Page 21 of Confused AF
Winding my arm around him, I held him close, pulled between indulgence and exasperation. I didn’t know if his hesitation came from generosity or fear, but it frustrated the hell out of me.
He had nothing to be afraid of, and the faery damn sure didn’t deserve his kindness.
At the same time, I wouldn’t change anything about him. I had fallen in love with who he was, not who I wanted him to be, including all the little things that drove me crazy.
Besides, the truth would come out one way or another. That video had been posted for millions to see, and I would bet money Otto hadn’t been the only one to catch Kassidy in the act. While it would be satisfying to watch her squirm as she tried to lie her way out of the accusations, confronting her directly wouldn’t actually accomplish anything.
So, if he wanted to leave her fate to karma and the court of public opinion, I could probably learn to live with it.
“Chloe’s the one who was hurt,” he said as if reading my mind. “Maybe we should leave it up to her. I don’t want to mess up anything if she decides to press charges.”
It sounded like a copout, but a considerate one, and he did have a point.
“If that’s what you want to do.”
“Yeah, I think it is.”
I choked back a sigh as I pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He deserved more, but I supposed restoring his reputation would have to be enough for now.
Having spoken everything that needed to be said, we fell into a comfortable silence. While I would have been perfectly content to sit there and hold him for the rest of the day, the universe seemingly had other plans.
It started small, a subtle, almost imperceptible shift in the energy.
More people smiled when they passed by the table. Some waved. A couple of teenage girls slowed and pointed at us.
“Oh, my god, that’s them,” one of them said to her friend. Then they both giggled and hurried away.
“What’s going on?” Otto asked, easing away to sit upright in his chair. “Please don’t tell me something else happened.”
Before I could form a response or try to reassure him, the jumbo screens mounted to the ceiling all suddenly lit up with an image of Kassidy Bassiago.
“Oh,” Otto breathed, his hand fluttering near his mouth. “Oh, god.”
The faery’s smiling face stared down at everyone for almost an full minute before the screens changed again, this time to the video showing her tampering with Otto’s table. And just to be sure that no one missed it, a giant red arrow followed her throughout the entire clip.
I turned my head and coughed to hide my laughter. It might not have been how I would have chosen to handle things, but Chloe Rae had style. I’d give her that.
A hush fell over the room, and everyone seemed frozen in place as they turned their gazes to the giant screens. Even those who hadn’t yet heard about the scandal looked disgusted bywhat they saw. The stillness stretched on, even after the video ended, as if no one really knew what to say.
Then the murmurs started. The whispers. The gasps. With every added voice, the volume rose until the noise returned to its usual dull roar.
“Otto.” I rested my hand on his back and used my other to point at a spot near the center of the room. “Look.”
I knew the moment he spotted her because his spine stiffened, and the muscles in his back flexed beneath my palm.
Kassidy hurried through the throng of people, her head down and her translucent wings fluttering with agitation behind her. No one tried to stop her. No one yelled insults at her. They just let her go with disdainful stares and pointed fingers.
“Don’t feel bad for her,” I warned. I would absolutely lose my mind if he shed even one tear for the conniving faery.
“I don’t,” he said after a brief hesitation, and he sounded like he meant it. “She did this to herself.”
“Yes, exactly. She shit the bed, and now she has to sleep in it.”
Otto barked out a laugh and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s how that saying goes.”
I shrugged. I liked my version better. “So, what do you want to do now? There’s still a couple of hours before they kick us out.” Pushing forward in my chair, I let my gaze wander to the empty table in front of us. “Do you want to try to set up a tutorial?”
“Not today,” he answered. “I think I just want to go back to the hotel, if that’s okay?”
