Page 29 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“He really is,” I said as Jalen waved me over.

I walked toward him, and he pushed to his feet and wrapped me in a hug. “Good to see you, beautiful.”

Damn it. Why can’t I be all in with this guy?

“Thanks. It’s good to see you, too.” I handed him his jersey and turned to look out at the field as Nash jogged toward us, while the kids all continued stretching in a circle.

He gave us all high-fives and thanked us for being here.

“How’s our boy doing?” River asked.

“Well, he wanted to wear his leather jacket over his jersey, so that was a whole thing.” Nash shook his head and turned to glare at Kingston. “And thank you for introducing him to sunflower seeds, you dickweasel. I’ve got shells all over my truck, and I’ll probably have a hefty dental bill if he keeps chomping on them.”

“It’s a freaking rite of passage. Sunflower seeds and baseball. It’s like country music and apple pie. They just go together.” Kingston smirked before popping a few more into his mouth.

“Country music and apple pie? Do those even go together?” River looked at his brother like he had three heads.

“Sure, they do. I always crave some apple pie after I get my dance on.”

We all laughed at the same time, and everyone turned in our direction.

“All right, it’s game time. I’ll see you after.” Nash jogged off, and we all took our seats.

Demi, Ruby, Peyton, and a few of the guys sat up on the second row, while I remained on the bottom row, because that’s where Cutler had told me he wanted me to sit.

Jalen sat on my right, and Kingston decided to sit on the other side of me, chewing his sunflower seeds like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Do you want some sunflower seeds?” he asked me.

“I’m okay, but thank you.”

“I’d love to try them. Are they an American thing, mate?” Jalen asked, holding his hand out, and I heard River bark out a laugh from behind us.

Kingston narrowed his gaze and stared at Jalen for a long moment before reaching into his bag and dropping three tiny seeds into Jalen’s large palm. “Are you not from Jersey, dude?”

Jalen stared down at the small offering and smiled. “Sure. But I consider myself a man of the world. I’ve traveled quite a bit and ingrained myself in many cultures.”

“Well, baseball and sunflower seeds are a thing. I don’t know if they chew on them everywhere, because I’m clearly not as worldly as you.”

What in the hell was he doing?

“Most are not. I’ve been fortunate enough to see the world at a young age. But there’s nothing wrong with being a small-town guy,” Jalen said, and his words made it clear that these two were in some kind of pissing match.

Obviously, there was no love there, but Jalen had never reacted like this before.

And for whatever reason, I felt defensive for Kingston.

“I haven’t been to many places either, and I’m most definitely a small-town girl.” I cleared my throat, my gaze locking with Jalen’s.

“That’s my favorite kind of girl,” Kingston said from the other side of me. “It’s game time. Beefcake is up.”

Before I knew what was happening, we were all on our feet, screaming. Cutler wore his uniform, a pair of gold aviator sunglasses, and his Ducks baseball cap turned backward as he walked toward home plate. He turned to look at us all screaming and cheering, his very own fan club, and he lowered his glasses and waggled his brows.

Everyone sitting on the bleachers started laughing because the kid just radiated magic.

“Let’s get after it!” River shouted.

“You’ve got this, Beefcake,” Kingston and Romeo called out at the same time, and then they turned to high-five one another.

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