Page 291 of Hide and Keep

“So I really only have this one outfit?” I muse to myself.

Crue wraps his arms around me, saying into my neck, “And me.”

But at what cost? I’ll have Crue…and his future. We’ll both be stuck here. Forever. And one day, those headlines everyone knows us for will become our epitaphs.

Our bodies naturally start to sway together. God, I love this girl. I don’t care what I have to do. She’s not going anywhere near that manor again.

“It doesn’t bother you?” Ever asks.

“What?”

“That I don’t have…what I used to.”

My body comes to a stop and I spin her around. She tries to hide her face from me but I catch the blotchiness. Was she crying again?

Even from afar, Arthur Munreaux continues to hurt his daughter.

“Does it bother me that you’re not rich anymore?”

With a peek up at me, she nods.

“Fuck no. I never gave a shit about your money, Ever.” I grab that mottled face and press my forehead to hers. “With or without money, I loveyou.”

I hear the front door open behind me, then my mom and dad’s voices. The moment they notice us, they cut off almost instantly.

If only their thoughts could be silenced, too.

“Mom. Dad.” I turn around, smile already in place to set the tone for this new, and hopefully not too awkward, encounter. “I’d like you to meet Ever, my girlfriend.”

Fucking surprise.

Ever pivots my way, looking at me quizzically.

“Girlfriend? I’m your girlfriend?”

It’s a surprise to her, too?

“You are until I put a ring on your finger.”

Her azure eyes widen.

How did she not know that? No, we never had “the talk,” but I didn’t think we needed to. Not after everything we’ve been through. She helped me ingest charcoal via allofeeding to counteract poison, and I saved her from throwing herself off a cliff. We’re each other’s lifelines.

Since lifeline isn’t a widely accepted term, girlfriend will have to do.

Until I propose and make her my fiancée.

That only sounds mildly better though. Better to make her my wife as soon as possible.

“Well…” my mom says. “That’s different.”

I double-blink at her.

So much for this not being awkward.

“Different…but good,” she tries to reassure. “It’s nice to meet you, Ever. I’m Phoebe. And this is Reid.”

They both take turns shaking Ever’s hand, but my dad doesn’t release hers right away, holding on to it as he questions, “Ever? As in…”

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