Page 134 of Never Kiss a Fae
Several of the girls glanced at him and blushed while saying hello. He engaged in pleasantries, but I sensed his unease and wondered why he kept himself apart from the group who clearly wanted to engage with him.
However, I followed him as he meandered along the outskirts, each step shaking the ground beneath him. No one else seemed to carry such weight or energy, some of the other males appearing downright petite compared to Sol. Almost sickly.
How strange.
“Hi, Sol,” another female fae said, her dark hair the color of midnight stones and her eyes a gleaming azure shade.
“Aflora,” he returned, his lips curling fondly.
“Have you decided about the Solstice Ball yet?” she asked, her hands tucked behind her as she swiveled on her feet.
“You know I hate those events.” He said the words with a smile, his affection more brotherly than flirtatious. “But I’ve heard Glacier wants to take you. Say yes to him.”
“I’ll wait for you,” she said instead and gave him a little giggle before flouncing off through the flowers with a jump in her step.
Sol sighed, shaking his head. “Damn Solstice Ball.”
“What’s a Solstice Ball?” I asked.
“This big holiday dance where everyone gets dressed up. Happens around the Festivus season, seven weeks from now.” He sounded completely disgusted by the idea. “It’s like couple purgatory.”
“Why?”
He cut me a sideways glance. “Did you miss the part about dressing up?”
“That sounds fun to me.”
He looked me over and snorted. “Yeah, I suppose you’d enjoy wearing a ball gown and slippers. But me in a tux? No, thanks.”
“Then wear normal clothes,” I suggested.
He chuckled. “That would certainly shock the masses.”
“Then do it,” I encouraged him, smiling. “I’ll go with you. And I’ll wear jeans.”
His amusement melted into shock. “You want to go to the ball with me?”
“Sure.” It seemed like the least I could do after all this forced guardian crap. And it hadn’t taken a genius last night to determine how much he didn’t want to take me to class today. Maybe something like the ball would show him I wasn’t so bad. And besides… “It sounds fun.”
“Fun,” he repeated, sounding dubious. “You really want to go?”
“Yeah, why not?” I smiled. “I mean, only if you want to.”
“What about Titus?” he asked. “Wouldn’t you prefer to go with him?”
“He’s not mentioned it.” But perhaps that wasn’t what Sol meant. Was he trying to come up with an excuse for us not to go? I glanced at the girl with dark curls, watched as she laughed with a beauty most men would adore. “Do you want to go with Aflora?” I wondered out loud. Because if he did, I’d understand. I mean, we weren’t dating. We were hardly even friends. But I sort of wanted to be friends. Maybe.
Sol followed my gaze, his expression turning into one of adoration as he slowly shook his head. Not necessarily the kind of look a man gave a woman he wanted to fuck, but perhaps Sol was different?
“Nah. Aflora has a childhood crush on me, but I’m not right for her. It’s because she was one of my sister’s best friends,” he explained, running his fingers through his copper-colored strands. His earthy brown eyes flitted shyly to mine, then dropped to the ground. “I, uh, lost my sister a few years ago.”
“Oh, Sol, I’m sorry.” That wasn’t at all what I expected him to say.
He lifted a shoulder. “It’s the plague, you know. Spirit Kingdom is next to Earth Kingdom, so, uh, it spread.” His mouth twisted. “That’s why everyone looks, uh, small.”
“You mean this isn’t normal?”
“It didn’t use to be.” He grimaced, palming the back of his neck. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to talk about this, just thought you might want to understand why I’m so much larger.”
