Page 132 of Bound By Blood and Lies

Roman’s eyes drift down toward mine and Robyn’s linked hands before he slowly raises an eyebrow at me.

“Absolutely not. No touching, male or female. I don’t discriminate.”

Before either of us can react, he dramatically rips our hands apart and I glance over at Robyn who gives me a knowing smile. For the first time since Fiona died, the grief sitting inside my chest doesn’t feel quite so lonely.

CHAPTER 37

FAE

The sunlight filters through my new kitchen whilst‘Iloveitiloveitiloveit by Bella Kay’blasts through the speakers and I sway my oversized hips around the island with a wooden spoon in my hand. Warm August air drifts through the open windows carrying the smell of fresh-cut grass and vanilla icing whilst flour coats almost every surface around us. I bump into the table and wince before lunging forward to stop the stupid ceramic cow Riggs bought me last week from toppling over. There’s a bowl of cake batter on the island, half-decorated cupcakes lined up beside it and enough melted chocolate smeared across the counters that Roman is probably going to have an aneurysm when he gets home from work.

Actually, knowing Roman, he’s going to blame Riggs immediately.

Which would be fair because Riggs is currently standing opposite me in an apron that says kiss the cook whilst aggressively whisking icing like it personally offended his entire bloodline.

“You’re doing it wrong,” I tell him whilst licking chocolate off my thumb.

Riggs gasps dramatically. “Excuse me? I’ll have you know I’m basically Gordon Ramsay with better tits.”

I stare at his completely flat chest.

“Where?”

“Rude,” he points the whisk at me. “Just because yours are now the size of melons doesn’t mean I’m not hiding a solid pair under all this.”

A laugh bursts out of me before I move around the kitchen island and peek into the bowl. The icing somehow looks both overmixed and lumpy at the same time. I genuinely don’t understand how he’s managed it.

“Why is it grey?” I ask cautiously.

Riggs looks down as his confidence visibly falters.

“It’s not grey.”

“It looks like concrete.”

“Okay well maybe if somebody bought better food colouring?—”

“You used half the bottle!”

“Because I committed to the vision, Fairy.”

I snort out another laugh as I reach over and steal the whisk from him before he completely destroys the icing beyond repair. The kitchen door suddenly slams open hard enough to make me jump and Robyn storms inside looking furious.

“I said no,” Robyn barks.

Felix appears behind her a second later with frustration written all over his face. “You can’t just avoid the conversation forever, Robyn.”

“I’m not avoiding anything,” she snaps whilst ripping open the fridge aggressively. “I just don’t want what you want.”

The air instantly shifts and I slowly lower the whisk whilst tension crawls heavily through the kitchen. No matter how many times I ask, neither of them will actually tell me what’s happening between them, but whatever it is seems to be gettingworse. I keep trying to tell Robyn that it’s okay to lean on Felix, that it’s okay to love him after everything they’ve survived together, but she shuts down every single conversation before it can properly begin. For a while Felix seemed to be her safe space. She welcomed the support he offered and let him hold her together when everything else was falling apart, but now it’s like something’s changed. Like his love has started feeling more like pressure and every time he reaches for her, she pulls a little further away.

Felix’s jaw is tight enough to crack whilst Robyn refuses to properly look at him as she grabs a bottle of water and slams the fridge door.

“You’re being unfair.”

“And you’re being controlling.”

Felix lets out a humourless laugh before dragging a hand over his face.