“You know, Ersovian?” I exclaimed. “Your accent is adorable!”
“Shut up, and let me go back to bed!” She tried to pull away.
“Say something else.”
“I will kick you!”
Grinning, I yanked at the belt of her robe.
“Gale!” she screamed.
“Odette!” I screamed back, making her throw a pillow at me.
“You are so annoying, sometimes!” she screamed in Ersovian, and each time she spoke, I laughed. She was beautiful and cute.
How fortunate could I truly be?
Scooping her into my arms, I threw us back onto the bed.
“If you came to divorce me, why did you learn my language?” I smiled, pinning her under me.
She glared. “I started learning before I decided to divorce you.”
“And your excuse for after? Or did you decide only recently?”
“I had already paid for a tutor, and it seemed like a waste to just give up—”
I kissed her lips quickly. “And now, your real reason.”
“That was my real reason.”
“Very well, then. I will not let you out of this bed until you tell me.” I wanted her to say it. I wanted her to admit that she had learned because she knew she belonged beside me too. She knew she couldn’t let me go also.
“I learned because I hated not knowing what was said around me,” she admitted softly. “The day you left, everyone was talking, but I understood nothing.”
“So, you learned for me?”
“I learned for me,” she corrected stubbornly.
Frowning, I rolled off her and onto my side before sighing dramatically. “Is it so hard for you to inflate my ego a little bit?”
“Isn’t that what everyone else does?”
I pouted, and she rolled onto my chest, her brown eyes alive, sparkling, the smile on her face taunting. “Everyone else is not you.”
“You like me because I am different. And yet you want me to be like everyone else?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” I grumbled. “I sound like you—wanting everything and nothing at the same.”
She smacked my chest. “Hey!”
“Ah!” I pretended to wince. “You are hitting me more often than last time! This is abuse.”
Her mouth dropped open, and I could not stop myself from laughing. She tried to get off me, but I held on to her again until she finally just gave up. Somehow, we both managed to twist and turn until we ended up facing one another on top of the pillows.
“I missed you.” Even though I knew her for such a short time, I really did miss this even without realizing it. She made a face at me. “You are supposed to say you missed me back, Odette.”
“Give me a second.”
Snickering, I nodded, waiting. When she didn’t say it, I sighed dramatically.
“Fine, I missed you too.”
Why did I find her so amusing? I should have been annoyed with how reluctant she was with her feelings, but it actually made me want to pull them out of her more.
“I missed you more than I wanted to miss you,” she whispered, not looking at my eyes but at my chest.
“Good,” I whispered, lifting her chin. “Does that mean you did not cheat on me then while I was away?” I bit my lip as her face bunched up, and she lifted her hands into the small space between us. I waited for it, but she just flipped over, looking away from me.
“Me, cheat on you? I barely went on dates before you. You, on the other hand, have been photographed with so many women lately—models, actresses, some princess.”
She was so cute.
“You have been reading up on me also?” I questioned, bringing her body to mine, her back against my chest. “So, you have been learning Ersovian, and you have been keeping up with the news. Wow, you truly like me.”
“See, there is no need for me to inflate your ego—you do it by yourself,” she grumbled, pulling the sheets.
Placing my head beside hers, I took a deep breath. “Do you know what I saw whenever I was with those models or actresses or even that princess?”
“I do not want to know. Probably how beautiful—”
“Nothing,” I interrupted her.
“Sure,” she scoffed in disbelief.
“I know it is odd. But over the last few months, I have been introduced to so many people. And they all pass by in blurs. It has not been long, and yet they have all moved on from my brother. There are moments in the day where I simply pause and look around, wondering if they know I am not supposed to be here. And yet they laugh and talk and keep going as if nothing