Page 6 of The Forgotten Queen
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m fine.” She pulled the fabric of her damp skirt over her legs to cover the ugly scratches, but he tugged at the skirt.
“Let me see.”
Sydria held the hem firm at her knees, refusing to let him look at the cuts on her thighs.
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind of you, but my uncle is a doctor and can see to them when I get home.”
“Okay.” He smirked.
They sat in silence for a moment as the crackling fire burned around them. Sydria bit her lip, unsure of what to say to the man. Since the accident, she hadn’t had that much practice conversing with people. For the past three months, she’d only been with Uncle Von and Aunt Edmay. Occasionally, Von’s friend Otis would come by, but there was something about that man and his gray eyes that sent Sydria hiding whenever he was there.
“Do you always go around rescuing animals?” the man asked.
She was glad he’d spoken first. But of course, it wasn’t a question she could answer. Did she go around rescuing animals? She had no clue. “I’d like to think I do.”
His light brows furrowed.
It was an odd answer, and she wished she could take it back. She’d give a more generic answer to his next question, something that he’d be expecting. “You and your friends seemed to be having a good time.” She felt his eyes on her but kept her focus on the dying flames.
“You were watching us?” he asked, amusement in his voice.
She had been curious about them, a group of people around her same age, living a life that was so different from her own. She turned to him. “It looked like a party. Are you celebrating something?”
He let out a harsh breath. “There’s nothing to celebrate.”
The orange glow from the fire danced across his face and his toned arms. “Is that why you were in a bad mood?”
“What made you think I was in a bad mood?”
“Well,” she didn’t know how to say it. “The other couples were quicker to…um,” she looked down momentarily, trying to find the words, “enjoyeach other’s company than you were.”
He gave her a sideways glance, and one eyebrow raised. “Couples?”
“Yes.” She pulled her knees close to her chest, hugging them tightly. “Isn’t the brunette your girlfriend?”
“I don’t know what she is, but she’s not my girlfriend.”
Sydria tilted her head. “Then why did you kiss her?”
He shrugged. “Because she wanted me to.”
“But you didn’t want to?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I can think of worse things.”
“So you were pretending to be interested?”
“Does that bother you?”
It didn’t bother her. She could relate, but maybe he was offended by her questions. She straightened. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It’s not appropriate or any of my business.”
He laughed. “It’s okay. Most people don’t think I’mappropriate.”
She glanced away, biting back a smile. “She likes you. If that’s any consolation.”
