Page 34 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“I’ll tell you later.” I shook my head, just as the rest of the group walked in.

“My girl is moving into her new shop!” Cutler shouted as he jogged through the door, holding a handful of flowers that he’d clearly picked for her.

“I sure am. And I’m going to put in a little cozy reading corner just for you.” Saylor bent down to kiss his cheek. “My little baseball star.”

“Yep. I’m really good. Pops thinks I’m going to be better than him,” he said.

I glanced up at Nash, who was smirking where he stood behind Cutler. “Damn straight. Put in the work, and you’ll keep getting better.”

“I want to be like Pops and all my uncles when I grow up. Uncle King, can you teach me to paint like this?” The little guy gaped at the bookshelves as he walked closer to inspect them.

“Absolutely. We’re going to start working on that desk you asked for next week. First, we’ll build it, and then we’ll paint it.”

Cutler reacted with a fist pump and smiled. “Yes. I’m going to have my own desk and be a businessman like Uncle River.”

“Then we’ll make it the best around.” I high-fived my little dude.

“All right, let’s get these trucks unloaded,” River said, as he peeked his head in the door.

And that’s exactly what we did. We spent the next several hours working our asses off. Everyone showed up. River, Ruby, Peyton, Bobby, Slade, Nash, Hayes, Cutler, Romeo, Demi, a few guys from the gym, and Ruby’s brothers, Rico and Zane, even showed up for a few hours. The one person who hadn’t shown up was Jalen. I didn’t ask if she’d ended things with him because Saylor hadn’t mentioned it, and I didn’t want to look like some desperate asshole who was dying to know.

Even if Iwasa desperate asshole and dying to know.

Demi made us lunch and kept us loaded up with iced teas, and we got the place unpacked.

And when I got home, I didn’t even shower. I fell into my bed with my clothes on, and I slept.

* * *

My alarm had me jumping from a sound sleep. I glanced at my phone, stunned to see that I’d been out for fourteen hours, even though I felt like I could sleep a lot longer. Ruby and Saylor would be over soon to help get things set up, and I was definitely in need of a shower to wake myself up.

I hurried as I let the water spray down on my back, and I fought the urge to grip my dick and give myself some relief. But I wouldn’t do it.

It had been weeks. Probably the longest I’d ever gone without sex. I was suffering big time, but I just couldn’t get my mojo back.

When I thought about sex, I thought about Saylor.

It was a fucked-up thing to do, and I knew it.

So, I’d gone without.

No sex. No rubbing one out. No spanking the salami. No fucking relief at all.

I was working crazy hours and keeping my mind busy. My hands busy.

But my dick… he was not happy.

I shook it off, got dressed, and reminded myself that no man had ever died from a bad case of blue balls.

Had he?

I sure as fuck hope not.

The doorbell rang, and Ruby and Saylor walked in carrying grocery bags. I helped unload their cars, and I was grateful that they took charge of the situation.

“I’ll get the ham into the oven,” Saylor said.

“Perfect. I’ll go start hiding eggs for Cutler.” Ruby paused as she took in the bags full of eggs that I’d gotten for the egg hunt. “My God. He’s one little kid. There must be two hundred eggs here.”

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