Page 63 of The Grosvenor's Ghost
He doesn’t have to know that I want to crawl inside of Arthur’s skin to keep warm. I want to go swimming in his mind. Is that weird? I mean, I just want to embed myself into his brain,lay there all day and all night. He probably wouldn’t even kick me out, he’d let me stay there forever.
Laying next to him feels a bit like a game of ‘Mums and Dads’, we’re pretending. We’re imagining our life together without the before and without the after—all that matters is the right now.
“Phoebs?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll wait for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you’re ready to be with me, I’ll be here. If it’s tomorrow or a hundred years from now.”
“You’ll be dead in a hundred years.”
“I’ll still be waiting.”
And then he leans over me, sheet slipping down his stomach and kisses me. Only this time, I kiss him back. Hands on his face, lips on his, eyelashes against his—I kiss him back in all the ways I’ve wanted to since he left. It’s a beautiful kind of kiss. A kiss that we’ll both hold onto until I’m ready.
When he pulls back, he stares down at me.
“Today’s been the best today since he left.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Arthur. I’ll be here for every today for the next however many years we get to live.”
His face relaxes with some kind of relief. He drops his head gently down onto my chest. My hands bury themselves into his hair and the next time I ask him if he’s awake, he doesn’t respond.
Chapter Sixteen
Prince Arthur
Some music thing at Westminster Abbey followed by a charity brunch at Claridges today. Massive bore. Not my scene but right up my family's alley so I had to show my face.
Carter Holland here’s for the brunch, though. Made for a bit of a mix up. Funny fucker, spit of Connie. Haven’t seen him since he was about ten.
“Have you ever done meth?” He asks me.
“No.”
“Why not? Heard it’s alright.”
Shake my head, frown a bit. “Not my thing…?”
“Acid?”
“No—actually, maybe once.”
He slaps the table, claps. “No fucking way!”
“Shut up, Carter,” Connie tuts, walking over to our table.
Carter drops his smile, leans in, lips twitching. “One more question?”
I smile, quite enjoying this. “Go on.”
“Did it ever cross your mind that it was your grandad's face on the notes you were using to rack up?”
Connie laughs next to me.
