Page 17 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

He whoops and sits up, dropping his jaw into his palm as he looks at me. “I knew it! You can’t hide things from me, ladybug.” He stands and comes to sit next to me on the floor, our backs against the couch. “Maybe you’ll be my sister-in-law one day.”

“Don’t be weird, Astor.”

He laughs, his golden hair falling off his forehead as he wraps his arm around my shoulder. “You’d be so lucky to be related to me. Are you going to tell him?”

“No.” I say, mortified. There’s no way I could ever face him and admit I have a crush on him. Not only am I shy and not gutsy enough to do that, but he would probably laugh and say he doesn’t feel the same way.

“You should.”

“Why?”

“He can’t hide things from me anymore than you can, ladybug. Plus, the whole twin telepathy takes that to a whole other level.”

“What are you talking about?”

He lifts a shoulder before adding vaguely, “Tell him you like him. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I can’t, Astor.”

He hums, his gaze roaming over the contents of the treehouse and lighting up when they land on a notebook and pen in a corner.

He goes to grab it and sits back down next to me.

“If you’re too afraid to do it in person, you can write him a note.”

I look at the items in his hands, unsure. My face must betray my uncertainty because he continues, “I can give it to him, or you can drop it in his room like you did with the flower crown.”

I look up at him, startled. “How do you know about that?”

I never told him I was finishing it for him or that I’d left it in his room.

“Phoenix told me.”

“Really?” I say, my brows knitting together, “He never even brought it up to me.”

To be fair, he left that daisy in my room, and I never acknowledged it either. I hadn’t known what to say, which seems to be a bit of a recurring theme when it comes to him.

His easy smile spreads into a grin. “He wanted to make sure that I knew you’d made one for him and not me.”

I frown again. “But you don’t…?” I trail off. “Right?”

“Like you? Ew, no.” He adds quickly, “Not that you’re not the best, but you’re my sister.”

I flush happily, squeezing his hand. “Love you, you know.”

“Love you too,” he says, squeezing back. He releases my hand and grabs the notebook, holding it up between us. “So, what’s it going to be?”

I chew my lip as I waver. I’ve been struggling to find ideas for a birthday present, but this could be it. Worse comes to worse, if he doesn’t have a crush on me back then he just won’t acknowledge the note like he did with the flower crown.

“Okay, let’s do it,” I speak quickly before I can change my mind. “What do I even say?”

He tears out a piece of paper and lays it on top of the notebook. He hums as he appears deep in thought, tapping the pen repeatedly against his lips.

Finally, he bends his head and starts writing on the paper. “How about this?” He asks, turning the paper towards me so I can read it.

I like you. Do you like me?

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