Page 30 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

I glanced over at my brother, who had his hands clamped together while his jaw ticked, like he was nervously watching his own firstborn try something new.

“Hey,” I said, leaning over Kingston to look at Hayes. “He’s got this. It’s just a baseball game.”

Hayes nodded, his eyes moving back to the field as Cutler gripped his bat and tapped it against the dirt twice before holding it up over his shoulder.

The slowest pitch of all time was tossed to him, and he swung at it way too late, his bat not coming anywhere near the ball, and we all cheered.

It didn’t matter if this kid never hit a ball.

We were proud as hell of everything he did.

We just loved him that hard.

Cutler turned and smiled at us, like he had zero concerns.

Kingston’s hand found mine and squeezed hard as the next pitch was tossed to Cutler, and he swung, missing it again. I didn’t miss the way Jalen’s gaze moved to where my hand was connected to Kingston’s. I gave him a forced smile. He didn’t understand the relationship that existed between me and King. Between all of us, really. Even my brother wouldn’t find it odd for our hands to be locked at this moment.

“One more try, Beefcake!” Romeo and Slade both shouted.

“You’ve got this!” Demi followed.

“Come on. Come on. Give him the hit,” Kingston said under his breath, and I turned to see the intensity in the way he was staring at the field. Kingston was a natural athlete. Always had been.

The pitch was thrown. Cutler’s bat shifted, and by the grace of God, he made contact.

It was a foul ball.

It shot straight up in the air and somehow lodged into the linked fencing in front of us.

But he’d made contact.

And our group erupted like he’d just won the World Series. He dropped the bat and turned to face us as he broke out in one of his hilarious dances. Nash hurried over to tell him it was a foul ball, but he didn’t care, and neither did we.

Kingston jumped up and climbed the fence like a freaking ninja warrior, knocking the ball free as it rolled toward home base.

Before I knew what was happening, Kingston had me off the ground and was spinning me around. Everyone was laughing as we all over celebrated the foul ball.

Well, everyone but Jalen was having a good time.

And I knew it was time to end things for good.

eight

Kingston

I finishedthe last coat of paint and stepped back to take it in. The bookshelves were covered in a sage green color, and the counter I’d built was painted in two tones, the sage green with white trim that Saylor had been spending the last week painting. She’d sanded and antiqued it and really made it look like a vintage piece of furniture by the time she was finished.

Today we’d be bringing in all her furniture and getting the place set up as much as we could. She’d be unpacking all the books over the next few days, but at least we could get all the big pieces in.

Hayes

Are we still doing this this morning?

Romeo

Yep. I’m on my way with Demi to Saylor’s place to help you load everything.

Nash

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