Page 9 of Brambles and Bellflowers
She repeated the sacred phrase with reverence, and he knew his choice was true. “As my lifeblood courses freely, our souls entwine as one.”
“And thus do I pledge to honor this covenant betwixt us,” he intoned, and she echoed his words. With this utterance, their fates were inexorably secured.
“Areyou still reading that stupid book?” Finn’s snotty accusation cut through the passion of Caroline’s and Bernard’snewly discovered bliss. To be honest, this was my first time reading a male/female romance. I’d thought it’d be more disturbing than this.
However, after many paragraphs of cringe-worthy peasant-girl daydreams and Bernard’s obsession with sweets, things had finally become interesting.
But now, my solitude had been infringed upon.
I lowered the book to my nose. “What?”
“What’s so great about it anyway?” Finn asked, bracing his hip against my open doorway. “You’ve been reading that thing nonstop since you stole it from Miles’s room.”
I closed the book, hiding the cover under my blanket. How dare he spy on me. “It’s called Nunya.”
Finn cocked his head to the side—clearly not understanding the insult.
“What?” he asked. “I’ve never heard of that before.”
“It means it’s nunya business.”
He rolled his eyes before pushing away from my door frame and stepping into my room.
“What do you want?” I asked, pulling the blanket over my mouth. How did he even get this close without Julian swooping in on him? “Where is everyone?”
Finn paused, trepidation crossing his gray eyes. His voice was cautious as he asked, “Are you still scared of me? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“No!” I protested as my cheeks grew warm.
“I’m glad to hear it.” He nodded. “Bryce and Damen are playing another round of chess downstairs. Titus is in the garage—if you need his help, you can shout. He’ll hear you.”
“I don’t need help!” My face warmed in embarrassment. It was horrifying that my once-best friend could read me so well.
Why did he have to act like a jerk?
Yet, my breathing steadied as the tension faded from me.
Finn stepped closer to me and reached into the pockets of his charcoal-colored slacks.
“I have something for you,” he explained, his shoulders growing even tighter and his head lowering as the nervousness in his posture grew.
My throat closed. Until recently, I’d mostly only seen Finn with a mask of calm confidence.
I hated this expression—the unsure tilt of his head and the minuscule shuffling of his feet. That look had a way of breaking through my defenses, reanimating that tiny seed of hope that lay buried in the dark.
Whywas I like this? It was so much easier when I wanted to punch him.
“I don’t want anything,” I told him, cursing myself for how weak my voice suddenly sounded. Maybe I’d overestimated how much he knew me after all. He was aware of how I felt about gifts.
All things came at a price. Unless it was something to eat, or there was a way to barter, I wasn’t—
“Here,” he said, pulling out a bronze pocket watch and holding it toward me. “It’ll help.”
I studied it, but I was unsure how it would help. I didn’t have any issues with punctuality.
Not usually.
Still, I watched as he dropped the watch, keeping his grip on the chain instead. The pendant began to swing back and forth in a mesmerizing movement.
