Page 12 of The Rook
"Why would he tell you to stay away from me? I'm the innocent one."
"I'm pretty sure that's why I'm supposed to stay away from you."
"What's your name?" I asked.
"I'm Westin St. James."
"What kind of name is Westin?"
"What kind of name is Nissa?"
I shrugged and shielded my gaze from the sun. Which was odd because, well, we were just west of London. It was always gray. "Well, Westin, are you here alone? Do you have a phone? I twisted my ankle. Julian's going to kill me."
He lifted a brow. "Why is he going to kill you? Just because you twisted your ankle?"
I nodded. "I'm not supposed to be all the way out here by myself. We have ‘trust issues,’ as he says."
He smirked then, and the expression was quite pleasant on his face. He was cute as boys went, with his pale blue eyes and his curly mop of hair. I had been studying the topic all year. Okay, if I was being honest, it was Lenora who got me into it before Julian Montgomery had shown up. Any spare money she’d earned was spent on teen magazines like Hello!
The ones she liked were old though. Movie stars. My personal favorite, was Tom Hardy. He was very cute. I also like the guy who played Loki, and all the superheroes, and sure, Tom Holland was cute too. This guy reminded me of Loki. Not his hair though.
"Are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to take my hand?"
I blinked rapidly and realized he was holding his hand out to me. "Can't you go get someone, like an adult?"
"No, the way back down by the brook is too far, and by the time I come back, it'll likely start raining or something. Mrs. Pembry would be upset if I leave you here all by yourself."
My brows lifted then. "The housekeeper?"
He nodded. "I live with her."
"Are you her son or something?"
He shook his head. "No. My parents died."
At that moment, my heart broke for him. "I'm sorry. My parents died too."
He cocked his head then. "I thought Uncle Julian was your dad."
I shrugged. "I had other parents. When they died, he turned up. He had paperwork showing that I was his daughter. And then I came to live here. I had to leave my sister behind though."
His brows dropped. "Julian didn't take your sister?"
I shook my head. "No. He said we'd see each other, but I haven't seen her once since we left her. It's been nearly a year, and…" I let my voice trail off. I was rambling to a stranger.
He offered me both hands then as he knelt in front of me. "I'm sorry. That sucks."
"Thanks." I took both his hands and using my good foot and his body as leverage, he helped me to my feet.
He wrapped an arm around me. "You rolled it pretty bad, and you’ve got a cut too. I just want to get you up there to the clearing. It'll be easier to pick you up from there."
"Pick me up? I think I outweigh you."
He frowned down at me. "Hardly. I'm stronger than you are."
"You are not. And I'm tall."
He nodded. "But I think most of that is afro."
