Page 53 of Heavy Crown

Meet my hunger with his own?

“Thank you,” I whisper.

His fingers linger on the nape of my neck, and I’m about to test my kiss theory when he steps back and clears his throat. “Have you used those Rollerblades you were so excited about?” He nods toward the box by the door.

I touch the necklace at my throat, a concrete reminder that whatever is budding and blooming between me and Alex, we both feel it. This feeling might never become fully realized, but I’m not alone.

“All the paths here are gravel,” I say. “I haven’t had the guts to go on the narrow roads outside the estate.”

Alex frowns. “Agreed. That’s not safe.” He eyes me for a beat. “Get them. I’ll take you somewhere.”

“Really?” I circle the island to grab the handle on the box. “You know somewhere close?”

He chuckles. “Very close.” He leads us out of the apartment and around the other side of the building. We cut across the fields, and the salty ocean breeze stirs the trees around the edges. “You got cleared of your concussion?”

“I did. Dr. Bennett told you?” Whatever doctor-patient confidentiality is supposed to exist doesn’t seem to matter to him. I haven’t minded Alex keeping tabs on my progress. It’s been nice to have someone care.

“Brice. Texted me.” He glances at me. “Sent me a photo of the two of you at the Wino Wine Bar.”

I shake my head. “He told me I couldn’t tell you any of our exploits and he rats himself out?”

Alex chuckles. “He does it all the time. Asks for forgiveness rather than permission. Such as it is to be the youngest.”

There’s an edge to his teasing tone. Rather than pressing him for more details, I follow him around the edge of the palace in silence. I haven’t been on this side of the estate, preferring the fields and cliffs.

A double tennis court and a full-size basketball court are laid out in front of us, a stone’s throw from a side exit to the palace. Smooth asphalt waits for me to cruise along it. Alex hits a button, and the barriers between the courts slide away, leaving a large, open space in its place.

“Wow,” I say. “That’s incredible.”

“You can come here whenever you want. We used these a lot as kids, and Nick still plays tennis a few times a week with his trainer, but otherwise, they don’t get much use.”

On the bench beside where Alex is standing, I take off my shoes and lace up the Rollerblades. Once I’m set, I push off onto the smooth surface and sail around a few times before attempting some twirls and a little jump.

“Figure skater?” Alex crosses his arms at the edge of the courts when I whizz by.

“Yes!” I come to a stop in front of him. “One of the few activities my parents let me do as a kid. I still love it. I didn’t realize Bellerive wouldn’t have a rink.”

“Only at the Christmas Festival. Did you go last year?”

I grimace. “Working,” I admit. “McGuinty’s ran a stall in Tucker’s Town to drum up memberships.”

“They really took advantage of you.”

I skate in a slow circle near him, going wider and wider while I contemplate his words. They did take advantage of me, but I let them. “Work always came first in my house growing up. We didn’t take vacations like other people because then we needed someone to run the farm. So it took me a long time to figure out Derrick’s family was asking too much of me.” I skate backward and repeat the circles. “Shouldn’t have, looking back on it. They never asked as much from him. Shouldn’t they have expected more from him? I mean…” My mind drifts to my own family. “My parents always demanded more of me than they did my younger brother, my friends, or my boyfriends.”

Alex chuckles. “Not sure I’m the best one to comment on parental expectations.”

“Why not? You have two younger brothers.” I come to a stop in front of him.

“Your parents had different expectations for you as opposed to your brother?”

I roll my eyes. “He’s a boy, and the youngest. He could have girls in his room. He could go out drinking with his friends. He played hockey at a high level, and they never worried he wouldn’t get to his barn chores. They never gave him a hard time about anything. Joined the army right out of high school. The one thing they weren’t sexist about was the farm. Oldest is supposed to take over.” I point to myself. “Except I fled the country, so they don’t speak to me anymore.”

“Seems harsh,” Alex says with a frown.

“Feels it too.” I push off and fly around the perimeter of the courts. The warm ocean breeze presses against my face, and my loose hair trails in a long stream behind me. The speed, the salty taste of the ocean air, and the familiarity of skating bring me such peacefulness, that I don’t consider how late it’s getting until Alex flicks his watch around to check it.

He covers a yawn with his fist, and I pause in front of him. “You’re tired?”