alone Beloria.”
“Mmm,” she said, licking her fingers. “I could eat this every week.”
“I’m impressed, Emma,” I said.
“You underestimate her,” Henry told me. “Gotta quit that shit.”
“I’m sorry, I know, I know,” I said. “It’s just… I’ve met a few princesses in my day, and most of them wouldn’t stoop below eating filet mignon, let alone fairground sandwiches.”
“I would love to see the Ferris wheel,” Emma said as she cleaned off her hands with a wet wipe. “And get a hot cider. Maybe a pastry, too? I love this festival. Thank you for the recommendation, Henry. I’d marry you if you were the prince.”
Emma winked and smiled at him as Genoveve pointed out the cider stand.
“I’m afraid I prefer the company of men, but I’m flattered,” Henry said.
Emma frowned. “What is the phrase…” she said, momentarily looking up at the sky as she was lost in thought. “Oh! Our loss,” she said. “Any woman would want you, Henry.”
“I’m straight, but yes, even though you’re an asshole, you are attractive,” Xavier said.
“Xavier, he isn’t an asshole,” I protested.
“I saw how he treated you in the car, sir,” Xavier said. “Nobody tells my prince to fuck off.”
“Nah,” I said. “Henry can tell me to fuck off whenever he wants.”
Henry shot me a glance, but I could tell he liked what I’d said.
Emma laughed. “Okay. I’m going to get a cider. Accompany me, Genoveve?”
“I’ll come along,” Xavier said, eyeing me and Henry like he didn’t want to be a third wheel to our conversation.
“Grab me one, as well?” I told Genoveve. “Thank you, Gen.”
Xavier, Genoveve and Emma wandered off toward the stand and I hung back with Henry, shaking my head at him.
“You’re magic,” I said.
“Not magic, was just hungry,” he said, a small smile appearing on his face. The string lights twinkled behind him, making his sandy hair look like some sort of halo. He looked so comfortable everywhere he went, whether it was a castle in a loaned expensive suit or here in his flannel. I was still jealous of that. I wasn’t sure I felt comfortable anywhere, really.
“I’ve been trying to entertain the princess for almost two weeks now, and I’ve felt like she was bored out of her mind the entire time. But whenever you’re around… everything is just easy.”
“You’ve got to stop thinking of Emma as royalty, and just think of her as a person,” Henry said with a shrug. “Easy.”
“Of course she’s a person,” I said. “I’m just… I’m no good at hosting guests. Never have been.”
“Because you don’t like it?”
I shook my head. “I just always want everything to be perfect.”
Henry reached out, squeezing my upper arm. “I know,” he said. “That’s something that hasn’t changed about you at all.”
The warm weight of his hand on me felt criminally good. I ached for his touch. It was only there for a brief moment and then gone again, but all I wanted was to curl up in his arms and stay there forever. His presence was like a warm blanket, smoothing out my rough edges and making the world seem like an inviting place.
Magic. He’d never admit it, but I’d always think Henry Denton was magic.
He nodded to his left after popping a red-and-white-striped peppermint in his mouth. “Don’t look now, but there are a couple of teenage girls taking pictures of you with their cell phones.”
I whipped around and saw them. They looked away quickly, trying to act casual about it, but Henry was right.
“I told you not to look,” he said.
“I know, I know,” I said. “I’m going to go offer to take selfies with them. Meet you at the Ferris wheel?”
Henry nodded.
The teenage girls were sweet and almost jumped for joy when I walked over to offer them a photo. They said they followed a small royal gossip website and that I was by far their favorite prince that got coverage on the site, because I was “the cutest.”
It still made my cheeks hot when I heard things like that. No matter how long I’d been living in the castle, when I was down here in Berrydale, I felt like my old self again.
Especially when Henry was around.
I looped back and found everyone by the Ferris wheel, waiting to get on.
“I think your driver may have found someone,” Henry whispered in my ear as he handed me a hot cup of cider. I clutched the cup, glancing over to see Xavier talking to a woman in a big red scarf, both of them laughing and