Page 135 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
Sometimes love means taking a chance and believing it’ll work out. Believe with me?
When she finished reading, she handed me back my phone and twined our fingers as she rested her head on top of mine.
“Okay,” she breathed.
From across the small space, my eyes held Elias’s.
“I’ll take the chance and believe with you,” she whispered.
Elias’s eyes flared and a beautiful smile stretched across his face at the same time George’s voice stuttered. He caught himself quickly and continued singing as if it’d never happened.
“I think he heard you,” I whispered back to Everly.
She giggled. “I think they both did.”
Song after song, Elias, my mate, watched me. When Ryenne pulled Nate and me to our feet, I followed, dragging Everly up with me. I forced Javier up as well while Ryenne convinced Donnie. While the three males played and sang, the rest of us danced.
And I wondered—could I undo the harm I’d caused? Could I mend what I’d rejected?
I held my face to the moon and stars, basked under their glow, and wished.
I wanted Elias. Loved him.
Fate knew what it was doing when it bound my soul to his. Now, I just needed to know how to repair my side of the tether that I’d foolishly broken.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
ELIAS
In Teddy’s kitchen,I brewed a pot of coffee with sugar and cream inside the pot like Teddy had shown me months ago. I considered making eggs for her too but figured it was safer to stick with the coffee. Especially since I’d then have to make eggs for everyone else who’d spent the night after my brothers and I finished playing.
Watching Teddy had been like a dream. Floating around from friend to friend as she danced and laughed. The smiles she’d given me were like a gift from the Guardians. Every coy look, each slight touch.
From behind me, Teddy slipped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my back. I grasped her hands and breathed in the moment.
I’d come so close to asking her if I could hold her again last night. I thought she’d come close to asking me too, but neither of us did, her for her own reasons while I’d held back because of fear. I loved Teddy. I’d continue to love her even after my last breath. But I was afraid to hope. To want more than she could give me.
So I slept on the living room floor with the other males while the girls slept in the room with Teddy.
She inhaled a deep breath. “Smells amazing.”
“Me or the coffee?” I turned around to face her and hold her to me.
Like she’d done so many times in the past, she kissed my chest.
“Definitely the coffee.” She grinned up at me.
It was one of those expectant smiles where she waited for me to smile back. I did. Hesitantly. Lovingly.
She poked my side, and I yelped, jumping right into Hee-haw, who had decided to lie in the middle of the kitchen. He sent me an accusatory look and huffed at me.
“Why’s the donkey being loud?” Ryenne stretched her arms over her head and yawned.
“Elias stepped on him,” Teddy told her.
Everly snuck in behind them and sat down next to Hee-haw. He peered up at her with sad eyes before he dropped his head on her lap.
