Also, not the actions of someone who'd had their heart broken.
"I had to find you," I said weakly as I slid off my horse.
"I guessed that much," he pointed out. "But why?"
A wave of exhaustion rushed through me, and I knew I didn't have long to get across what I needed to say.
"Because I love you," I murmured, before passing out into unconsciousness.
Though, before I did, I could have sworn, I heard him say, "I love you back.”
I opened my eyes slowly, quickly realizing I'd somehow fallen into a dreamless sleep in the middle of the forest. I had to admit, that one had never happened to me before.
Slowly, I propped myself up and looked around. The horses were still tied to the tree, but Topher had removed their saddles and bridles, as well as rubbing them down and giving them feeding bags. It must have been from food he'd brought with him because I certainly hadn't stopped to think about anything like that when I was leaving the palace.
"Oh, good, you're awake."
I looked up to find Topher striding back into the glen with an arm full of small branches. He dropped them not far from the blanket I sat on but didn't do anything with them.
"I was starting to worry you'd sleep through the night."
"What would you have done if I had?" I asked. Judging from the sun in the sky, it was mid-afternoon now, which meant I'd had a couple of hours’ sleep. That was good. I felt better for it.
"Built a fire, made some food, and waited until you woke up." He shrugged. "So, basically, what I was doing anyway."
As if triggered by the words, my stomach rumbled. "I am hungry," I admitted.
"I thought as much. Did you come straight from the palace?" he asked.
A blush rose to my cheeks. What should I tell him about why I came? Should I go with the truth and hope it didn't make me look desperate?
"Kelis?" he prompted as he crouched down next to the pile of branches and began building a fire.
"Yes, I came straight from the palace," I said. "I mean, I went to your room first. But you weren't there. And Jake said you'd left to go home to Urbis because someone had broken your heart and..."
"Whoa, wait, what?" He stopped what he was doing and turned to face me.
"Jake said you'd left to go home to Urbis," I repeated.
"Not that part. The other one."
"Oh, and that you'd done that because a girl had broken your heart." I bit my lower lip, not knowing what the best thing to add to that was.
"Kelis, I'm so sorry." He reached forward and took my hands in his, the warmth of them sending tingles through my entire body.
I cocked my head to the side as his words processed. "Sorry?" I echoed.
Topher sighed. "May I sit next to you?"
"Of course." What was going on? This situation was getting more and more confusing as it went on.
"I'm sorry that Jake did that to you. He lied, Kelis." He shifted so that he sat next to me on the rug, our knees almost touching.
"Ooh." Understanding hit me. "It didn't cross my mind that he might have. Which part was a lie?"
"All of it." Topher thought for a moment. "Actually, he did tell the truth about me going to Urbis, kind of. But I wasn't going home. One of my sources sent word that they'd been able to get some papers out to me today, but I had to leave right there and then if I wanted to make it in time. The window of opportunity was very small."
"I'm sorry I believed him."
"Don't be," he countered. "I think he's just sore that you beat him yesterday."
"And probably a little bit that I refused to kiss him, too," I muttered.
"You refused?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. On Fright Festival night. He kind of dragged me off to a private place and then tried to kiss me. I pushed him away, and then...well, you know the rest."
Topher chuckled. "I think you must be the first woman to ever reject him."
"I highly doubt that."
"But why did you?" There was a hesitation in his voice that I recognized. It was the same way I felt when I was trying to process my feelings for him.
"Reject him?"
"Mmhmm."
"Because he wasn't who I wanted to be kissed by," I admitted before I could chicken out. I'd come all this way, I had to tell him how I felt.
"And who did you want to kiss you?" Topher asked, his voice rumbling through me as he leaned closer.
"I think you know," I whispered.
"But I need you to say it. I need to know you want this."
The promise of everything hung between the two of us, and somehow, I knew that if we closed the final gap between us, our lives would never be the same again. There'd be no going back. It wasn't as scary as I expected it to be. When Topher was around, everything slotted into place. He didn't produce the same kind of fire and passion I'd read about in books, but that didn't matter. He made me feel things that were far better than that. Safe. Secure. Supported.
This was someone who would listen to me no matter what I had to say, and I wouldn't want to change that for the world.
"You," I whispered, the word almost carried away on the breeze. "I want you to be the one to kiss me."
A wide smile spread over his face as if he'd been hoping that was the case but hadn't dared believe it would be.
"I can arrange that if you'd like?"
"I would."
But I didn't wait for him to make a move. I didn't need to, now that I knew he wanted this too. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
The whole world changed in an instant… kind of.
