A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

He was flushing brightly. “I didn’t mean to say that. Ignore it.”

“I don’t know if I can now. You just said a sex pun.”

“Do you—do you understand what a pun actually is? Because I don’t think you—”

“Ryan. Stop focusing on your dirty, sexy thoughts you’re having about me, regardless of how flattering it is. We’re trying to be serious now. The fate of our country is hanging in the balance, and you’re being perverted.”

He sighed as if I was the most ridiculous thing in the world. “There was a lot of anger toward you. Before. The We-Hate-Sam-A-Lots tapped into that. And maybe people would have let it go, but then it was given a name and a focus, and they decided it was easier to be angry than to not.”

“Still didn’t stop you from putting their leader in your back pocket,” I muttered.

“Lady Tina is—”

“If you’re going to say she’s sorry, I don’t want to hear it. You’ve forgiven her. Great. I haven’t, and I doubt I ever will.”

“She’s—”

“And don’t tell me she’s changed either. Because evil will always be evil, especially when it’s a teenage girl.”

“I trust her.”

I stared at him.

He shrugged.

I stared some more.

He fidgeted. It was adorable. I was so angry.

“You do remember she was there in that house with Myrin and Ruv, don’t you?” I asked slowly. “Because if you’ve forgotten, I can remind you.”

“I know. But she says she didn’t know about Ruv’s ties to Myrin.”

“And you believe her? Ryan, she could be lying—”

“Of course I didn’t,” he said. “But she has proven herself time and time again over the past year, and she—”

“She could be a spy. For all we know, she’s reporting back to Myrin as we speak! No, it’s probably best that we banish her for all time. I’ll go take care of that right now—”

“Do you trust me?”

That stopped me. “What?”

“It’s a simple question, Sam. Do you trust me?”

I squinted at him. “This seems like a trick. Like, I’ll say yes, and you’ll be all then you need to trust her. Or if I say no, then you’ll say well, now we need to get a divorce.”

“We’re not married.”

“Well, not yet. Once you get over being mad at me, and after we vanquish all the villains, we’ll talk. Seriously, Ryan, proposing right now is really bad timing—”

“I didn’t propose. And besides, didn’t you already propose to me back in the Dark Woods when we were going after the Great White? I distinctly remember you—”

“Wow,” I breathed. “You want to get married to me so bad. You’re arguing with me about it even though I’m trying to talk to you about your betrayal. This is epic.”

He glared at me. “I’m not arguing with you—”

“Do you trust me?”