“It will. There’s something special about your food, Evan. It’s comforting.” Lake wiped at his mouth and, upon finding a speck of blueberry on his hand, licked it off. Catching me watching, his cheeks darkened even further. “Pardon my poor table manners.”
“Oh, you mean manners like this?” I pulled the platter with the half-eaten cake toward me and scooped up some of the frosting with my finger before licking it off. I then ate one of the chocolate dipped cherries, speaking with my mouth full. “So good. Want some?”
Lake smiled, and for the first time that night, his walls lowered. There were no reservations behind that smile. Only joy. “Yes, please.”
I cut him a slice—one without my germs on it—and we stuffed our faces. One cup of tea turned to two, and the desserts on the platter dwindled more and more. We didn’t talk much, but I sensed the shift in the air between us.
Each time our gazes met from across the table, flutters swarmed my chest.
“I’m gonna pop like a balloon.” I slumped in my chair and rested a hand on my full belly.
“What is a balloon?” Lake asked, slouching in his chair too.
Oh, right.They didn’t have those here.
“It’s like one of the lanterns from the Festival of Lights, but made of different material,” I explained. “There’s also huge ones that can carry you through the sky, called hot-air balloons.”
His eyes widened. “Does such a thing truly exist?”
“It does where I come from.”
I still hadn’t told anyone I was from another world. I’d need to, eventually, but fear held me back. What if Maddox and Briar didn’t believe me? Or, what if theydidbelieve me but then feared me because of it? Looked at me like I was someone dangerous?
I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“I find the idea terrifying,” Lake said. “Being so high in the sky. I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground.”
When I’d first arrived in Bremloc, I’d been amazed by magic and the entire fantasy world around me. As I sat with Lake, I thought of how someone from Bremloc would feel being sent to my old world. They’d be freaked out and amazed by everything too: cars, planes, and Netflix.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Lake focused on me, the wall slowly creeping back up. He nodded.
“How long have you been watching me?” I vaguely recalled Maddox and Briar’s conversation from the night before. Briar had said he’d sensed Lake in the woods. So that night wasn’t the first time.
“A while,” he admitted after a short pause. “I’ve periodically checked in on you since the Festival of Lights. Always keeping to the trees.”
“Why?”
“Because since the moment I met you, Evan, you’ve not been far from my mind.” Lake’s purple irises caught the light as his gaze briefly flickered up to me before lowering again. “I busy myself with things around the house; cooking, tending to my garden, and whittling. Working on any needed repairs. Yet, my thoughts always return to you. I’ve been alone for most of my life. But I never felt truly lonely until you came crashing into my quiet, solitary world and left it just as quickly. You made me crave… more.”
Pressure built in the base of my throat. I didn’t know how to respond.
“I should leave.” The legs of his chair scraped against the floor as he pushed back from the table and stood. With a touch of sorrow in his eyes, and perhaps a bit of panic as well, he turned toward the back door.
“Wait! Don’t go.” I scrambled out of my chair and stepped after him, but the tip of my shoe caught on the chair leg, and I tripped.
Lake was in front of me in a flash, catching me before I hit the floor. His arms were secured around me, and my body was pressed flush to his. With my face against his chest, his scent infiltrated my nostrils. He smelled like the forest.
“Are you all right?” he asked close to my ear.
“Yeah.” I turned my face more into his shirt. My heart beat wildly, causing my blood to race through my veins quicker. It heated and felt electric at the same time, like all it would take was a single spark to ignite the fire deep in my core. A fire that would hopefully burn through these confusing feelings and help me make sense of them.
Lake held on tighter, as if he were struggling with those same confusing emotions.
“You don’t have to leave,” I said. “You can sleep in the guest room. And for breakfast, I can make omelets again since you liked them so much.”
Funny that Briar had tried to bribe me with food to return to the castle with them, and there I was doing the same with Lake.
