Page 113 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“It caught us both by surprise. And he’s really, really good to me.” My hand found my chest, covering my heart, as a tear ran down my cheek. “He wanted to talk to you so badly, but I begged him not to, and he put my needs first. And next to you, no one has ever done that before.”

“King’s one of the best people I know, I’m not arguing that. I just didn’t want him fucking around with you. Obviously, this is different.”

“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes. “If you’d just have trusted me and him, it might not have gone to blows.”

“It’s hard for me sometimes to let go where you’re concerned,” he said, and his voice was strained. “When Dad left, I remember hearing you cry in your room for hours. You wouldn’t eat much, and you just laid in your bed, and I worried you’d wither away. Mom had checked out, and she wasn’t taking care of either of us. And I made this pact that I’d be there for you, and you’d know you were taken care of. And I tried, Saylor. I tried to give you the life that you deserved.”

The tears were falling so fast that it was hard to see through my blurry vision. “That wasn’t your job, Hayes, but you stepped up for me, and I’m so grateful.” I tried to speak over my sobs. “I wrestle with it, you know?”

“With what?” He leaned forward and patted me on the arm, in a total Hayes sort of way. Not overly emotional, but he wanted me to know he was there.

“With being grateful for you being the best brother a girl could ask for, but also being brave enough to make decisions for myself without feeling guilty. I think I’ve probably loved King longer than I even realized. But keeping this a secret to see where it went was not something I did to hurt you. It was something that I did for myself. And for him. I knew he doubted himself, and if he went to you and you lost your shit on him, he’d run. Running is easier, Hayes. And don’t forget that King lost his parents at a young age, and he has his own baggage and hang-ups about loving someone enough to be vulnerable.”

“And you’re certain he’s all in?”

“One hundred percent. He was planning to talk to you yesterday, and then you didn’t come home. So, he had a plan to meet you in the morning and tell you man to man. But then you lost your shit, right?” I raised a brow.

The corners of his lips turned up, and he pointed at his mouth. “He got a damn good shot in, too.”

“I didn’t think he’d fight back. I thought he’d take whatever you gave him.”

“Well, he didn’t get to explain much before I hit him the first time. But then I ran my mouth the way you’d expect me to.” He winced. “And he shouted something about not talking about his woman that way.”

I chuckled, and so did he. “He’s a good man, Hayes. You know he is.”

“It was never about that. It was about making sure he didn’t hurt you. And I’m not going to lie, the not telling me what was going on—it stings. These guys are my family, Say. And we’ve never kept secrets. So my mind went to the worst place, that he was taking advantage of you and all that shit, and that’s why he’d kept it a secret.”

“He would never do that.”

“I know. But in the heat of the moment, I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He yawned.

“Come on. Let’s move to the couch. I want to fill you in on our new siblings,” I said with a laugh.

“King told me it was the craziest shit he’d ever seen.” Hayes carried both our coffee cups into the living room.

We settled onto the couch, and we talked until the sun came up. About the disappointment regarding our father and the fact that he’d never made an effort to introduce us to his new family. And the hope that maybe our mother might be trying to make things better for herself. We talked about that night that we’d avoided for such a long time. The night that had changed both of our lives in different ways. He'd grown more protective of me, and I’d formed a bond with the love of my life.

And we were both going to be okay, because we always had one another.

And we’d found a family of our own that we may not have been born into, but they were ours just the same.

These friends that were more like family.

We talked until our eyes couldn’t stay open any longer, and we each took an end of the L-shaped couch and finally gave into sleep.

thirty

Kingston

I’d been lyingon the swing on his front porch since the sun came up. I’d barely slept. I’d texted him a dozen times this morning, before my phone died, because I’d never taken the time to charge it last night.

None of that fucking mattered.

I’d texted him that I was here on his front porch.

I’d assumed he’d come home this morning. The light was on inside, so I knew he was in there.

I’d banged on his door a few dozen times over the last few hours, and he’d continued to ignore me.

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