The Troublemaker's Daughter (Royal Romance)

7. The Date

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Shane asked with what could only be described as doubt tinting his words.

“I am,” I lied through my teeth way too quickly.

But then again why was I lying? The pizza was good, the atmosphere at the place we were at was just perfect for couples… and yet, I was not enjoying myself.

Shane saw right through my lie for he narrowed his eyes at me and asked me in a serious tone, “What have I done wrong?”

Nothing, I wanted to tell him, and every damn thing at the same time. For starters your eyes blue, not deep brown. Your hair is blonde too, not black. Your voice isn’t deep enough, your shoulders are too broad, your gestures aren’t graceful enough, you move too loudly… the list can go on, you know?

Argh! How did I end up thinking about Ace when I all wanted to do was get away from him, and take a breather?

“You love him that much, huh?” He said, disbelief coating his words.

I don’t, I wanted to deny. I don’t love Ace. I’ve never felt that epic love all mates rambled on and on about… have I?

“Have I said all that out loud?” I asked instead, my eyes almost falling out of their sockets.

“You didn’t need to say anything,” he told me while reaching out for my hand. Then, remembering halfway he would be a very dead wolf if he were to touch me, he stopped his hand’s movement. “I could see it in your eyes,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t see what you’re talking about,” I tried to deny coolly, rolling my eyes.

Yeah, I am a stubborn b***h, I know that much. But I just can’t admit I’m in love with Ace when I’m out on my first date, with Shane.

“I think that’s a wrap for us,” he told me seriously with a wry smile.

I tilted my head to the side in question. Now that is an expression I’m not familiar with. What are you shaking your heads at me for? I grew up, learning three languages –English, French and Italian. How am I supposed to know all these three languages’ idioms?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him, intrigued a little bit, although I knew deep down where this was headed.

“That we were born to die,” was his simply response. “Born to die is an old song.” He clarified upon looking at me.

“Okay,” I drawled, not knowing what to say.

“I should drive you back home now,” he then told me.

Now, that was a sentence I understood.

“You should be with your mate, apologizing, not with me, feeling miserable for cheating if this date can even be considered as cheating.” He winked at me.

Apologize? Me? Was he out of his mind? I didn’t do heartfelt apologies, never did, never had to.

But then, thinking of all the pain I put Ace through, I realized that I did indeed have to apologize.

As I went back to the house, however, I found no trace of my mate.

“Where’s Ace?” I asked no one in particular when I found my parents.

“Gone.” My dad supplied from where he was sitting at the kitchen table, preparing dinner, which didn’t happen too often. But damn it all to hell, each time he did cook, it was the best meal ever.

“Where to?” I questioned, genuinely curious.

“Away,” my mother told me with hard eyes. “Away from you.”

My curiosity faded away, leaving its place to something foreign –pain.

Was this pain even real? It felt out of this world. I could barely breathe, not that I needed to.

“What do you mean?” I asked with a wavering voice, although I had a pretty good guess about what she meant.

“He’s had enough heartache,” dad told me. “He left.”

He couldn’t have left me, could he? Not definitively… could he?

No matter how much I wanted to break down into sobs, I didn’t. I was Blake The Troublemaker’s daughter and I didn’t sobbing... not in front of people anyway. For when I reached my room, I almost didn’t recognize the heart-wrenching sob that left my throat as I dropped to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” I said weakly.