Darien
We were halfway down the castle steps when Josh said, in the most casual voice he owned, “I am beginning to worry about the princess’s virtue when she is with you.”
“Yeah.” I did not look at him. “Me too.”
Josh stopped walking.
I kept walking.
“That was supposed to be a joke, Darien.”
“I know.”
“Darien.”
“I am barely hanging on to the self-control I have left in that area, Josh. I am telling you that honestly.”
He caught up. He was quiet for a few paces.
“You didn’t act like this with—“ He bit the word off. The forbidden name. The topic neither of us touched unless the conversation demanded it.
I waited for the old sting.
It did not come.
I was smiling. I realized I was smiling, and I did not try to stop it.
“I think that tells you what I had with Cera was never real.”
