Page 304 of Hide and Keep

“What do you like to draw?”

“Me!” Crue yells.

Phoebe raises her eyebrows but gives a soft smile.

Not sensing any judgement, I nod. “Your egomaniac son is my favorite subject, yes.”

Crue’s and Reid’s chuckles from the other room float into this one. They sound very similar, but I have Crue’s memorized.

“I draw other things, too. Flowers, butterflies, bats…”

“Is that why Crue calls you little bat?”

That blush turns into an inferno.

“Um, I’m not sure why he calls me that,” I try to say quietly.

“It’s because she likes things dark and cold!”

I shake my head. “Not cold.”

“Just dark?”

“I guess so.” That’s how my house has always been decorated. It used to scare me, but eventually, I adapted to it.

My father was right. He’s been preparing me all along to adapt to daunting conditions. I just didn’t realize it.

Phoebe’s laugh interrupts my thoughts.

“Um, I also like collecting crystals, tarot cards, anything metaphysical really,” I say out loud for the first time ever. Nobody in my life has ever cared to hear about the real me. Phoebe seems like she does.

“Ah, so you’re a witch.”

“No, not really.”

“Well, you’ve certainly bewitched my son. We’ve never seen him so…happy.”

I hear Crue say, “She enchanted me, all right.”

Accustomed to her own environment, Phoebe simply rolls her eyes at her family’s constant eavesdropping.

Meanwhile, I have to study the bubbling oil to keep from crying.

I can still make Crue happy. He will be. He will.

Crue’s smile drops the second he sees me walk through his bedroom door.

“What’s he doing here?” he asks from his bed, one hand behind his head, the other pointed to what’s by my feet.

“Oh him?” I ask innocently before looking down. I don’t know if dogs can smile, but I swear Zeus is grinning so smugly right now.

“He can’t come in here.”

I prop both hands on my hips. “You said he sleeps wherever he wants. He wants to sleep in here.”

“Am I just supposed to let everybody sleep with my girlfriend that wants to?”

“He’s your dog,” I deadpan.

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