Page 170 of Legacy
Damn. He is adorable.
I lift my hand slightly, a quiet plea. “Let me finish… please.”
His shoulders dip. He nods.
“I think I’m beautiful. I’ve never had a problem with how I look. I’m average in height and I think my shape is perfect for who I am.”
His eyes stay pinned to mine, unreadable. His jaw flexes. Tense. Like he’s either furious or about to erupt with more praise.
“I don’t usually compare myself,” I go on, “but standing next to Gumdrop Barbie in your office? Yeah, that was a whole different universe.”
I shake my head. “I think she even called me Amazonian; which, for the record, I’m five-seven. That’s not even tall.”
Still, he says nothing. Just watches me.
His pupils have swallowed the color of his irises.
“She made me feel… too big. Too loud. Toomuch.”
A pause.
“So Idolike her. It’s not about her. It’s that I’ve never felt like second fiddle to anyone before.”
I meet his gaze, searching for some reaction—anything.
He looks guarded. A little angry. He doesn’t speak right away, just clenches his jaw tighter, like he’s holding back something sharp.
A prickle crawls up my spine as the silence stretches. My pulse roars in my ears.
I shouldn’t have said anything.
“Tiny is bright,” he finally says, voice low. “She’s soft, quiet, smart. She fits Santo. They match. She… lights him up.”
Tiny.
I hate it. He has so many names for her. Like she lights him up too.
“She’s like—”
“The sun,” I finish flatly, cutting him off.
I hate this conversation.
“Yes,” he says. “That’s a good comparison. She’s the sun.Hissun.”
I nod, swallowing the ache building in my throat.
“But you—” he says suddenly, his voice a low drawl that makes me freeze.
His eyes swim over me before locking on mine.
“You’re the moon.”
The air stills between us.
“The moon reflects the sun,” he continues, “but it gives light when it’s darkest. WhenIlook at you and her side by side… she’s bright, but you…”
His breath hitches and his voice softens like a revelation.
