Hopefully.
But right now, I had something important to do. Something that if I didn’t do it now, I feared it would never happen. After showering, putting on a short denim dress and black knee-high boots, I had Elle twist my hair into two cinnamon buns atop my head. She did my makeup, adding a splash of glitter at the corner of my eyes that was a bit overkill, and then sprayed some light floral perfume at my neck.
“You look…. Whoa.” Elle held out two hands.
I swallowed hard. “What if we can’t be like we used to be?” I was nervous that if I kissed Liam again, like really kissed him, there would be resentment there.
Elle shrugged. “You won’t know until you try.”
She was right. That’s why I was going over there. I wanted to try. I wanted him back. I needed to see if we could move past everything.
I nodded. “Thanks, girl.”
She pulled me in for a tight hug. “Always.”
I walked across the courtyard, waving to the two passing fae I saw. It was probably weird to see their Queen dressed up in a miniskirt and boots for a date, but they didn’t say a word about it. It was dark out, just after dinner, and the moon was high in the sky, lighting my path. I’d told Liam to raincheck the date, but I was hoping if I showed up like this, he’d change his mind.
Crossing the bridge we’d built to connect the two communities, I found him sitting at the large outdoor dining table, a roaring fire beside him as he laughed with his friends and brothers. He looked happy, and that made me smile.
The entire group of over a dozen guys fell to a hushed silence as I stood there. Liam stilled, following their gaze, and an orange fire flashed across his eyes like lava.
“Lily?” He stood, wiping his palms on his shirt, and walked over to me.
My stomach flipped over as he approached me. Black wings, dark unruly hair, those insanely blue eyes. I still found it hard to breathe as he stepped closer. He had that effect on me.
“I was… wondering if you wanted to do that date… now,” I mumbled. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him until I saw him again. It was a low ache in my chest that was only relieved when he was close.
The slow half-cocked grin that pulled at his lips made heat rush down my chest until it pooled between my legs.
“I’d love to. Be right back.” He jogged away to slip inside one of the huts, and I waited nervously for a few minutes until he emerged in a tight, button-down shirt, dark wash jeans, and held a bouquet of freshly picked wildflowers. The roots were still hanging from them.
Laughter peeled out of me. “Hey, if you snagged those from Mrs. Hannah’s garden, she’s going to be pissed.”
A blanket was tucked under his arm, and he held a picnic basket as well. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He winked, handing me the flowers.
I took them, wearing a stupid grin on my face as I inspected them better.
Lilies.
Tears pricked at the edges of my vision, but I bit my tongue to keep them from falling. It was so thoughtful. If Liam noticed, he didn’t say a word. Slipping his hand into mine, we started to walk along the river.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“A cool place I found today. It’s safe,” he said.
I felt bad that we’d put him and his guys at the edge of the dark forest, but the fence we were building seemed to be deterring any dark beasts that were on foot. The harpies and other beasts of the air were another story. It was only a matter of time before they realized the dome was down and came to pick us off. The sooner I could restore the protective dome, the better.
But I wasn’t going to think of that tonight. Tonight was for Liam and me, to see if we still had what I hoped we had.
“You look amazing.” He side-eyed me, letting his gaze run up the length of my thighs to my face. My belly warmed, and I had to swallow hard before speaking for fear that my voice would crack. “So do you,” I told him. “I’ve missed you,” I added.
I felt the tension fall away from his shoulders; his hand relaxed a little at my words. “I’ve missed you too.” There was sorrow in his voice. After a few minutes of walking down by the river, he cut left into the forest. We were still on the green path, the new growth that I’d restored, when we came upon a giant tree. It was over a hundred feet high and the trunk at least twenty feet wide with a carved-out door, big enough to let us enter.
I gasped. “A treehouse?”
He nodded with a grin and pulled me inside. “Jasper said it must have belonged to an elf a long time ago.”
Elf fae were long gone, even before the dark war, sadly. They had some trouble reproducing and slowly died out. I ducked my head and stepped inside.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
The entire inside of the tree had been hollowed out. It was about the size of my small bedroom growing up. But on the far wall was a tiny kitchen with a stove just big enough for a loaf of bread or a small pan. The floor was filled with pine needles, but they had been recently brushed into a pile to reveal hard-packed earth. No bed to be seen, but there was a small hand-carved dining table for two with built-in chairs. All carved out of the tree and unmovable. Four windows were carved in an oval shape
