of guilt over bringing River with me.

The corners of his lips pull into a dazzling smile. “How about we buy some cookies and milk while we wait?”

I cock a brow with a smile on my face. “Cookies and milk? What are we—five?”

He shrugs, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Cookies and milk always calm me down, whether I’m five or nineteen.”

Again, he’s so cute I almost can’t stand it. I’m not used to this type of sweetness.

“Fine, let’s get some cookies and milk,” I agree, pushing away from the shelf.

His smile widens, and I can’t help laughing.

“I’ve never seen anyone get so excited about cookies,” I remark as we amble down the aisle.

As we stop in front of the cookie section, he assesses the selection with his head angled to the side. “It’s because I don’t eat them a lot. I try to stick to a specific diet during training sessions.”

“Does it help?” I wonder. “I’ve done it before.”

“It does.” He picks up a box of frosted sugar cookies. “It’s always good to have a cheat day, though.”

“Or cheat night.” I tap the box.

“Or cheat night,” he agrees, showing me the cookies. “What do you think? Do you like sugar cookies?”

“They’re my favorite,” I reply, and that makes his grin shine through even more.

“Let’s go find the milk then.” He nods for me to follow as he walks off toward the right back section of the store.

I follow, my head spinning with confusion. Tonight has been bizarre. I went from hanging out to feeling betrayed by my mother to running from Drew to hanging out with River and talking about eating cookies and drinking milk.

“I’m not used to this,” I announce suddenly.

River flicks me a confused glance as he opens the refrigerator door where the milk is. “Used to what?”

I lift a shoulder. “I don’t know, like hanging out, feeling chill.”

“You feel chill?” he asks amusedly as he grabs the milk. “Maybe that’s from the fridge door being open.”

I give him a hardy har look. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I know, but I couldn’t resist.” He grabs a carton of milk and lets the door close behind him.

“I’m just stressed out a lot.” And apparently being Miss Honesty tonight.

“Yeah, me, too,” he agrees as if the statement deeply puzzles him. “I’m not tonight, though.”

“Maybe two stressful basket cases cancel each other out?” I suggest, sticking out my fist. “Fist-bump for that.”

He taps knuckles with me right as his phone beeps. “I think that’s our car. How about we pay and get the hell out of here?”

I nod, and then we make our way to the cash register. On our way, he grabs a pair of tweezers so we can remove the sliver from my finger.

While waiting in line, River gets a text message from someone and becomes distracted with sending a reply. I start to grow paranoid, glancing at all the faces around, searching for Drew in the midst.

“Ellie?” someone abruptly asks from right beside me.

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