“Okay. What else can I say?” she grunted, but then her voice softened a moment as she mumbled, “I love you, girlfriend.”
With tears choking me, I mumbled back, “Love you, too, Chloe. Talk to you soon.”
Hanging up the phone, trying hard to only look forward, to brush off that brutal call, I moved back into my room with haste to find my clothes being neatly packed by my knight in shining armor, or more appropriately fur and fangs. My werewolf protector had become the love of my life thanks to a moment of fate and then a series of unfortunate events, but I’d take it all over again to have him. Now, a grown orphan, I was off to meet family I’d never known about. Despite it all, all my dreams of love and family seemed to be coming true, and I couldn’t wait to get on a plane and get started with my new life, sure to be full of love and magic. Actual magic!
“So, how is it coming in here?” I asked, coming up behind him, looking around his broad back to my now full suitcase with neatly folded clothes before glancing at my nearly empty closet. “Looks like you managed to stuff a lot in there.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Were you listening to my conversation?”
“No. Did you tell Chloe you didn’t trust me?” he said as he turned to face me abruptly, his eyes now wide, his mouth a grim, flat line.
“No. I just… oh, she was just worried about me, and I hated lying to her. I told her she had to trust me, actually. Only thing is, not sure if the truth of it all would have made her worry about me less or more. Anyway. I am ready to get going, so obviously I trust you,” I said, running my hand over the hard muscles that rippled under his t-shirt.
“Well, now, none of that,” he said, grabbing my wrists. “What I meant by ‘trust me’ is the packing. But, good to know you trust me otherwise. Can we zip all of these up and get going? We were supposed to meet Vivian and Riker five minutes ago downstairs.”
“Sure. Let’s do this. I’m sure I’ll find something to wear in there once we get to the island. Truth be told, even a shopping spree now probably wouldn’t find me anything that would make me feel comfortable or appropriately dressed, meeting people I know so little about but who hold a title of royal.”
“Don’t let that phase you. Remember they want to meet you, not judge you on what you are wearing. I’m sure they will ease your fears once you meet them. Anyway, back to the suitcases; you know, just because the set came with four pieces didn’t meant you had to fill them all.”
“It does when you have no clue what you are going to need to wear,” I argued back, moving to zip up the cases.
“Also, you do realize that they call them Royals, but they will not be in gowns and… well, royal garments. No one will be sitting on thrones or asking you to kneel before them. This isn’t the stone ages anymore. I think they wear normal clothes like Vivian does,” he teased as he helped to gather up all of my luggage, assembling the four pieces into one neat ensemble he could roll to the elevator.
“If they all look like Vivian, I’m sure to be the ugly duckling,” I joked back, too tired to filter what I said, saying whatever popped into my brain. I knew it was the wrong thing to say before the final syllable even got out of my mouth.
“Hey,” he said, stopping short, making me run right into his back, a moment that felt like I’d smacked into a solid wall.
My hand went immediately to my head. My brows furrowed, not sure exactly why he’d stopped just to get mad at me. He could have corrected me as we continued to walk, being late and all.
“I don’t want to hear you talk like that. You are beautiful, my Christina. The most gorgeous woman, inside and out, that I have ever met. You must believe me because it breaks my heart to hear you so much as doubt yourself, let alone put yourself down like that.”
“I was just joking,” I exclaimed, surprised by the hurt look in his eyes, as if I’d put him down somehow.
“I know women say that, claim they were joking, and I also know you. Supposed jokes like that come from an internal dialogue that runs in your head, comparing yourself to others.”
“Let me stop you right there, Oprah,” I said with my hand up like the crossing guard on the street in front of the elementary school; I let out a little burst of laughter before I realized I should probably hold that back. “Wait, do you watch Oprah?”