“—just… grand,” he finished.
“Thank you, Todd,” I said. “You look very nice.” And he did. He wore a tight waistcoat over a white shirt and a silver cravat. “Your ears are still awesome.”
And he flushed.
Ryan scowled.
Morgan rolled his eyes.
“These are for you.” Todd handed me a tiny mesh bag. Inside were a collection of beautiful seashells shining gold and yellow and white. They were Rovian shells, specifically, that I needed for a spell I had yet to complete. I hadn’t had the time to gather them myself. The nearest coast was ten miles away.
I glanced up at Morgan, because this had to be his doing. There was no way Todd could have known about these. Morgan winked at me.
I looked back to Todd, who watched me with a concerned look on his face. “These are perfect,” I said quietly. “Just what I needed. Thank you.”
And he smiled, low and sweet. “I collected them myself.”
“That makes them even better,” I said honestly.
“Shall we?”
I nodded and he led the way out of the castle, Ryan trailing behind us.
This was nice. It was a nice start. Everything was good.
Everything would be fine.
EVERYTHING WAS not fine.
Well, it started off fine.
But then it escalated very, very quickly.
The carriage ride was made in near silence. I climbed in first, and Todd sought to follow and sit next to me. Ryan cleared his throat and shook his head. Todd must have gotten the message because he quickly moved to the other side of the carriage, eyes wide.
Ryan sat right next to me, crossing his considerable arms over his considerable chest.
And stared at Todd.
Because I’d never met a silence that I didn’t at least attempt to fill, I said, “So, this is… festive.”
Todd said, “Quite.”
Ryan stared.
Silence.
I said, “Where are we off to this fine evening?”
Todd said, “Antonella’s. It’s the restaurant in one of my dad’s hotels. It’s new and very high class.”
Ryan stared.
I said, “At the hotel, huh? If the evening goes well enough, maybe we could just get a room after.” It was a joke. An awful, awful joke.
Todd whispered, “Sweet gods.”
Ryan glared.