Page 58 of The Princess

“Don’t you need it?”

Taylor patted his front pocket. “I have my phone.” Taylor grabbed the tablet and was surprised when it still had enough juice to start up. “I’m putting my cell number and the number to the diner in the notes app. Then you can contact me if you need to.”

“This is really nice of you.” Mickey dissolved into another coughing fit.

“Are you going to be okay alone?” Taylor asked when he was done.

Mickey nodded. “I’ll be fine.” He coughed again, but managed to get it under control faster. “Talking is hard.”

“Oh, gotcha. I’ll leave so you can rest some more. Tell me if you get worse or if you need anything, okay?”

Mickey nodded and curled up on his side again, covering himself in a blanket. “Thanks, Taylor.” He was practically asleep by the time Taylor responded.

“You’re welcome, Mickey.” Taylor left for Nash’s house soon after. The undercurrent of anger and hurt was still there, but it was tolerable now. Mostly Taylor was just tired and a bit sad, and all he wanted was to cuddle on the couch with his men. Naked or otherwise. He wasn’t picky.

CHAPTER 26

NASH

Walking into the gym a few days later was surreal. It wasn’t that he’d purposely ignored Colby, but he’d been busy with other things. Like Taylor and looking at apartments. Planning the surprise with Damon also took up a bit of time because they could only talk about it when Taylor wasn’t there. And he’d been there a lot. Not that Nash minded. It was pretty much the opposite, actually.

Colby’s bullshit aside, the past few days had been some of the nicest of Nash’s adult life. Both the people he cared about were under one roof, sharing meals, laughter, showers. Nash stopped himself from listing all the things they’d been doing over the past few days because he couldn’t face Colby with a flagpole in his pants.

Nash slung his bag over his shoulder and breezed into the gym the same way he’d always done. He said hello to the receptionist and grabbed a locker for his stuff before heading into the gym to find Colby.

It wasn’t hard to spot him. Usually, it was because the gym was his element. Colby shone here. He was bright and friendly and he had a way of making people want to be near him. He was good at what he did. Today, however, none of that brightness was present. If Nash squinted, he could almost make out the little black storm cloud that hung above Colby’s head.

“Can you go easy on him?” Nash turned his head to see Milo, Colby’s boyfriend. “I know he did it to himself, and he knows he did it to himself, but he’s not okay, Nash. He thinks he’s lost everyone.”

“Those Bennetts are so damn dramatic.” Nash let out some of the tension he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to bust his balls.”

“Thank you.” Milo exhaled. When Colby looked over a moment later, an expression Nash couldn’t make out crossed his face. He should be mad at Colby still, but he couldn’t find any anger when he went poking around in his feelings. A lingering bit of annoyance, yes, but no anger or animosity.

“I’m going to go talk to him. See you later, Milo.” Nash strode away, making a beeline for Colby, who was busy trying to look busy. He had no idea what he was going to say, which was stupid of him. Words were literally his job, but there was a difference between writing about people who only existed in his head and trying to find the words to smooth things over with his best friend.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Colby said without turning to look at Nash. It was like he was hiding from him, as if he were a kid who knew he’d fucked up and was having trouble with the consequences.

“Colby, I’m not going to throw away our entire friendship, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Colby turned around slowly. “I knew that.” He took a deep breath and tried to play it off, but Nash could see the cracks under Colby’s thin facade. “How’s Taylor?”

“He’s fine. He’s less mad now. It shouldn’t be long before he’s approachable. If you walk slowly and avoid eye contact, you might be able to get near him. Bring chocolates, just to be on the safe side.”

Colby didn’t laugh, which sucked because that had what Nash was trying to make happen.

“So, you and Damon?”

“Me and Damon.”

“And my brother?”

“And Taylor.”

Colby took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before putting it on backward. “How did that happen? Or is this one of those things where the less I know, the better?”

This wasn’t exactly a conversation Nash wanted to have in the middle of a gym, but this was where Colby was the most comfortable so Nash sucked it up. “It took my whole life for me to find people who wanted the same things I wanted. People I really care about. People who do their best to make each other happy, and me happy.”

“So how many people are you seeing?” Colby asked.

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