Calvin has listened to the exchange, his eyebrows furrowed, now however, it seems to dawn on him what Geneva was hinting at. Fantastic, everyone here now knows of our plans. Well, on second thought, that’s not too bad. Now that they know, they will hopefully stay away from us for the remainder of the night. I perk up inwardly. That’s a good thing, let them all know!
I take Elden’s hand. “He is all mine tonight,” I say bluntly. “Unless you want to join, please stay away.”
“What? No one is joining!” Elden exclaims, his eyes narrowing to a glare while he looks at his friends.
“Don’t worry,” Vincent mutters. “I am not insane.”
“I won’t join, either,” Calvin says. “Flora is not my type. No offense.”
Elden does take offense though, by the way he looks at him, clearly annoyed at the way he is talking about me, but I couldn’t care less. “I prefer you not lusting over me, anyways,” I say. “I don’t find you hot either.”
Calvin nods. “That’s good to hear.”
“See?” I look at Elden, hoping this will reassure him. “We have a mutual understanding.”
Elden doesn’t look reassured at all. He smiles at me, before he tosses Calvin another glare. Calvin doesn’t seem to really mind, though. I don’t think he truly likes me or can relate to me. I actually think, that although he seems to like Elden, he also can’t relate to the way he cares and loves me. But that’s okay. Just like Janice said, he doesn’t need to be my person.
Emilia returns together with two omegas from the kitchen staff and stops both my thoughts and the conversation. Maybe it’s for the better. She brings freshly made omelets andsandwiches for us. Food always successfully shuts us all up, especially when we are as hungry as we are now.
“Finally alone,” I sigh, stretching slightly when Elden and I leave the packhouse and walk to my cottage. “It was a long, successful meeting, but… did I mention how long it was?”
Elden takes my hand and twirls me around playfully. “It took forever,” he exclaims, stopping abruptly and making me stumble into his arms.
I laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck while he lifts me up. I allow my fingers to move through his hair. It’s getting longer, but I like it that way. I don’t think Elden could ever do anything that would make him look unattractive.
Well, maybe if he went bald. Then, Celeste and I would need to focus fully on his inner values and his other amazing traits.
“What are you thinking about?” Elden asks. “You seem to be deep in your thoughts.”
“I was trying to imagine you bald,” I say bluntly.
Elden bursts into laughter, making my heart do backflips in joy. I love it when he laughs. He has the cutest dimples, and just looks so happy. I am so grateful he considers me a safe space and allows himself to let his guard down. “So, I should cut my hair?” he jokes.
“Please don’t!” I groan.
He puts me back on the ground, taking my hand again and tugging me along. “I wonder what I would look like,” he muses as we step into my cottage.
I grin. “Well, let’s say: be happy you have other things going for you.”
“Would you still love me if I go bald?” he asks.
I wrap my arms around him and snuggle against him. “That’s a silly question,” I say. “It doesn’t matter what you look like, you will always be my Elden.” I gaze up at him. “What about me?”
“You mean, if you went bald?” he jokes. “Well, I bet you would look hot with or without hair.” He wraps his arms around me, gently swaying us. “No, seriously, you will always be my beautiful flower.”
“Elden,” I say. “I want you to mark me tonight.”
“Definitely,” he says. “You are finally turning eighteen. I am not going another day without you being fully mine. Regis and I can’t wait to be fully connected to you and Celeste.”
“Good thing I was born between midnight and one minute after,” I smirk. “I have never been patient, it seems.”
“I didn’t know that,” Elden says. “At 0:01? You have always been special. But that’s no surprise, seeing whose daughter you are.”
We both stay quiet for a moment. “I haven’t been easy to deal with recently,” I admit. “I know that.”
“Flora-“
“There was a lot of trauma dumping on you, as if you didn’t have enough problems already.”