My eyes open, and I see Orchid approaching behind Sage. All of her arguments for me to date Sage come rushing back. The two of them have a class together this year, and a few weeks ago, they worked on a project together. He had always been so kind and sweet with her.
“Sage,” I murmur.
“We already said hi.” His smile is tiny, weak.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. I appreciate it. I really do.”
“But…”
“You are a great fairy. One of the best. I thought you were the fairy for me from the moment I saw you, but… You are the fairy of someone’s dreams.”
“But not yours.” He nods slowly.
“You already know that, don’t you?” I ask softly.
“I think so. I just didn’t want…” He rubs the back of his neck. “It’s hard to let the first one go.”
“I know, and I tried to hold on for longer than I should have, and I’m sorry.”
“Love isn’t easy.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“And we’re young. Who knows? Maybe in a decade or two, we’ll get back together.” He winks.
I shake my head even as I’m smiling. Somehow, I’m smiling. “I don’t think so.”
“Probably not.” He clears his throat. “I might not have physically tied your wings like Damon did. I can’t believe you jumped out of a plane as if you were a human!”
“Yeah, it’s still surreal to think about.”
“Damn. But, my point is, I guess I tried to tie them by being overly protective of you.”
I nod. It’s the biggest reason why I can’t be with him.
“I know you were just doing that because you care about me, but it felt suffocating, like you didn’t think I could take care of myself.”
I don’t bother to add that it also made it seem like he didn’t respect me, but there’s no reason to mention that too.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I wish I could take back my words, but that wouldn’t have been enough, would it?”
I just give him a tiny smile, not certain what to say to that.
Over his shoulder, I see Orchid stopped by Cosmo. They’re talking. Well, it looks like Cosmo is trying to talk her down while Orchid is yelling.
Sage turns slightly to follow my gaze.
At that moment, I come up with a great idea.
“You know…” I start.
“You’re unreal,” Sage mutters.
“What? I said two words.”
“You want me to hook up with Orchid, don’t you?”
“For you to think that makes me wonder if you’ve thought about her in that way before.”
He opens his mouth and then shuts it.
“So you have!” I say triumphantly.
“I might’ve dreamed about her once, but I… The idea of falling for roommates… Let’s just say it was a little awkward some of those times when I came over to work on the project.”
“I can put in a good word for you.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
I giggle. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t, but if you do become a couple, maybe we can double date sometime.”
“I would like that. Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
He nods, and I fly off. There’s another fairy I have to talk to, another one that I care for very much.
Chapter 30
Damon’s off to the side, and he gives me a lazy smile as I approach.
“No one seems to need my help.”
“Well, I do.”
He cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head to the side, watching me with his piercing dark eyes.
“Need you. Not your help,” I babble.
His grin is lopsided and oh so sexy. “Is that your way of asking me out?”
“Yes. I can do it more formally if you would like.”
“So that’s just it. You’re picking me.”
“My heart is,” I murmur. “For so long, people have compared me to Bay. They thought I was so very light. Compared to her, yes, maybe I am, but that’s not the complete picture. You know me. You push me, challenge, not to be dark necessarily. You just want me to be me, to accept all parts of myself. I need that in my life. I need you in my life.”
“Are you sure you don’t have any questions for me?”
“Questions? If you want me to ask you out—”
“About anything I’ve done.”
I hesitate. "Your past is your past, and if you want to talk about anything, I am more than willing to listen. If you're hinting about my wanting to know if you've done anything with girls why we weren't together as a couple, it's up to you to tell me. I don't have any questions about that."
“Because you don’t want to know?”
“Because it doesn’t matter. As long as those girls don’t mean anything to you and you’ll be with me exclusively for as long as we’re in a committed relationship, then it doesn’t matter to me.”
“You won’t be jealous if I tell you?”
“Will it hurt? Maybe. Probably. But I won’t hold it against you.”
He nods slowly. “You’re one of a kind, Firebug.”
“Firebug?”
“My new nickname for you. Do you like it?”
“You’re calling me a bug.”
“A cute one.”
“No bugs are cute,” I protest.
“Ladybugs are.”
I burst out laughing, and then a wave of sadness washes over me.
“Hey, now,” he murmurs, drawing me close and rubbing my arms. “It’s all right. You can be sad.”
“I just never thought… Am I really that naïve?”
“You believed and trusted your twin. I don’t think that makes you naïve.” His eyes sparkle. “There are other areas where you’re naïve, and I’ll be more than happy to exploit them.”
“Exploit, eh?” I giggle. “That sounds positively dark.”
“Sometimes dark can be delicious.”
“Hmm. Dark chocolate?”
“Drizzled dark chocolate you can lick off my body.”
“Oh…” I murmur.
“What do you say we get out of here? Head back to my room…” His fingers trail up my bare arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
My throat’s dry, but between my legs is wet, and I nod, not trusting myself to speak. His fingers interlock with mine, and we fly off to his cottage. No one is inside, and he shuts the curtains, locks the windows and the door, and turns around to find me already on his bed and naked.
He
