Page 110 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“Hey,” I said, as I pushed to my feet and walked out of the room, leaving River, who was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed now.

“You sound upset. Are you okay?” she asked, and she didn’t hide her concern.

“He knows.” I dropped onto my bed and ran a hand down my face.

“Hayes knows? You told him?”

“He found your necklace on my nightstand, and he lost his shit. It got physical, and there was just no explaining anything to him at that point. I fucked up, Saylor. I should have gone to him.”

“No, King. This is on me. I asked you not to talk to him. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I left my necklace there. I messed it all up, and I’m so sorry.” Her voice broke on the last word.

“This is on me. I should have handled it like a man. If I could have seen into the future, to know with confidence that this was the real deal, I would have done that. But I really fucked up by not talking to him. He feels betrayed, and I’d feel the same fucking way if this were reversed.”

“No one can see into the future. It wasn’t about him, but I do think I should have realized how bad this would look if he found out the way that he did. Do you want me to come over?”

“Fuck, Dandelion, the last thing we need is him showing back up here and finding you here. I’ve got to fix this first, all right? It might take a few days, but I need to get this right before I do anything else.”

She sniffled a few times. “Okay. I’m so sorry, King. I know I put you in a bad position, and I feel sick about it. I wasn’t trying to be deceitful; I was just trying to give us a fighting chance. And at the end of the day, we were able to figure out that we loved each other, so I’d do it all again if I had to. But I don’t want this to come between your friendship with Hayes. I promise you we will fix this.”

“None of this is your fault. My relationship with Hayes is based on trust, and I broke that. It’s between me and him. I could have insisted on telling him at any time, and I went right along with the plan to keep it a secret. I was a selfish asshole, and now I need to own up to it.”

“Just promise me that this won’t come between us.” Her voice shook.

“Dandelion, there is not anything in the world that can come between us. I love you, and that will never change. But you’ve got to give me some time to fix this and make it right. Because I’m not okay with where things stand with your brother right now.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.”

“All right. Let’s just stay away from one another until I talk to Hayes. I love you.”

“Love you. Goodnight, King.”

I ended the call and fell back onto the bed.

I had my work cut out for me. But I wouldn’t stop until I made this right.

twenty-nine

Saylor

I filledthe girls in on what happened, and they all just stared at me, each with different reactions.

“Shit. I warned King that he needed to talk to Hayes,” Ruby said, shaking her head.

“Wait. You knew?” Demi, Peyton, and I all said at the same time.

“I suspected, and I talked in code to him. But I thought I made it clear that he needed to have that talk with your brother.”

“He was going to talk to him tomorrow. Hayes was supposed to come home yesterday, but he was delayed and showed up in the middle of the bachelor party. King didn’t want to have this conversation in front of everyone. But Hayes found my necklace on King’s nightstand and figured it out, and you know the rest.” I chewed my thumbnail, feeling overwhelmed with the hurt I’d caused my brother, and also nervous about what this meant for me and King. He sounded devastated on the phone, and I wondered if he’d blame me for this whole mess.

I’m the one who insisted we keep it a secret.

He’d respected my wishes, and now his best friend wouldn’t speak to him.

“I was suspicious, too, if I’m being honest, but I never imagined it coming out like this. But at the end of the day, you’re in love. Hayes will get over it because all he really wants is for you both to be happy.” Demi wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Wait. I wasn’t suspicious at all. So you’re telling me that all this time, you’ve been riding King Pierce like a wild stallion?” Peyton said, and Demi and Ruby burst out in hysterical laughter.

I chuckled, but I wasn’t much in the mood to laugh at the moment. I’d managed to make a tough situation even tougher.

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