The Luna Choosing Game

“How long did you wait, Piper? A week? Two? It couldn’t have been long.”

He sounds like he’s jealous. Or was that an illusion? He doesn’t care about me and is just mad at me.

Maybe the latter is more logical.

His dark eyes burned into me, leaving my heart in scorched tatters. Never in a thousand years would i

have thought Nicholas would be so vicious to me.

“It wasn’t like that.” I said, to try to defend myself.

He crossed his hands over his chest. He wasn’t going to listen to me,

“Why even come here?” he asked me.

“My application was selected…”

“Why even apply? Were you trying to get to me?”

“No,” I said.

“Maybe you regret your child’s father. Maybe you want me back.” He laughed once, bitterly. “Like you

have a chance.”

The words sliced into me as surely as if he’d been holding a knife. He had changed since I’d known him.

Three w

years ago, he’d been kind and patient. I’d given him my heart and he’d gently cradled it. So many

nights, we’d laid under the stars, trading kisses and stories.

Once, when he’d spent all night looking at me, I had told him, “You’re missing the

starlight.”

He’d replied, “I can see it in your eyes.”

The man before me now was nothing like the one I had known. The man here was arrogant, indifferent. and imposing in how he carried himself.

Breaking up with him had never been something I wanted to do. It hurt me still, thinking upon it, so I had tried to push it to the back of my thoughts

other things to focus on like work, and caring for

all those feelings crashing back into Tome so hard, they

+15 BONUS

wonder if I was misremembering the past.

wasn’t that young,

bite to my own voice.

a mistake, and

chill ran along my spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break up with me. Piper. I’ll never

room, and then out into the parlor. I thought

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

hate him. So

might be a cruel, insensitive bastard but he liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of his misconceptions about

to hate him,

sunk to my knees beside the

had stayed together, maybe he would have revealed his secret in time. Maybe the three of us could have been

was a nice

very far from

to go

I

head beside Elva’s on the cushion. I was so drained,

quickly, my own eyes

Excuse me,

blinked open

nervous official hovered over me. I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry

sleep from my eye. “Wait, there’s been a

looked up again, he was already disappearing out of the room. He

Elva sat up on the couch, watching me with curious eyes. “Is it time for

my softest smile. It is. We have to be quiet though, okay? No one can talk when the King

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

my

royal family was standing atop some type of

his Luna on one side. The three princes

looked older than he did on the bills in my purse.

his voice camed far, like he was accustomed to public

he said, calming the crowd and gaining their attention “Congratulations

this monumental event. We are very pleased by your presence and look forward to becoming

whispered