Page 45 of Secret Gifts
“That’s the last of your stuff, sis. You still didn’t go shopping?” Rex asks while closing the trunk lid on my rental car and looking at my low-cut shirt.
My outfit is not quite as eye-popping as my aunt’s handpicked wardrobe, but it’s still sexier than what I would normally wear.
“Yeah, I just sort of stuck with the new attire while giving it a little more modesty. It’s actually a little empowering every once and a while.”
Secretly I’m hoping Jase will see me and have to have me.
“What happened?” he asks in exasperation.
“He asked me to stay with him,” I say casually while sliding down to sit on the hood of my car.
“And?” he prompts, bemused by my phrasing.
“And I assumed we’d be staying together.”
His head tilts up slightly as his lips press together in a thin line.
“Ah. So you were thinking your relationship was way up here-” he holds his hand above his head “- and he was still barely at the starting line.”
“Exactly. Thank you for understanding that,” I sigh out in relief.
“I get it completely, but maybe he just worried he was getting too far ahead and he didn’t know if you were in the same place. Have you considered that?”
“No, because it wouldn’t have dawned on him to ask me to stay, just like it never crossed my mind.”
“Sorry, Sis. I really thought things would work out with this one. You normally don’t let them hang around for longer than a night or two. At least you’re making progress.”
“Doesn’t feel like progress to me.” It feels like agony.
“Well it’s been three days. Maybe the chill has subsided. The two of you weren’t really together that long, so it shouldn’t be hard for this awkward faze to end.”
We weren’t together that long, but it was long enough for me to worry that I was falling in love.
“I need to go get some things from my room. Am I riding back to Seminole with you?” Rex asks.
“Yeah. I’d rather not ride back alone.”
He nods and then blurs away. My eyes fall on the full blood masterpiece who hasn’t noticed me yet. He’s leaned against his car while speaking with a general. I swear he knows the highest ranked people in the military.
“What are we looking at?” Uncle Brazen’s smooth tone asks as he props up against my car beside me.
“Nothing,” I say with a shrug, my eyes darting away from my full blood.
“I see,” he murmurs with a smile when he catches the object of my stalking.
“Can I ask you something?”
He shrugs indifferently while turning around and propping his back on my car. His eyes fall on my mother who is speaking with a group of interrogators, and an involuntary, salacious smile falls on his chiseled face.
“Sure, kiddo,” he finally says, though I’ve lost his attention completely.
“What’s so damn special about my mother that made you wait seven hundred years?”
He coughs out a laugh, and then he shakes his head while turning to face me.
“Everything about her is special, Aralia. Did your mom tell you how we met?”
“Yeah, Dad didn’t show up to her party, she cried, and you saved the day. What I don’t get is why you chased her for so long, and then waited for her when she chose someone else? How can you possibly love someone that much? It’s not like you didn’t have other options. Believe me, I’ve heard the girls drooling over you,” I utter with a scowl on my face.
