(Tilly Ann)
"Hi," he whispered after a few seconds of staring.
"Hi," I found myself saying, against my wish.
I felt myself relax just a little, even though I should be racing out of there. Rules and all. An unmarried princess and a man with his reputation, betrothed or not. It was frowned upon.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.
Knowing Chase, he was going to make an arrogant, self-important remark or something cocky.
"One million and one things racing through my mind, I'm afraid," he surprised me by saying.
"Tell me one." I took a step closer to him.
"Your eyes, for one," he whispered.
"Gorgeous, right?" I winked at him. "It's the best of me."
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile I had seen on wheelchair Chase. "Hardly the best thing," he said. "It's my least favorite thing about you, Matilda."
I feigned shock. "If not my world-class pair of darkest shade of green eyes, then please tell me, Alpha heir... what's your favorite thing about me? And if you say my pussycat, I am pushing you off this cliff—"
"Your unapologetic decision to live by nobody's rules but your own, Matilda," he interrupted. "Your big heart. And those aren't even my favorite thing about you."
I felt my eyes water a little. "Wow. Way to make a girl blush, Chase Dubois." I smiled, but the anger in me was turning to jelly, and I wanted to stay mad. "I should go."
I murmured and turned to leave.
"Wait," he said.
"What?"
"Your eyes are not the darkest shade of green. I know everyone says they are, but they're not."
I stopped and turned back. "They're not?" I laughed. "I can't wait to hear the smooth line you're going to come up with, Mr. Dubois."
"No line. Just the truth, Matilda. There's a ring of gold around your pupil. It's tiny, but it's there. And little flecks of gray, like a storm passing over a meadow." He exhaled. "It's not just green. It's a whole landscape, sweetheart."
I stared at him and exhaled. "You say things like this... beautiful things like this. But then you turn around and ignore me in public. Flirt with other girls in my presence. Won't go all in with me. Shame me for liking things you did to me without my permission."
He flinched. He rolled his wheelchair back a little and held my gaze.
"No. I won't have this conversation with you. Not now. Not ever. Let's just forget that the storeroom happened," he murmured and tried to roll away. I wouldn't let him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Forget it."
"No! Tell me."
"I never did that!" he yelled. "I never should have let that happen. It was my mistake. My fucking mistake. You deserve more than that, Tilly. And you have no idea how sorry I am. How sorry I will continue to be. No fucking idea!"
I froze. "What do you mean, you never did that? I was there, Chase. You were there. Your hands. Your mouth. You—"
"I said shut up about it!" He was shaking with frustration. "Please. I'm begging you. Shut up about it. Forever."
"But you just said—"
"Shut. Up."
"Shut up?" The word exploded out of me. "Did you just tell me to shut up? I am not a fucking barmaid, Chase! I am a Dragon Princess. My veins are blood and steel."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"I don't do 'hurt feelings,' honey. But I do occasionally plot murder. Disrespect me again, and you will suddenly find yourself in need of—"
"If you don't want to be disrespected, then stop letting hi—!" He cut himself off, chest heaving. "Stop letting me do it," he corrected, the words gritty. He exhaled. "Next time I come to you, wanting to stick my fingers or my tongue where they don't belong, here's an idea: SAY NO!"
"FUCK YOU!" I screamed.
"I CAN'T!"
The silence after his scream was deafening. The waterfall roared, but it was just noise now.
His face was pure, unadulterated agony. He looked like a man being torn in half. "I fucking can't! Don't you understand? Why are you so dumb?!"
I didn't think. I walked toward him, and I slapped him.
The slap was shockingly loud. His head snapped to the side.
He looked at me, his eyes wide like a madman's.
I was breathing hard. My hand stung.
"The engagement is off. Find someone less dumb to play your games with, Chase Dubois!"
Without another word, I turned and walked away, my boots pounding the path.
"You can't call off the engagement, Matilda!" he yelled after me. "Your father needs my father to win his bloody war!"
"My father is not your father. If I say I won't marry you and mean it, bet your fucking ass that Adonis Winchester will choose me over his war." I turned around one last time to look at him.
"Well, how wonderful it is to be you. With your perfect family and your perfect war-ridden kingdom, Princess!" His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Chase? Do everyone who's ever met you a favor and just... die already!"
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
"Die? I should..." He groaned. "...Die already?"
For a split second, I wanted to snatch them back. But I didn't. I couldn't.
"Well, maybe I will, Matilda. And you are right. This engagement is over"
I walked away so fast after that. Not even the sound of my heart warning me to stop or it would give out, stopped me.
I made it to my room. My back hit the door, and I slid down to the floor, my hand still stinging.
Die already.
I didn't mean that.
I hate you, Chase Dubois.
Not really. Not in a while.
I pressed my palm against my mouth, stifling a sob.
The engagement is over.
Should feel like freedom yet, it didn't.