"But Aspen is," I realized. "Is that why she didn't have a suitemate?"
"It is," he agreed, angling me towards the main building. "But since you had no knowledge of fae politics, Liam thought you might end up as a friend for her." He flashed me a grin. "Or more, but we didn't even consider that."
"Oh, because you didn't pick up Dad while you were in school?"
"I never dated a suitemate," he countered. "Liam didn't go to Silver Oaks. So, no. I didn't date someone I was living with."
"Yeah, that's a good point."
He just rubbed my shoulder. "And speaking of dating... I do believe that's Keir headed this way."
I looked up to see a silhouette in the darkness. "Crap."
"Crap?" Bracken asked, sounding confused.
"I'm supposed to ask him to this New Year's Eve party." My feet slowed. "Aspen said I need a fake date."
"Hey, Keir!" Bracken called, getting the guy's attention.
When Keir looked up, Bracken waved him towards us. "Over here!"
"Yep!" Keir yelled back, changing his direction slightly.
Then Bracken lowered his voice. "He'll say yes. You've got this, kid. Trust me. Just ask - rambling, if you have to - and he'll be thrilled. And ifyou want to talk about it later, you know where to find me." Then he turned and just... Left!
"Brack!" I huffed after him.
"Same time tomorrow!" he yelled back.
"Zez!" I tried next, feeling my anxiety rising.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit! I should've known better than to say anything to Bracken. I should've just kept my mouth shut. Now, I was stuck, and I had a feeling my zez would expect to know how this went. That meant the next time he saw me - tomorrow - he'd ask.
How had the asshole managed to corner me into this when I'd been hoping for a little support? The first day as my official dad, and he was already failing me! He was supposed to get me out of this, because I'd never asked a guy out before. I didn't know how!
But instead, Bracken had left, making sure I had to do this. Fuck. Maybe he was a good father after all.
Chapter Seven
KEIR
Hearing Bracken's voice made me look over to see him walking with Rain. When the man gestured for me to come closer, I angled my feet that way, feeling a little hint of anxiety. I wasn't avoiding Rain. I'd merely been polite about the holidays. That was all.
I also knew the Winter Solstice had completely changed her world. Rain had learned she was the Morrigan, and while she didn't have a clue how big of a deal that was, I did. Adding in a pair of new dads to go with it? I had a feeling the last thing she needed to worry about was some guy with a crush on her.
But I'd come out here to get in a workout before the semester started up again. I was headed towards the gym, and clearly they were coming back from there. Bracken wanted me to tutor Rain and make sure she was ready for whatever would come at her, so I needed to stay on my game. Now, I felt like I'd been slacking.
However, the world had turned white last week, and I'd taken it as a weak excuse to skip a few practice sessions and be lazy. Snow had fallen on Christmas Eve, coating the world in powder that was now up to my ankles. In the moonlight, it turned the grounds beautiful. That it had arrived just in time for Rain's big Christmas with her dads? I was pretty sure someone had made a little miracle happen.
My guess was Aspen, and it was her unspoken present to Rain.
I didn't want to think about if it had been someone else. Torian hadalready stolen a kiss from her. Giving her the perfect holiday on top of that? Yeah, there was no way I could compete with his magic. Luckily for me, he wouldn't say anything and Rain wouldn't care. She didn't think of power the same way as the fae.
Yet the air was still crisp and cold. The world had the muffled feeling that came with new snow, and it was still falling randomly here and there. The campus was so empty, all I could hear was the sound of the flakes landing. Not even Bracken and Rain's voices wafted through the stillness. Damn, this was beautiful.
Granted, trying to hurry through the drifts to reach Rain wasn't exactly easy. And when Bracken walked away, leaving her there alone? Ok, I stretched my legs a little more, doing a sort of hop-jog through the powder. I was pretty sure I looked stupid. I also didn't care.
There was something amazing about winter. Technically, it wasn't my season, but I'd never felt overly attached to summer either. My parents had been followers of the Summer Court, but peasants. Normal people. Once they'd escaped to Earth, they'd put everything about courts and fae politics behind them, raising me to believe in the world we had now, not royalty from another realm. I had a feeling that was why I liked all seasons equally.
