Page 76 of Liar & Champion
“Yes, I do,” I frowned at him sternly. “If you’re sure you don’t want to find another debutante…” I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. “If I don’t last the whole sixmonths, don’t you think the marriage will make the deal with your mother count? That’s why I made it part of the deal.”
He studied my hand for a long time before he nodded. “I like you touching me. It makes me feel like you’re really here, that I didn’t entirely fail to protect you from the monsters that want to devour you. It will count. Don’t worry about that. She’s tickled at the thought of me getting married. No one would have bet on that.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty illogical. The whole thing is actually incredibly unreasonable. You’re just too stubborn to try again with someone else?”
“Yep. Stubborn is a good word for me.”
Trix put in, “If he wasn’t so stubborn, the games wouldn’t exist. All those people would be out of a job if Nix didn’t keep them going. Insurance. Politics. Dealing with unstable danger junkies. He makes it look easy, but it’s nothing close to that.”
“Sunshine, you’re tired. Can I take you home or do you need more spaghetti?”
I stared at Nix and then down at my empty plate. How had I eaten all of that? No idea. “I’d like you to take me home. Does that mean you’ll carry me?”
He raised a brow and looked slightly scandalized. “You want me to carry you? I thought women liked to stand on their own two feet.”
“I broke the heel off one of my shoes. I could walk in my bare feet, but wouldn’t it be better if you carried me? I love it.”
He smiled at me and then stood, walking around the table, slow, but intractable. “If you want me to carry you, then I’ll carry you. Everywhere. All day. Every day. Forever.”
“Even after I’m dead?”
“Why not? We could put it in the show, the corpse bride.”
I laughed. This was way better than getting Beastie’s zombie emoji’s. “That’s not creepy at all.” I gasped as he swung me upinto his strong arms then I put my hands around his neck and hung on although I knew that he’d never drop me. “Thanks, Trix,” I called back at her as he carried me away.
“Don’t mention it,” Trix said with a flash of a grin.
“Oh, that reminds me, you won’t mention the death thing to anyone, will you? It’s not common knowledge.”
“Because you want to suffer in silence,” Nix whispered, warm breath tickling my ear.
“I don’t gossip,” Trix said with a glint of determination in her eyes that I didn’t doubt.
“Thanks.” When we were in the hall, I tugged on his nose. It was in much better shape than Beastie’s after his fight. “You’ve definitely internalized that suffering in silence bit. You’re going to say that at least once a day, aren’t you?”
“At least.” Nix marching along like he had somewhere to go and that my weight was nothing.
I relaxed against him, my whole body slumping against him as the happy carbs hit me. “Trixie is so great.”
“She’s okay.”
“You could have married her.”
“No, because she didn’t want to marry me any more than I wanted to marry her.”
“Oh. I guess that wouldn’t work then.”
“You sound utterly exhausted.”
“Of course. Swimming this morning, watching you fight this afternoon, then a kidnapping this evening. Do you think you could bring me my pills sometimes when I’m too lazy to get them? Never mind. You’ll be busy at work. You are working.” I frowned at him for a moment before I snuggled back under his chin. It was a relief to know that I didn’t have to try and walk away from him, that he could adapt easily to the new timeline without any effort.
“I’ll get you your pills, Kitten. I’ll even stab you with morphine or whatever.”
I pulled away so I could beam at him. “Wow. So brutal. I love it.”
“That’s good. Life should be full of things to love, or it’s just not worth it.”
“Mm.” I snuggled back against his chest and let all the stress leach out of me. I felt more safe than anywhere else when I was in his arms. Whatever kept me there was absolutely worth it.
