Page 136 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

“You don’t mind if I wear this out?” She asks, and I hear faint surprise in her tone.

My hand trails down to hers, closing around her engagement ring. It hasn’t left her finger since the day she put it on and each time I see it on her hand it quells the territorial monster inside me.

“Don’t take off your ring.” I say, “They can look all they want so long as when they do, they see this too.”

“I can do that.” She says with a satisfied smile.

“The whole world should get to see you in this dress, but they should also know that I’m the only one who gets to take it off. You don’t let anyone touch you, Six. You’re still mine tomorrow.”

Her smile falters ever so slightly and she looks off to the side. Before she can pull away completely, I tighten my hold on her hand and peer down at her ring.

“I knew the rubies would look good on you.”

Her brow drops into a frown before her eyes widen. She looks back up at me with a puzzled expression on her face.

“You picked out my ring?”

“I had it designed.” I correct, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Did you think I’d let my wife wear a ring chosen by another man?”

I’d had it made the day after she taunted me with the fact that she didn’t have one. All of a sudden, it’d felt like an urgent priority.

Affection blooms on her face as her gaze roams over mine. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shrug. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

She squeezes my hand, gets on her tiptoes and kisses me fiercely.

“It does.”

Chapter 40

Sixtine

I’m sitting in an amazing club in the most beautiful city in the world, surrounded by my best friends and countless bottles of champagne, and I just want to go home, put my PJs on, and cry.

I held out hope that Phoenix would change his mind until the very end.Until we’d physically had to part ways, when I’d had to go left and him right at the airport.

I’d held my breath, waiting for him to say anything, do anything that showed he didn’t want this to be over between us because that decision had to come from him, not me.

He’s the one who put an end date on this. He’s the one who refuses to talk about the past, who won’t open up to me.

He’s the one who turned to face me, kissed me like he was going off to war, and then walked away.

“I’ll see you when I see you,” he’d said.

I’d watched him head towards the private plane that would take him to Geneva until he’d disappeared, hoping that he’d turn around, but he never did.

So, I’d gotten on my own plane and I’d cried the entire flight to France.

The tears didn’t make a reappearance when we were getting ready at our hotel and I’d kept them at bay thus far at the club, but it felt like a rogue one might squeeze out any second now and set me off.

“Are you alright?” Nera asks, sitting next to me and squeezing my hand.

“Yes!” I answer, a little too brightly.

“That wasalmostconvincing.” Thayer says, giving me a kind smile.

“You don’t have to pretend you’re doing okay, you know?” Bellamy tells me.

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