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

like work, and caring for Elva, that I could successfully distract myself from the pain

seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so hard, they stole

+15 BONUS

help but wonder if I was misremembering

I wasn’t that

bite to my own voice. The hurt

and I

“You are the only woman who ever dared

sitting room, and then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door behind him, as enraged as he was, but instead, he

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate him. So

He might be a cruel, insensitive bastard but he liked children. He’d

to hate him, but

beside the couch

maybe he would have revealed his

a

wasn’t reality. My reality was very far from these

time, staying here. I needed to go home and look for another job, as soon as

I

was so drained, from the trip,

quickly, my own

me Excuse me,

blinked open

but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry to the

sleep from my

up again, he was already disappearing

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

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

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

I pulled Elva into my arms and

royal family was standing atop some type of

The three princes flanked his

looked older than he did on the bills in

well and his voice camed far, like he was accustomed

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

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

and whispered something