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“I have a confession to make,” Sophie blurted.
Tam rolled onto his side, looking at her as a petal floated down. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Sophie demanded. “You can’t just say okay. I’m about to tell you one of the biggest secrets of my entire life!”
“My bad,” Tam said drily, before clasping his hands against his heart. “Oh my stars, Sophie! Whatever this secret is, surely I don’t know. I’m dying to hear your every word. Now please commence with the confession making. I’m all in for the gossip.”
Sophie shoved him. “How do you know the secret isn’t that I’m dying?”
“I’d feel your shadow if you were near death,” he replied simply. “I’m dying from the suspense. Please tell me.”
Sophie sucked in a breath. “I think I like Keefe!”
A beat passed.
Sophie opened her eyes. “Did you just hear what I said? I haven’t ever told anyone that?”
Tam groaned, but patted Sophie on her shoulder. “Look, Soph. I love you dearly. But that is not a secret. Everyone with eyes knows that. And lucky me, I have eyes.”
Sophie’s mouth dropped open, her eyebrows drawing together. “What? Does everyone know? This whole time?”
Tam’s heart clenched. “Maybe not,” he lied. “I just know you.”
“I didn’t even know I liked Keefe. I don’t even know if I do.”
Tam willed himself to stay calm. “It’s okay if you do like him.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Even though he’s Keefe. Ugh, you have horrible taste in guys.”
Sophie laughed. “Hey. Keefe is great.”
Tam looked at her with disbelief. “That is subjective. I’m all for you liking whoever you want, but him?”
“It’s not my fault he’s adorable,” Sophie argued.
Tam gasped dramatically. “Oh no. You’re down bad. It’s too late, isn’t it?” Sarcasm leaked from every word. “But seriously. Of all the boys. You do realize there are better guys in the world for you?”
“Who would you rather me like? Dex, who might as well be my cousin? Or Fitz?”
Tam buried his face in his hands. “Oh my stars, Sophie. Oh. My. Stars. There are other options in the world than your cousin, your ex, and Keefe freaking Sencen.”
“Fitz isn’t my ex,” Sophie pointed out.
“Ex-situationship,” Tam added off-handedly. “Still your ex.”
Sophie twisted her hands. “I don’t think there’s anyone else for me.”
“There are more than three people, Soph. You know, other guys in the hall stare at you sometimes. Keefe and I have to scare them off. It’s the only thing we agree upon, aside from the fact that you are amazing.”
“People stare at me in the halls because I’m a freak.”
“Hey,” Tam said softly. “You’re not a freak. At least not in a bad way. You’re different, but in a cool way. You’re basically a superhero. Anyone that doesn’t have a crush on you thinks you’re awesome and super powerful and cool.”
Sophie blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I don’t believe that. But let me finish.”
“I’ll remind you until you believe it,” Tam told her, but silenced when Sophie shot him with a look. “Okay, okay. You can finish.”
“Like I said, I don’t think there’s anyone else for me. I… I don’t think I just like Keefe. I think I might love him. Not like how I love you or love my parents. Like he makes my heart flutter and sometimes I want to kiss him. I want him to kiss my forehead and hold my hand. To fall asleep with our minds intertwined every night. I think I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Tam blinked. “Woah. You do realize elves live for thousands of years? That’s a really long time to put up with Keefe Sencen.”
“I mean it,” Sophie insisted.
“I know you do. Aw, man. That means I have to put up with Keefe Sencen for thousands of years. I’m invited to the wedding, right?”
Sophie giggled. “Of course you’re invited to the wedding. I bet Keefe would agree you should be the flower girl.”
Tam frowned. “I don’t know what that is, but I’m decently sure I don’t want to do that. I can’t ruin my public image like that. No one needs to know about my obsession with flowers.”
“Really?” Sophie teased. “You don’t think everyone deserves to know just how much you like pink and sparkles and flowers? I used to think Linh was the one out of you two like that, but I should’ve known better. You guys are, like, the Sparkle Twins.”
“We are not the Sparkle Twins,” Tam grumbled.
Sophie nodded happily. “I need that on a tunic. It can be pink and sparkly, just how you would like it.”
Tam rolled his eyes. “I like everything as black as my soul.”
“So you like everything bright and sparkly?”
Tam scoffed.
Sophie exhaled dreamily. “Just think. We could use the petals from Calla’s trees. It’d be a small wedding, of course. Maybe an outside wedding. My parents would be there. And Elwin, I think. You and Linh and our friends. Are there any elvin traditions I need to know about?”
“You’re sixteen.” Tam blinked slowly. “And don’t you think it’s a bit of a jump to go from thinking you like him to planning your wedding in the span of five minutes?”
Sophie ignored him. “What if he doesn’t like me back?”
“Then I’ll kill him. No one would even know. I can make it look like an accident.”
Sophie didn’t look impressed. “No killing, please and thank you.”
“Fine. Ugh, we need to start planning.”
“Planning? For what?”
Tam sat up. “We need to figure out a way for you to confess to Keefe. You could probably do it here. How soon do you want to do this? I’ll make sure to keep all our friends away. Then you can have peace and quiet to confess your undying love. And Grady, that’s a disaster waiting to happen.”