Page 11 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

three

Saylor

Spring in MagnoliaFalls was my favorite. I was meeting the girls at the Golden Goose for lunch, and we had lots to catch up on.

Midge Longhorn, who owned the place, greeted me with her usual straight-faced nod and led me to the table.

Ruby, Peyton, and Demi were already there, sitting in our favorite booth. This had become a ritual for us. Saturdays were for grilled cheese, tomato soup, and girl talk.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I was at the bookstore all morning. They got one wall of bookshelves installed today. It’s really coming together.”

“I cannot wait to have the bookstore open for business. Romeo said that King has been putting in long hours over there this last week.”

We were two weeks into renovations, and we were definitely ahead of schedule.

“Yeah. He knows how badly I want to get the doors open, so he’s been pushing hard.” I paused when Letty came over to take our orders.

“I’m so excited for you. We all need to relax this weekend. River wants to have everyone over tomorrow for a barbecue. He insists King take a day off, so we can all hang out on the lake if it’s warm enough. We’ll be cooking up a lot of food, so come hungry.”

“Yay. Can I bring Bobby?” Peyton asked. “I’m dying to see him with his shirt off. He’s such a freaking gentleman; he hasn’t made a move on me yet.”

Bobby worked for Nash and Kingston, and he was helping with the bookstore renovations. They’d gone out a few times over the last two weeks.

“Yes. The more the merrier,” Ruby said. “Why don’t you make the first move?”

“I don’t know. I usually wouldn’t hesitate, but it’s kind of hot that he’s taking his time, you know?” Peyton reached for her drink. “How’s it going with Coach Hotty? You’ve been out several times, right?”

“Yeah. He’s nice. We’re taking it slow, too, I guess. But I like him. He took me out on his boat two days ago, and we had a picnic out on the water, so that was fun.”

“I love that. Very romantic. You should invite him to the barbecue tomorrow,” Demi said. “Romeo told me that he’s a really good guy, and Slade really likes him, too.” Demi’s brother had moved back to town and was working at the gym for Romeo now, as well.

“Yeah, he mentioned that he’s training Slade on the side. That’s great,” I said.

“Well, apparently, not everyone is happy with Coach. Romeo said that King has a problem with him.” Demi shrugged.

My head fell back in laughter, just as our food was set in front of us. “King doesn’t like his shorts. Or his hair. Or the fact that he calls him mate. I think he’s just being protective, but it’s a little ridiculous. I’m used to this kind of madness from Hayes, but not from King.”

“Damn. A protective King is freaking hot. That guy is so damn good-looking and charming in thatI-will-give-you-all-the-orgasmskind of way, and then you add in him being protective—it’s almost too much.” Peyton fanned her face.

“You guys have always been close, huh?” Ruby asked as she turned to look at me.

“Yep. No one really talks about it, but I lived with the Pierce family for several months when I was a teenager. So we’re more like family, you know?”

“It was when Romeo and River were sent away, right?” Demi winced, and I knew the topic was still painful for her to talk about. They’d been pulled from their homes and sent to Fresh Start, where Ruby now worked, for a crime they hadn’t committed but that Demi’s brother, Slade, had. But everyone had moved on and put it behind them.

“Yeah. King really helped me through a hard time. I was a mess. Separated from my brother, terrified of my stepfather, worried for my mother, and the Pierces opened their door to me.”

“Where did Hayes go?” Peyton asked, not knowing any of this had gone down.

“He stayed with Nash and his dad.”

It had been a horrible time in my life. The darkest to date. And I was still healing from the fact that my own father wouldn’t help me and Hayes during that time. But once he left us, he never looked back. Otherwise, if he had even given us a little bit of interest, we wouldn’t have had to deal with Barry. It was a lot to take all at once. But King had gotten me through it.

“That had to be so hard,” Peyton said, before a wicked grin spread across her face. “Speaking of hard, you were living with a teenage Kingston. Come on, something must have gone down. All those months in the same house with raging teenage hormones and the hottest guy in town across the hall from you?”

“Oh my gosh. Never. First of all, I was just surviving back then. I was really struggling emotionally, and that was the last thing on my mind. Not that King would have ever done anything either. He doesn’t look at me like that, and we all know that Hayes would have lost his shit on him if anything had ever happened.”

I groaned as I took a bite of the best grilled cheese sandwich in town.

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