Page 30 of Salacious Park Avenue Prince

“Yes, but you’re forgetting something,” East cut in. “This isn’t about you. It’s about Caleb. We’re throwing him a ‘Welcome back to the group’ shindig.”

“I’m not back.”

“Back?” JT’s eyes narrowed on me from across the room, where he stood with West’s arms wrapped around his waist. “You were one of them?”

I could see the accusation in his eyes, and felt a twinge of guilt somewhere low in the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t that I’d been hiding it from JT—I just didn’t like to talk about that time in my life.

“One of us?” Preston chuckled. “He and Travis were practically glued at the hip.”

“Yep.” Donovan grinned at me, and I wanted to punch that pretty smile right off his model-perfect face. “Double trouble. Used to get up to all kinds of crazy shit back in the day.”

“Yeah, I don’t really want to talk about this.”

“That makes two of us,” Travis chimed in, shooting daggers at me from across the room.

“That’s okay,” East said, a shit-eating smirk curling his lips. “That’s what we’re here for. To drink, get merry, and reminisce about when you used to be fun. Then plan some sort of soiree to let everyone know we’ve let you back into the fold.”

Jesus, were these guys fucking dense or what? “I’mnotback.”

Gavin scrunched his nose up and shrugged. “You look pretty back to me.”

I let out a frustrated sigh and gritted my teeth. The way I saw it, I had two choices here—go willingly to this ridiculous party they were talking about and get it over with, or risk being hauled up to the roof by Daire and the behemoth I knew was Donovan’s boyfriend, Kelly.

If I went with the first, they’d likely get bored with someone as low key as myself and decide it would be more fun to go out than bother with me. If I went with the second…

Yeah, there was no way I was going with the second.

“Fine. Let me grab a jacket and?—”

“Ooh, no.” West let go of JT and strolled over. “We’re not giving you a chance to lock yourself in your room.”

West flashed his charmer’s smile at me, but unfortunately for him, I wasn’t buying what he was selling. I knew it was a con.

“I’m not five, asshole.”

“Yeah, but you’re pigheaded enough to do it to spite us, and that would upset my boyfriend.”

My eyes shifted to where JT stood, alone now, looking at me as though I was a complete stranger. I probably should’ve told him about my connection to these guys when we first met, but he’d already been so entangled with West that it would’ve just seemed like I was trying to get in the way. He had needed to make up his own mind, and I just offered some insider’s input but from an outsider’s perspective.

An admittedly vague outsider.

“Well, since he’s the only one I give a shit about?—”

“Careful who you go sniffing around.” West’s smile took on a dangerous edge. “He’s taken.”

“I meant as a friend, dickwad. I’m just going to grab my jacket.”

“I’ll go with him,” JT said, throwing me the lifeline I so desperately needed right then.

“Fine.” East looked at his watch. “But if you’re not back here in five seconds, I’m sending in Daire.”

With a final glare in all their directions, JT and I headed down the hall to my room, and when he shut the door, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.

Fuck.This was the exact thing I’d been hoping to avoid moving back in here. It was bad enough I had to be around Travis, but now I was being pulled back into the princes’ world too.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” JT’s tone was equal parts accusatory and hurt, but I couldn’t get into this now with him.If there was one thing I knew about East, it was that he kept his word, and if he said five seconds, he meant it.

“Can we talk about this later?” I grabbed up my beanie and pulled it on. It wasn’t exactly cold out, but it acted like a security blanket, and right now I needed all the help I could get.

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