Page 32 of A Winter Romance
He walked to the kitchen, to a shelf where the sweets sat, ready and waiting for tomorrow. Aryn hadn’t moved since Sero went to answer the door. Sero could feel Aryn watching him as he moved around. He handed the sweets to Odara.
She took them, her gaze darting back and forth between them. “Are you sure everything is all right?”
“Yes,” Sero said, forcing another smile. “But I need a favour.”
“Oh?”
“Could Aryn stay with you tonight?” He deliberately didn’t look in Aryn’s direction. “As I said, I have so much baking to do. I think he’d sleep better at your place.” He didn’t think he could survive a night with the two of them together in his home. He just needed to be alone and away from Aryn.
She stared at him, and he forced himself to stare back, meeting her pensive gaze. “Of course. I have the spare beds for when the younglings stay over.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Odara.”
Aryn stared at the ground. His hands were clenched, and he looked like he was about to cry. Sero looked away.
“Well, we should get going,” Odara said. She turned and walked towards the door. Aryn glanced in Sero’s direction before following Odara.
As the door closed behind them, Sero collapsed against the wall.
What just happened?
He wiped a hand across his face, trying to comprehend it. He still couldn’t believe Aryn had wanted him to move to Bordertown and give up baking. It just showed how little they knew each other and how different they truly were.
Sighing, he stood. Even if his heart was crumbling, he still needed to bake. Tomorrow was Winter Solstice, after all.
And once again, he’d be alone.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Sero hates me.
In his entire life, Aryn had never felt so horribly wretched. Not when he’d disappointed his parents, not when Sasha had ended things, and not when Sasha and Jarne had announced their engagement. Not ever. He blinked rapidly, trying to fight the tears that threatened to fall.
“So what is going on with you and Sero?” Odara asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Aryn trudged through the cold snow to Odara’s cabin.
“You think I didn’t notice the tension in that room? And Sero asking, the night before Solstice, if you could stay here with me?” She shook her head. “No. You two are quarrelling.”
Aryn said nothing.
She smiled as they reached her front door. “Don’t fret, Aryn. It happens to all couples. Sleep and make amends tomorrow.” She opened the door and stepped inside.
Mindlessly, he followed. “I don’t think we will.” He couldn’t get the image of Sero, angry and hurt, yelling at him, out of his mind.
Sero hates me.
He squeezed his eyes shut as if he could shut out the pain.
When he’d tried to think of how to stay with Sero, he’d thought Sero coming to Bordertown with him was the perfect solution. Initially, he’d thought Sero could work in a bakery, but he knew his parents would never approve of Aryn with a baker.
Then he’d thought of Eviane, the half-dryad who worked at the perfumery. If Sero worked with her, Sero would be respected by his parents and everyone else in his family. And if Aryn was with Sero, his family would stop looking down on him. He would show everyone, especially Sasha and Jarne, that he wasn’t pathetic.
He felt sick when he remembered Sero’s words. He should never have assumed that Sero would want to give up being a baker. He’d just gotten so carried away. And now he’d offended Sero. Offended and wounded him.
He took a shaky breath, disgusted with himself. Why had he thought Sero would want to give up baking? He clearly loved it. He felt like he was about to vomit in Odara’s entryway. Sero was right to kick him out of his house. He should have just left Aryn to die that night in the snow. It was what he deserved.
“Now, now, young Aryn. No need to be so upset.” She hugged him tightly. “Everything will be all right. You both sleep it off. Tomorrow will be Solstice. It is a time for healing and forgiveness.”
