Page 109 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“Do you think I would have punched him if it wasn’t?”

“Yeah, that was a surprising move, but I need to hear you say it, brother. Because if this isn’t the real deal, you might have just fucked up a lifelong friendship forever.”

“I love her, River. I think I have for a very long time. Long before anything ever happened. We have a history from way back when she lived with us,” I said, holding up my hands when he looked like he was going to explode on me. “Nothing ever happened. I swear on everything I know. Never. But the feelings, they’ve been there for a long time. I can’t stay away from her. I’ve tried. I’ve tried so fucking hard.” I buried my face in my hands and tried to keep it together.

“Why didn’t you fucking talk to me? Talk to Hayes?”

“And say what? That I was attracted to her? Because that’s what I thought it was at first. But then we started spending so much time together, and it’s so much more than that. These feelings… they aren’t going away, River. They just get stronger every day. I love her in a way that I know I can’t exist in a world that she isn’t in. So, I’ll take my fucking lumps from Hayes until he’ll talk to me, because this isn’t some fucking fling. This girl—she makes me want to be the kind of man that deserves her.”

“Wow. You really are fucked.” River barked out a laugh. “You’ve got it bad, little brother. Does she feel the same?”

“She does. We’ve been keeping it a secret until we could talk to Hayes.” I shrugged, knowing it was a lame defense now.

“Well, that sure blew up in your face. But you’ve got a few days to fix this before Romeo’s wedding. We can’t have you two brawling on his wedding day, so you better find a way to make this right, King.”

“And how do you suggest I do that? He probably won’t even fucking talk to me now.” I fell back against the couch.

“You just keep trying until he does. And you tell him exactly what you told me.” He leaned back beside me and turned to look at me. “You tell him you love his sister, and you should have come to him, but you fucked up. Because you’re ridiculously in love. And you just keep saying it until you get through to him.”

“All right. That’s what I’ll do.” I let out a long breath. I couldn’t believe we’d come to blows. He was my best friend, and I’d hurt him in a way that I didn’t know if he’d ever forgive me. “I just hope he’ll listen to me.”

“Yeah, me too, brother. This might be the worst fight any of us have ever had.”

“I broke the pact. Ride or die. I fucked it all up.”

River clapped me on the shoulder. “You fell in love. That’s not breaking the pact. The way you went about it wasn’t great, but you’ll explain that to him when he’s sober and has calmed down.”

My phone beeped at the same time River’s did.

Romeo

Hey, it’s just the four of us on this thread. He’s really pissed, and he’s also really drunk, and he hasn’t slept much since he’s been gone, so I think he’s also exhausted. He’s going to crash at my place so I can make sure he’s all right.

Nash

You need to make this right, King. He’s really angry. I hope like hell that this is the real deal because he won’t get over it if it’s anything less than that.

River

I’m sitting here with this whipped motherfucker who just told me he’s in love. They both are.

Romeo

I figured it was serious when he threw a punch at Hayes.

I wanted to take whatever hits he wanted to land on my face. But I couldn’t hear him talking about her like she didn’t matter to me. I love her. I love her so fucking much that I just fucked up my relationship with my best friend over it.

Romeo

Let him sober up and get some sleep, and then you two can talk.

Nash

If anyone can talk themselves out of a shitstorm, it’s you, brother. So get your head straight and then make this right.

I’ll do whatever it takes.

My phone rang, and I looked down to see Saylor was calling.

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