Theoretically.
I shoved a hand through my hair and strode out onto the balcony. Poppy turned her head the opposite direction, refusing to look at me.
“Mind if I sit?” I gestured to the chair next to her.
She shrugged. “Go ahead.”
Her voice was raspy and thick with tears.
I dropped into the chair next to her, looking out over the beautiful dark green mountains, a contrast to the dark blue sea far below. “I was just trying to protect you.”
She stayed silent.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “Someone is after you, and I don’t want you to get hurt or kidnapped like your gran. I think hiding is the safest option right now until we figure out what to do.”
“You mean until you decide for me?” she asked, voice cold.
I winced. “No. Of course not. You get a say.”
She spread out her arms. “Like I have a say in this?”
I swallowed. This was why I didn’t get involved, didn’t get too close. All it brought was trouble. I was playing at something I had no experience in. I didn’t need to be the hero. I needed to be the playboy prince.
“Wanna play a game?” I asked, testing out a teasing tone.
It was the barest of movements. A slight tilt to the head. But it was something.
“Is there alcohol involved?” she finally asked. “Because I could use a drink.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Have you ever drunk alcohol before?”
She shrugged, her wings lifting and falling with the movement. “There’s a first time for everything.”
I grinned. Getting drunk with Poppy? Now this I could get on board with.
I stood and clapped my hands together. “Then I’ll order us a bottle of wine from the bar. We can sit in front of the fire, play games, drink, talk. It’ll be a good day.”
The perfect day. Meanwhile Driscoll and Leoni would be searching for information about Poppy, about her gran. And I could keep Poppysafe, and maybe by the end of the day, she would no longer hate me for it.
I laughedas I flicked a marble across a flat wooden board with eight engraved circles on it. The outer circles were bigger but became smaller as they got closer to the center. The game was simple: flick the marble and try to get it into the center circles, which got you the most points. It was a popular game across Arathia.
The sun had long since sunk in the sky, stars speckling the inky black, the outline of mountain peaks in the distance.
My marble rolled past the center and into one of the outer circles.
Poppy sat on the floor across from me, firelight setting her skin and hair alight like she was otherworldly. “Beat you again,” she said, raising her glass and tipping it toward me.
I looked at the three empty bottles of wine that sat around us, my head foggy. “How are you handling your liquor so well?” I asked.
She leaned forward, smiling. “I think you’ve drunk most of it.” She took a sip from her glass, the wine dark and sloshing against the goblet.
That was probably true. I hadn’t gotten drunk in a long, long time. I also hadn’t had this much fun in, well, ever. We’d spent all day playing games, ordering room service, eating, drinking, talking, and laughing, the earlier tension between us forgotten as we slipped back into easy conversation—and flirting. So much spirits-damned flirting.
Her wings trailed along the ground behind her, looking so soft, so divine. “Has anyone ever touched those?” I pointed. The liquor loosened my tongue even more so than usual, emboldening me.
She straightened, wiping her mouth after taking another sip. “No.”
I slowly pushed the board out of the way so it no longer sat between us. “Is it true what they say?” My voice dropped low. “That it’s an intimate gesture?”
