chapter 53

Everly “Can you not stare?” I snap at Valen; his roaming gaze is making me self-conscious. My body is not what he would be used to—my stomach isn't flat, my hips have faint stretch marks, and my boobs no longer sit perky on my chest. My body is ruined from carrying Valarian. He stands there looking like he just stepped out of a sports magazine—all hard chiseled muscle and tan complexion—while my skin is pale in comparison, and I look frumpy. “Does my staring bother you?” “Uh, yeah. I wouldn't have said it if it didn't,” I tell him, turning away from him. “You’ve had a baby; that doesn't make you look any less appealing, Everly, so don't shy away from me now,” he says, putting his head under the shower spray to rinse the shampoo from his hair. Easy for him to say; I don't have exes for him to compare himself against, whereas I’ve seen the girls in the papers that he kept on his arm—even met one of them. As if I wouldn't feel inadequate compared to their perky, fit bodies, while I look l