Page 50 of These Fractured Bonds

WhenYarelicameto,Erick was still in her room. He sat at a small oak table—it looked suspiciously like the one from the kitchen—and was reading a thick tome.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Studying, silly,” he replied without taking his eyes off the page.

“I can see that,silly. I meant, what and why.”

“A doctor never stops learning.” He pointed at a dress on the armchair by her sitting area. “That’s for you. Bri brought it. There’s a festival this evening to celebrate Fall’s arrival.”

“Bri’s back?”

“Yup. She got in an hour ago.”

Yareli eyed the dress; it was a pleasing shade of blue, darker than the sky, but lighter than a deep sea blue. She thought it might be her favorite color.

“A festival?”

“Yep.” He popped the “p.”

“Are you going?”

“Yes, but you,” he said, wagging his finger at her, “are going with one of the two situationships. I recommend going with Leo, because August has been sulking since you arrived. He’d suck the party out of the festival, and you deserve to have fun after what you’ve gone through.”

Yareli laughed. “Listen, both situationships—as you call them—are in the pits right now.”

Erick gave her a conspiratorial grin. “They are far from being in the dumpster, Reli.” He brought her the dress. “You have both of them in the palms of your hands.”

She scoffed. “I find it hard to believe. Leo has been moody since we’ve arrived, and August refused my advances.”

His eyes widened, and he grabbed her shoulders. “What! What happened?”

Realizing her mistake, Yareli said, “Nothing happened!”

She didn’t want to admit she had practicallybeggedAugust to kiss her, only to be turned down.

“But you said that—”

“And nothing happened.”

He searched her face, his blond eyebrows falling from their high pedestal to rest over his eyes. He dropped his arms. “Regardless, trust me. They’re both fickle in their own way, but it’s time someone brought them to heel. That someone isyou. Now, go get dressed. I’ll call Bri to do your hair.”

She held out for a few more moments, staring him down, but he met her stubbornness with his own. He rolled his eyes.

“If it goes horribly, I’ll eat nothing but snail soup for a week.”

“Make it two weeks.”

“Deal. Now,go.”

Yareli grinned and rushed to the bathroom, pausing before closing the door.

“We were close friends, weren’t we?” she asked.

The exasperation melted off his face; his features softened, and he shook his head.

“We never had the chance to be,” he said softly.

“Oh.”