Page 60 of Endgame

Of course her mind jumped directly to King, and her heart immediately started performing an elaborate gymnastics routine in her chest. But she played it cool, glad Knight wasn’t there in person to read her facial expressions. “Bear? Pssh. Tell him I’ll be home soon.”

“I’m not talking about Bear and you know it,” Knight hissed. “Seriously, Lila, he wasn’t showy about it, but he kind of freaked out when you left. Almost like he thought you weren’t coming back or something. Hold on.” She could hear footsteps and stairs creaking, followed by a door closing. Knight’s voice returned to a normal volume. “Seriously, Li, it’s not like there’s a sign-out sheet for our house, but we worry about you.”

Lila winced. “I mean, I let you know I was going, you know, for safety purposes. I just figured you’d pass the message along.”

“Fair point,” he conceded. “But I know another person who would most likely disagree with that statement. What the hell is up between you two? Actually…nope. I don’t want to know. I’m staying out of this shitshow.”

“Be nice,” Lila laughed-winced. “Nothing’s up. We’re friends, and I went to visit my family for a minute and now I’m coming back. End of story.”

“Hardly. But again…”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Exactly.”

“Duly noted. See you soon.”

“Later, Li.”

Lila ended the call and clenched the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She was just so tired. Tired of fighting the combustive chemistry between her and King. Her heart was already fucked, so why not just go down with the sinking ship full of orgasm-induced endorphins?

The rest of the drive passed by too quickly, and she was greeted by a chorus of “Heys” when she let herself into the house. A bunch of guys had congregated and were having some sort of a gaming competition with the latest PS5 sports game. She waved, went to the fridge to grab one of her lemonades, and then climbed the stairs leading to her bedroom.

Once she’d unpacked the few things she’d taken with her and had a few sips of her drink, she opened the door to the bathroom. King’s door was open, and she moved across the cool tile until her feet hit wood flooring once again. King’s lamp was on, casting light on his strong, tall body propped up with a couple of pillows. His large frame seemed to overtake every inch of the king bed he’d managed to wedge into the room. His laptop was open on his lap, and he appeared to be watching something on the screen.

She knocked softly on the doorframe, and finally, his eyes, jet black in the low light, landed on her.

“What’re you watching?”

“A movie.” His jaw was tight, and he looked upset. But that couldn’t be because of her, could it? Because that would make everything even more convoluted than it already was. Maybe he was just mad to miss out on the high that their collective orgasming seemed to create. Yeah, that was probably it.

“Glad to see the verbosity is out in full force tonight.” Lila leaned against the doorjamb. “Not in the mood to hang with the dudes tonight?”

“Nope.” Lila was low-key impressed because King popped that “p” like it was his job.

“Wanna tell me why you’re being so grumpy right now?” Lila ribbed gently because what the hell was up with him? She sincerely hoped that his nightmare parents hadn’t pulled something messed up, but she wouldn’t put it past them.

King drew in a large breath, held it, then exhaled slowly, intentionally. Lila entered his room and made her way over to him. His eyes tracked her movements like an apex predator. She stopped when she got to the side of the bed closest to where he was sprawled.

“Why’d you leave?”

Had Lila not already talked to Knight, the question would have surprised her, so she was grateful to her friend for the heads-up.

“Just needed to see my family. It’s been a while since I made the trip. Which is kind of terrible of me since it’s not that far of a drive.”

“It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that we’ve been fooling around?”

“I don’t know that I’d classify mutual masturbation as ‘fooling around,’ but I suppose I can concede to that phraseology for the purposes of this conversation.”

“That’s not a no.”

“It’s not a yes, either,” she retorted. “Why are you asking in the first place? Did you miss me?”

“Yeah. I fucking did.”

Lila froze, unsure of how to respond. All she was certain of was the pull she felt whenever King Spencer entered a room. The pull she was feeling now, even as she schooled her expression to the best of her abilities.

King studied her for a minute then scooted over so he was on one side of the bed. He patted the spot next to him. “Wanna watch this with me?”

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