Page 78 of A Royal Promise
“I would’ve told you in a heartbeat if I thought you felt the same way, but I never saw you look at me that way…not until recently.”
He wasn’t wrong. She’d never noticed Drew in a romantic sense until these past few months. Her attraction to him had grown, slow and steady over time, until it was a feeling she couldn’t hide anymore.
“Look at youwhatway?”
He shot her a sad smile. “Like I might actually have a shot with you. Like you might feel even a fraction of what I feel for you.”
She blushed under his gaze. “I do think I might feel something for you too. There’s somethingrealbetween us. We have so much shared history, and I’ve always cared about you, but these past few months…I can admit something has felt different. But I’m not sure what to believe right now, Drew.”
“What do you mean?”
Bri sighed. “It’s hard for me to sort through my thoughts right now. It’s like you just handed me all the pieces to a thousand-piece puzzle and want me to see the finished product, but I haven’t had time to put it together yet.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I need a day to process everything. Can you give me that?”
“Of course.” Drew looked down shyly, kicking his feet against the hardwood floors before looking back at her. “Will you meet me here in the observatory tomorrow evening? I can answer any questions you may still have then.”
“I’ll be here.” She nodded, looking more sure of herself than she felt.
Bri hardly slept a wink, tossing and turning in bed all night. Her mind was full of thoughts and memories she needed to sort through before talking to Drew.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to talk to Drew about her feelings for him. Bri was still attempting to understand them herself. And the thought of settling in one place forever still scared her.
When she finally climbed out of bed, she selected her outfit for the day: a blush-pink midi skirt and a short-sleeve ruched white shirt. After throwing her hair up into a ponytail, she added a few curls and put on minimal makeup. She slipped on her tried-and-true white platform sneakers and took the short walk from her cottage to the palace. Once inside, she made her way to her favorite room in Glencrest Palace.
As she rounded the corner and walked through the doorway into the large space filled with natural light, her shoulders immediately felt like a weight had been lifted.
In all her time living there recently, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t ventured to this room. Maybe it was a testament to how much time she’d been spending with Drew…how she craved being around him compared to other things that brought her joy.
On one side of the room, floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the space with the morning sun and made her feel like she was out in the woods. Bri stood by the windows and closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth of the sun beaming down on her. The warmth filled her up, giving her the strength to take a seat, pull out her phone, and open the photos folder entitledRide or Die.
She took a minute to scroll back to the beginning, smiling as she took in the grinning young faces of her and Drew at seven years old. Their faces were squished together, and the camera was way too close to them, but they looked like they didn’t have a care in the world except for what freshly pressed juice they would request for snack time.
Those were the days she dreamed of now—to go back in time and have nothing to worry about. To not have to sit here and process her romantic feelings for her best friend.
She swiped through the photos until she reached their early teen years. Bri stopped when she saw a picture of her holding a funnel cake up, staring at it with her mouth open in excitement. Beside her, Drew was staring with the same awestruck expression, except his eyes were focused only on her.
The look on his face could only be described as love. There wasn’t any other explanation for it. She continued looking through the photos, noticing the same softness in his eyes and admiration written all over his features in almost every photo. It was like she was seeing the pictures for the first time.
“All these years… He’s loved me all these years. How did I never see it?”
It became even more obvious, especially in the more recent years’ photos. She had no clue how she’d failed to see it all thistime. She had been so focused on their friendship that she’d been blinded from the truth. But now the blinders were off, and their past collided with the present as she reevaluated their entire friendship.
She swiped to the next photo, one from their later teenage years. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his middle, her head pressed to his chest. Her chest bubbled up with emotion as she stared at it. Bri had loved Drew her whole life. Not in a romantic way but in ahe’s-my-best-friend-and-I’d-do-anything-for-himway.
But throughout the time she’d been fake dating him, the lens through which she’d seen him had irreparably shattered. She would never be able to see him as just a friend again. Instead, she couldn’t get over how attracted she was to Drew and the way her heart felt whenever she was around him. Not to mention the way he knew her better than she knew herself and the fact that he was the most kind, considerate, strong, caring, and giving person she’d ever met.
She could go on and on describing how wonderful he was…so why couldn’t she seem to come to terms with the idea of a future with him?
Bri opened the photos folder from her travels and began looking back at her most recent trip to Spain. Her tour through the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia. Walking along the shoreline of Costa Brava. Going cliff jumping in Menorca. Looking at all the pictures brought back a rush of adrenaline—a feeling she only got when exploring the world.
But when she thought of going on her next trip, something about it didn’t feel right. The things that had made her feel alive and most like herself didn’t make her soul sing anymore, because she would be alone doing it. Because Drew wouldn’t be there with her.
“I’m in love with Drew. I want a future with Drew.”
It felt freeing to finally say the words out loud.
