Page 56 of Gotta Have Mistletoe
“Is everything fine?” Erik asks.
I don’t know how to tell him that I don’t know what’s real and what ain’t, that I’m feeling things that I’m not supposed to feel. I don’t want him to feel guilty on his big night and worried.
“‘Course,” I say, and it’s true.
Erik is holding onto me and doing interesting things with his hips. A bad dancer, he ain’t.
A few guests nudge each other. I reckon they like seeing him happy. I like seeing him happy too.
Anders leads Tina to the dance floor.
“They’re adorable,” I say.
Erik follows my gaze. “I thought Anders hated me. Hated his life. I didn’t know how to get through to him.”
“He’s a sixteen-year-old boy swirling with hormones. He’s going to be a great man.”
“You’re right.”
“Just like his father.”
Erik swallows hard.
“That was supposed to make you smile,” I say.
Erik’s face sobers. “I’ve been wasting time. We need to talk.”
My chest tightens, but I continue to dance with him. I like seeing the way his cheeks rosy under the candles. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’ve been enjoying having you here. I-I don’t want this week to end.”
Relief moves through me. My shoulders ease. My heart doubles. “I don’t either.”
King Erik smiles. “Well then, perhaps...”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
King Erik
This is the moment. This is the moment to tell Glen how much he means to me. This is the moment, potentially, for me to make a huge fool of myself.
Hope and excitement flutter through me, emotions suddenly so powerful that they cause my chest to careen.
I care about Glen. Far more than I expected to care about anyone after Sissel passed. I can’t let him leave without telling him. He understands me in a way no one else does. We might be different, but somehow, we fit together.
I was drawn to him from the moment I saw him on the ladder in the lounge hanging mistletoe and our eyes locked.
Pings and chimes sound, and people retrieve their phones from their silk bags.
Heads turn in my direction, and a coldness that wasn’t there before, emanates the room. Eyebrows raise, jaws drop.
Glen frowns. “Everyone is looking at us.”
“We’re a handsome couple.” I continue to dance, because this needs to be like it was before. This needs to be... happy. But I already feel like the happiness I had within reach is swirling away.
Faces are shocked. And they’re not supposed to be.
“Something’s wrong,” Glen says.
