Page 63 of Rebellious Royals

"Like a hawk or something!" And I groaned, realizing that was where he'd gotten his name. "Probably a hawk, not a falcon or eagle, huh?"

"Red-tailed hawk," she said. "Not the same, since Hawke's pattern is inverted. Red with white dots instead of the other way around. It's still the closest animal to what his look like."

"And so he named himself after one?" I asked, needing to be sure.

She nodded. "I picked a winter tree. Torian found something close enough to his real name. Wilder picked his because he wanted it to sound tough and dangerous. Mostly because he didn't feel like either thing when he crossed to Earth."

"And Keir?" I asked. "Is that his real name?"

"A legal name," she said. "I bet he has a fae one he doesn't share."

I gestured for her to move over, since she was still sudsing up her hair. "Probably," I agreed. "I also think this should happen more often."

"The shower?" she asked.

With my hair wet, I moved so she could rinse hers and I could shampoo mine. "Yeah. I mean..." But I let the words die off, realizing she might take that wrong.

"What?" she asked.

I turned away, using my long hair as an excuse. "Aspen, we've been together a while now."

"Yeah," she agreed, glancing away even as the water flowed over her.

So I smoothed my sudsy hair back and reached for her waist. "And I like this. I like how easy it is to be with you. I like that I'm not all self-conscious, even though I want to impress you. I don't know, but I just want you to know I'm ok with whatever. More. Less. Anything you want."

A smile touched her lips, but she had to close her eyes to keep the shampoo out of them. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "And if you let me get my hair washed, I'll even rub your shoulders a bit to keep them from aching later."

She quickly moved out of the water. "I like this deal!"

"Oh, so it's a deal now?" I taunted. "What if it was just a normal offer?"

"I'm making it a deal," she joked. "And if you rub on me, I'll rub on you."

I paused with my hair half-rinsed. "That does not sound like you mean it to."

But the grin on her face made me think I might be wrong. "We'll see," she said. "I was trying to leave it vague enough that it wouldn't become a magical thing."

And in my chest, my heart skipped a beat. Really? Did she actually mean that?

"I'm good with vague," I said as casually as I could, through the smile taking over. "I'm also good with changing your mind, Aspen."

"I know," she said. "That's how I know you're the one." And she rocked her head like she was debating her next words. "And I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't said it was ok. I mean, just so that's out there."

Quickly wiping the water out of my hair, I stepped into her, cupping both sides of her face so she had to look at me. "Thenthis," I said, watching her beautiful blue eyes, "is permission. I don't care what it is, I'm ok with it - except you leaving me."

"I don't want to leave you," she said, suddenly turning serious. "Not now, and hopefully not ever."

The only way I could respond to that was to lean in and kiss her again.

Chapter Nineteen

RAIN

The next day, I was a complete dingbat. I kept smiling for no reason. Well, no reason I wanted to tell anyoneelse. When I made it to second period, I couldn't keep my eyes off Aspen. Yeah, I had it bad, and yet it felt so good when she gave me a shy little smile.

Jack hopped over to spend the hour on my shoulder, since he was "guarding" Aspen for her first and third period classes still. Surprisingly, he didn't give me shit. Instead, he cuddled up against my neck in the cutest way. I didn't realize crows were cuddlers, but I'd take it.