Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,250

I’ll leave you two alone to talk. Have fun!”

Then she was gone, and all that was missing was a background soundtrack of crickets chirping.

“Sorry I haven’t come by before,” Fitz eventually said, tearing a hand through his hair. “I’ve been trying to find Alvar.”

Sophie slumped back against her pillow. “If you came here to—”

“I didn’t!” Fitz interrupted, holding out his hands. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make it sound like that. I just meant… I thought Alvar might know a bit more about this transformation or whatever—something that might help us know if Keefe should be awake by now or not.”

“It feels like he should be, doesn’t it?” Sophie asked quietly.

Fitz nodded. “But… I’m pretty sure I was unconscious for longer than that after I was exposed to shadowflux.”

“You were,” Sophie agreed. “But… Elwin was also sedating you.”

“Yeah. True.” He tore his hand through his hair again.

And the silence swelled again. Until Sophie said, “I’m guessing you couldn’t find Alvar.”

He shook his head, and she waited for him to point out that if she hadn’t let Alvar go, they wouldn’t have to find him.

But he just said, “Not yet. But I’ll keep looking. I promise. I mean… I know Keefe’s going to be okay. I know he’s going to wake up and have some really cool new ability and drive us all crazy with it. But… the waiting’s hard.”

“It is,” Sophie agreed, tugging on her eyelashes.

She’d started wishing on them every time one slipped free.

Please wake up, Keefe.

Please, please, please.

“It helps to keep busy, though,” Fitz added quietly. “That’s why I’m here. I know you haven’t wanted to leave Keefe alone. But… I’m guessing you’re dying to go home and take a shower, change your clothes—”

“You trying to tell me I smell bad?” Sophie interrupted, smiling when Fitz’s eyes widened. “I’m kidding. I know that’s not what you meant.”

“I know,” Fitz said, staring at his feet. “I just… wasn’t sure if you’d ever tease me again.”

Sophie sucked in a breath.

Fitz paced to the other side of the room, dragging a hand down his face so hard, it made his features get all stretched.

“The thing is, Sophie—I know this isn’t the right time or place to do this—and I know I’m the one who messed everything up. But… I just… I need you to know that I miss you, okay? I miss my girlfriend. So if there’s anything I can do to fix it… let me know. Even if all you want to be is friends, I’d take that. I just… I miss you. And I wanted you to know that. And now I can’t stop rambling, and it’s making this really awkward.”

It was.

But it also made it sweet.

And when their eyes met, Sophie felt the familiar flutter in her chest.

But.

“I miss you, too, Fitz. You have no idea. And I will do anything for us to be friends again. But… just friends. For now, at least. There’s just… too much going on. And it was so much harder than I thought it would be, and I don’t know if that means I’m not ready or… I just know I can’t handle a boyfriend right now. But I’d really love my friend back. Can we do that?”

Fitz closed the distance between them, grabbing her hand and giving it a soft squeeze.

A friendly squeeze.

“Yeah, we can do that.”

Sophie squeezed his hand back. “Thank you.”

They stood like that for a few seconds, and the really amazing thing?

It wasn’t awkward.

Not even a little bit.

Even when Fitz met her eyes and said, “Well then, as your friend—and Keefe’s best friend, by the way—how about you take me up on my offer? Even if you only go for a few hours to shower and change—”

“Back to the shower hints again,” Sophie interrupted. “You really must think I smell bad.”

“No. I think you just need a break,” Fitz corrected. “That’s all.”

A break.

Maybe he was right.

“Okay,” she decided, stretching her legs as she slowly crawled out of her bed. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Fitz plopped down on one of the empty cots. “And I’ll be here. Probably throwing Prattles at his head, but hey… might wake him up.”

Sophie laughed, loving how easily they were already starting to joke with each other again.

“Thank you,” Sophie told him.

Fitz flashed one of his perfect smiles. “Anytime, Sophie. Anytime.”

FIFTY-THREE

EDALINE TOLD ME I’D FIND you out here,” a familiar voice said behind Sophie, and Sophie curled her knees into her chest, too tired to sprint for the cliffs and teleport away.

She was