Page 25 of Samhain

Miri was like that first spring day after winter when the air still had a crispness that hung in every breath but the sun shined warmly on your skin. Which was appropriate because she thought I was the opposite—cool autumn air and dying summer light, campfires and the smell of falling leaves. Her energy made you want to burst with life; my energy made you want to toast s’mores and cuddle.

We explored Southern California together. She showed me the places she’d been before, and we fucked in some places she hadn’t. After a few weeks into our vacation, I couldn’t imagine my life without her. We talked, really talked, about everything. About things we’d never discussed between us before. About our childhoods and what we wanted for the future. Some of those conversations I hadn’t even had with Ivy. Before long, Miri knew more about me than anyone had before.

“You want kids?” I asked one night. It was late, or really early, depending on the point of view. Naked in our bed, her legs twisted in mine, my arm around her shoulders, I ran my fingers through her hair strewn across my chest.

“Yes,” she said with a smile, glancing up at me. “A lot of them. Do you?”

I hugged her tighter, my heart nearly bursting with how much I wanted the same thing. “Yeah.”

“Did you think you’d have them with Ivy?”

That brought me back to earth. I sighed and cleared my throat, hoping my voice didn’t crack when I spoke again. “We always knew we’d probably break up at the end of college. But I’m a hopeless romantic. I saw little ginger-haired Washington-Scotts running around.”

She softly laughed, squeezing my torso tighter. “Lex and I wanted them, too. We’d adopt a few. We’d have a few. I wanted a house overrun with family.”

My heart yanked because it was a pipe dream, wasn’t it? Lex and Ivy would have their own family, and I’d probably end up alone, wishing I could be a part of something bigger.

“You come home to me,” Lex had once made me promise, “and you come home to Ivy and Miri. And in the end, it’s us.”

When I’d agreed to that promise, I’d meant it. He promised to take care of Ivy, and I’d come home as soon as I could. We’d given each other forever. How pitiful those words seemed now that we were scattered.

“If we don’t have any by the time we’re forty, let’s you and I have them. How about that, Romeo?” she asked.

“Sounds nice,” I agreed, though it was only a half-hearted jest. Lord knew, Miri and I would never…could never…have children together. The royal family would certainly have something to say about their darling princess having little majestic babies with some nobody actor from Chicago. Despite how close the two of us were, our romance would not be tolerated by the Crown.

“Have you spoken to your dad since you’ve been out here?”

“Talk about family disappointments.” I ignored the slice of agony in my chest at the mention of my father. No, I hadn’t talked to him, and if I never did again, even that might be too soon.

“Still haven’t seen your little brother?”

I shook my head, wincing against the damnable tension in my gut. That one cut deeper.

“Do you want to?” She wasn’t asking to be mean or bring up old wounds. Miri seemed genuinely curious.

I considered this. He was a baby now, but would my dad even tell him about me when he got older? About my sisters? Or had he completely reinvented himself? Knowing that conniving asshole, he’d likely go on pretending none of us existed. It was like he left my mom and all thoughts of his four children fell out of his idiotic head. Either way, it wasn’t the kid’s fault our father was a prick. Why should either of us suffer for it?

“Maybe,” I answered. “One day. If he wants to see me.”

She smiled and leaned in to give me another kiss, soft and tender, putting the weight of her adoration into it. “That’s one of the things she always loved about you.” Miri’s grin pulled to one side. “Your big heart.”

“You’re one to talk.” I squeezed her tighter to tease her with my response.

She rolled her eyes, apparently refusing to believe me. “Please.”

“I’m serious,” I continued. “To keep Lex as enamored as you have all these years? You must have a heart the size of the Grand Canyon and ovaries as tough as steel.”

“Yeah, well.” She sat up and readjusted herself so she could lie back against the headboard, the sounds of the ocean roaring in the distance. “It wasn’t enough.” Miri fiddled with a piece of thread between us. “It doesn’t matter. Gran is setting up my engagement to the Prince of Monaco, anyway. In a few short years, I’ll be the queen consort of Monaco with all the titles and endowments that entails.” Forcing a tight grin, she let out a sarcastic laugh. “Lucky me.”

“The prince of Monaco?” I scrunched my nose as I recalled a guy in his late forties with a bald head, expanding waistline, and jowls that reminded me of a bulldog. “Isn’t he like a hundred and ten?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She laughed. “It’s not about love or age. It’s about royal babies. That’s all it’s ever been about.”

I paused, debating what I knew about middle-aged men with how old that stuffy bastard probably was. “Can he even get it up?”

“I suppose I’ll find out.”

I ignored the burning stab of jealousy that flared in my gut.

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