Page 153 of Cherish

“It’s that obvious, huh?” I laugh, but it ends in a sigh.

“I’ve been in love with a Vega since I was fourteen.” He shakes his head. “If it’s any consolation, it doesn’t get any easier.”

“At all?” I ask, more than a little horrified by his words.

“Not even a little,” he admits. Without looking up, he asks, “Did you know Jaxon plans to accept the vampire throne?”

“Yeah,” I answer on a breath. “Although I’m not so sure he will—and I definitely don’t think he should.”

His gaze meets mine then. “You don’t? But I thought—”

“What?” I interrupt. “That Hudson or I want Jaxon to sacrifice his happiness for a Court that has never cared about him?”

Flint goes back to staring at the pond, and we sit listening to the plaintive chirping of nearby birds for what feels like forever.

Eventually, Flint softly says, “Do you know what the real problem is with loving a Vega?”

“They always think they’re right?” I suggest, one brow arched.

Flint chuckles but shakes his head. “That one’s bad—I’ll give you that. But that’s not theworstthing about loving a Vega.”

“Oh my God, it’s their obsession with their hair.” I chuck an elbow at him playfully. “Am I right?”

This time, he gives a full-throated laugh before adding, “They really need to just move a bed into the bathroom, the amount of time they spend before a mirror—”

He turns to me to finish the punchline of the joke, which I gladly do: “And vampires don’t even have reflections!”

We’re both holding our sides laughing now, and it feels good to have my old friend back. The one who loved to tease almost as much as he loved to be teased. Flint’s sense of humor is one of the things I love about him most. One of the things Cyrus and this world seems to be slowly taking from him, his shoulders sagging again under a weight he’s carrying that I can only imagine.

He kicks a pebble into the pond, and it hits the water with aplonkbefore sinking to the bottom.

His voice is as rough as the gravel path before us as he says, “The absolute worst, I-don’t-know-if-we-can-move-past-this thing about loving a Vega, Grace, is they think they’re the only ones who ever have the right to sacrifice anything.”

He lifts his gaze to mine, his warm amber eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I just hope it doesn’t break you like it’s breaking me.”

82

Fit to be

Tongue-Tied

When Flint walks away, I let him go. I hate how upset he is, hate even more that I don’t know what to say to him to help.

Then again, Jaxon is the one who needs to step up.

Actually, so does Hudson. Whatever is going on at the Vampire Court, whatever the constant texting is about, either we’re partners or we’re not. It’s just that simple. I’m not asking him to process his trauma or reveal his inner life—just share facts that affect not only our relationship but his Court, my Court, and the entire paranormal world.

With that thought in mind, I head back up to our room only to realize Hudson is now nowhere to be found.

I start to text him—he can’t seriously be on another call with the Vampire Court, can he?—but before I hit Send, Hudson walks in the door, arms piled high with our folded laundry.

“You’re back,” he tells me with a grin.

“You did the laundry.” It’s kind of a ridiculous thing to say after everything I’ve been thinking, but it’s what comes out. Probably because I assumed he was so wrapped up in whatever’s happening with the vampires that he wouldn’t even notice I had put our clothes in the wash.

But I should have known better. When it comes to me, Hudson notices everything.

“I think it was more of a joint effort,” he says, dropping the clothes in a neat pile on the bed so he can wrap his arms around me. “You did the first half. I’m just catching up with the second. How was your walk?”

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