Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
I wasn’t going to bring it up again, him marrying me. Not even playing around. Not ever. Period. I promised myself that right then and there.
This was going to be the last time I talked about mating with Henri.
My face burned, and I tried my best to ignore it.
But in the way Henri seemed to like throwing surprises around when they were the least expected, after a long stretch of slightly awkward silence, he cleared his throat. Then he said my name. “Nina.”
He was going with Nina. That meant business.
Fortunately, I excelled at customer retention even when I was frustrated with a grumpy customer and answered in a way that didn’t sound like I would’ve buried myself under leaves if I had the chance. “Henri?” I sounded so nonchalant, I would’ve given myself an award for my acting skills if I could have.
“I promised Matti when you were younger that I would always keep an eye on you,” was what his cool, neutral voice decided to share.
“Why?” I fought the urge to roll over and look at him. He was trying to make me feel better about shooting me down, I knew it.
“You remember the summer he went to stay with his uncles in Idaho?”
“No.” I remembered his uncles from Idaho—they were so nice and fun—but him going to visit them? Never.
“You were about seven. He went to stay with them… it doesn’t matter. He was worried about leaving you alone for two weeks. He asked me to take care of you.”
I made a sound in my throat that I would never be able to describe, but it was pure love and emotion, and I suddenly wanted to hug my friend more than anything. That was the most Matti thing ever. Even back then, he’d been the best best friend.
“He wouldn’t drop it until I agreed,” Henri went on, his own voice very casual. “I did, eventually.”
I tried to side-eye him without moving my head. “Is that why you were nice-ish to me?”
The man did a crunch to look over. “Nice-ish?”
My laugh caught me off guard. But I wasn’t really the grudge-holding type. And what was I going to do? Be mad because he didn’t want to marry me? At least he hadn’t laughed when I brought it up. I could take that as a win.
I did a crunch too and met his eyes. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, you didn’t baby me or treat me like a princess or anything, Henri. You were never mean. If I fell down and no one else was around, you’d tell me to wash my cut off and hand me a paper towel. You didn’t put a Band-Aid on me and kiss my boo-boos. You were always polite. Patient. Nice-ish.”
There was another long pause of loaded silence. We stared at each other, and I would’ve given a day of my life to know what was going through his head while we did. But all he said was “I see” in a really weirdly tight voice.
It didn’t sound like he saw anything to me.
“It’s okay. You’ve always been a reliable person. I knew that if I really needed something, I could have asked you.” He’d been close to the bottom of the list, after my neighbor across the street, but what did I get admitting that out loud? “That was a big ask, so thank you for agreeing to keep an eye on me.”
He hadn’t committed his life and sword to my honor, but it was more than something. More than most people would have. Especially from a teenage boy.
I could have sworn he mumbled under his breath, and it made me smile up at the stars when I laid back down. “What are you grumbling over?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking, purposely trying not to focus on our awkward marriage conversation a minute ago.
“Nice-ish. I was saying nice-ish under my breath.”
Someone was testy. “Are you mad?”
“No. I see your point now that you mention it.”
I lifted my head again to find him flat on his back, fingers knitted together and resting on his flat stomach.
But the expression on his features….
There I went feeling guilty again. “I’m not talking crap or being unappreciative. I know that you were nicer to me than you were to Matti—”
Henri Blackrock literally grunted. “Not helping.”
I grimaced. “I’m making it worse, huh?” I could’ve sworn the side of his mouth curved up. “What I’m trying to say is that… yeah, wow, every way I try and word it, it still sounds like an insult. How is that possible?”
He grunted again like he agreed.
I’d dug myself into that one, even if it was true, and I didn’t mean anything that negative about it. I tried to think of something nice, and then winced right after it came out of my mouth. “You were like… the big brother I never had,” my freaking mouth offered.