Page 92 of Beast and Remedy
“Us. He invited both of us.”
“Yes, but I’m not the one writing him.”
“So?” Marian straightens, and her horse bobs its head, making her wiggle in her saddle.
The urge to summon my power to see if her steed can sense Marian’s mood itches along my fingertips. But I refrain, already satisfied by the jokes passing between us.
“So, tell us,” Christine asks, “are you two involved?”
“Have you kissed yet?” Jules puckers her thin lips, making kissing noises, and I burst out laughing.
Marian bristles. “No and no,” she snaps, but I don’t miss her gaze falling on Leo when he peers back and squints.
I conceal my grin as Marian shrinks into herself.
Leo is as much of a flirt as my sister. The two of them have always gotten along… It makes me wonder if they’ve ever—
“What about you, Vi?” Christine asks.
Beau stiffens at his sister’s question and glances over his shoulder, his jaw flexing.
I cough into my fist. “What about me?”
“You? Are you seeing anyone?” Christine wiggles her brows mischievously, wanting more gossip. “Come on, tell us!”
Jules elbows her partner. “It isn’t much of our business.”
“I know, my darling, but what else is there to discuss as we travel? The weather?” Christine gestures around to the sun-filled day.
A small breeze blows through my waves as Jules snorts. “Fair. But Vi should probably tie her hair back, or else it will muffle the response you are looking for.”
My untamed tresses sweep across my face again, proving my friend’s statement right, and Beau cackles up ahead.
I was expecting Marcel or Leo to be the one behind it, not Beau. But, Sweet Makers, do I regret watching him laugh because the damned sunlight leaps off him, a glowing beam of starlight in the middle of the day.
My heart leaps outside of my chest, hating myself for lingering.
I miss his laugh so much.
“Vi hates tying her waves back,” Leo says. “We all know that.”
Marian rushes to my defense. “She styles it sometimes.”
She’s always been one to taunt and handle jokes well amongst friends. But my own enthusiasm differs based on the company and my mood.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen her hair plaited,” Marcel comments.
The trail narrows, and our group huddles closer together. The men ahead stay beside each other while Marian and Christine remain in the middle and Jules and I linger at the back.
My friend’s joy is as infectious as I remember when we were kids, even when she raises her voice to Marcel. “That’s because you were too busy hunting with the boys all the time.”
Marcel shrugs. “You got me there, sweetheart.”
“Are we really arguing about my waves?” I ask, surprised when Marian and Beau respond in unison.
“Yes.”
I roll my eyes as Jules’s elation brightens the inflection of her voice. “Do you want me to plait it for you?”
