Page 105 of Rivals
“I don’t like surprises,” I mutter.
His chest vibrates with his chuckle, and he looks down at me. A flash of excitement has replaced the anger. “I think you’ll like this one,” he says.
“Ok then, will you tell me what it is?” I ask. He shakes his head.
“I like the thought of keeping you on your toes.” I groan and go back to looking at the river. I don’t like this, and it makes me nervous.
“Why won’t you tell me?” I ask.
“Because I don’t want you to think about it. I just want you to enjoy it. You’ll find out in less than…” He glances at his watch. “Twelve hours.”
“I don’t know about this,” I grumble. What if I don’t like what he has planned? I don’t want to disappoint him because he thinks I will love it.
“Do you trust me, little bird?” His hands come to my hips and grip like he’s holding on for the answer to his question. That question has echoed in my mind. He asked me what feels like years ago, but it’s only been a collection of months we have spent together.
“Yeah, I think I do.” He looks down at me with wide eyes and spins me around.
“Really?” he asks in disbelief. I preen at his surprise. I nod, and his lips crash to mine. He tugs my hips tightly to his body. I know this is a romantic city and all, but I want to do very not public things to him right now. He groans into my mouth and then lets me go, but not before tugging on my lower lip with his teeth.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?”
“Trusting me despite every fiber of your being telling you not to.”
I look down and end up putting my forehead to his chest. His hand runs up and down my back. “I think it’s time for me to admit you’ve done nothing but prove yourself to me.” I tilt my head back to look at him.
“She finally sees.” He grins and hugs me again. I smile and lean into his shoulder despite a sinking feeling in my stomach. I see that Lachlan is worth trusting, but can he trust me?
Chapter 62
Lachlan
Hewantstosee mewhen I get home. What the hell does that mean? He hasn’t talked to me for years. I stopped counting after year two. That’s when I realized he was serious, and I was on my own.
I got the text while we were in the playhouse and wanted to throw my phone away. The play we snuck into was disturbingly close to Revna’s life, and I know it set her off. I know she’s been thinking about her mom and her lack of relationship with the woman. I imagine I would be asking myself the same questions. I know we will never know why, but for Revna’s sake, I wish we could.
I could see her descend into the spiral of her mind as she started pulling away from me. It was hard to balance both of our emotions. I feel hers so intensely like they are my own. I know Revna was aware that something was up, but walking around with her helped to mitigate the anger towards my father, at least a little bit. I’m glad she didn’t ask me to tell her because it would have just made me angry all over again. I will tell her what happened, just not now.
Last night was the first time in a long time that I haven’t been able to sleep while Revna is right next to me. I can’t stop thinking about what my dad wants or how Revna has to continue to work through the pain of losing a mother she never knew. It’s enough to make anyone break under the pressure.
We fly to Milan today, and I’m excited to tell her. I hope she’ll like it. I don’t know how she couldn’t, though. Milan holds one of the few authentic Gothic cathedrals in the world.
She’s still passed out on her side of the bed, but it feels like she’s hundreds of feet away from me. I like when she wakes up stuck to me in some way, be that hugging my arm to her chest, laying across my body, or her leg tossed over one of mine. I turn and scoot closer to her. She moans into her pillow.
“You better be waking me up for what I’m feeling on my butt.” I push my hips against her, and she wiggles back. I stifle the groan in my throat and kiss her neck.
“Unfortunately, that isn’t what I had planned for us today.” She lifts her head and looks at me over her shoulder. Her hair is a mess, and I love half-asleep Revna. I love all of her, but she gets so cranky when I wake her up. It’s the highlight of my day.
“We’re going to Milan, baby,” I say quietly. Her eyebrows and nose scrunch, and I give her a second to sleepily process my words.
“That’s not on the schedule? We’re going back to Rome.” She lays her head back against the pillow.
“The rest of them are, but we aren’t,” I say into her and kiss the back of her neck. I squeeze her against me, even though we need to get up and get ready to go. Our flight is in a couple hours, luckily the airport is close.
She turns her back and pushes her hair out of her face. “What’s happening? I’m too tired for this.”
I chuckle and kiss her nose. “We are going to see the Milan Cathedral.” Her eyes widen. I find her deep interest in Gothic architecture fascinating; it’s part of what makes her her. She has funny ways of doing things and sees the world in a way that inspires me.
