Page 4 of Towering Contract
“See? I can poke too.” She gives me the same smirk I gave my brother.
“We could dress up together,” Leo suggests to Ella. “Cinderella?”
“Why Cinderella?”
I roll my eyes at the cliché. It makes me a hypocrite because I eat that shit up in my books, but they don’t know that. I’m being spiteful, and I really need to get it together.
“Technically I’m Cinderella, but I don’t think I could fill out a dress the way my wife does.”
“You’re Cinderella?” Ella beams up at my brother like he placed all the stars in the sky for her. I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he did.
“If you remember, I was the one that lost a shoe that night,” he says softly to her.
“I can’t with you two.” I burst into laughter.
What the hell has Ella done to my brother? Leo ignores me and kisses his wife. They’re adorable, and as much as I want to hate it, I’m happy for them. The part that bothers me is that my brother gets to have love but I’m tossed off to a random man.
“Have you thought of anything?” my mom asks, her attention back on the tablet. I peek over to see what she’s doing and see a list of names on the screen.
“You made the list?” I dodge her question, not wanting to think about dressing up as my fingers go to my hair and I start to braid it.
“I think I’ve made a good one.” She hands me her tablet, and I release my hair, letting the braid fall free.
The top of the list is filled with people I knew my mom would invite. As my eyes work my way down, I notice the list bleeds into one male name after another.
“Is this a Halloween party or an excuse for the both of you to put me on stage?” I toss the tablet down on the blue velvet sofa between my mom and me. We all came to the library to sort out some of the details, and Leo invited himself because he can only stay away from Ella for so long.
“Zelly.” My mom says my name gently.
“Don’t.” I stand up.
“What’s going on?” Ella asks. Her eyes dart between all of us.
“They’re inviting a bunch of men so they can auction me off.”
“No!” Ella gasps in surprise. She’s from our world, but she’s been very sheltered from it. This is normal, but today I find myself angrier than usual about it. “Leo?” She smacks his chest.
“It’s not like that. Zelly can turn them down. I wouldn’t force her.” Leo is quick to try to soothe Ella’s wrath, but she’s not backing down.
“But you’ll sell her off like cattle?” Ella snips back. It’s nice having someone in my corner. My brother and mom often fall on the same side because they think they know what’s best for me.
“We’re only inviting some of the men we think might be a good fit,” my mom chimes in. “As you know, Ella, anything can happen at one of these parties.” Ella’s face turns pink. The evidence from the night she met my brother is almost unmissable. The small baby bump is starting to show.
“That’s true.” Ella sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, switching sides on me.
“Zelly, it’s only a party. You can mark a few off the list, or maybe one could be what you’re looking for.” My brother's tone softens as his eyes lock with mine.
“What if I’m not looking?”
“You’re my sister, and I know you. I remember what you wantedbefore.”
I fight back the lump in my throat, and it dawns on me that when Flynn and I pushed away from each other, I’d done the same to my brother in the process. He did know me. We used to be so close.
“Okay,” I relent before I sit back down.
“Okay?” Now my mom is the one that’s shocked.
That makes two of us.