Page 105 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

Instead, I decided to go and track down the other two in the house, shocked to realize that—for the first time in my life—I’d rather have human comfort over an empty bathtub’s solitary embrace.

THIRTY-NINE

zac

IT’D BEEN TWO days back at Astor, and East was still lying low, refusing to leave King’s penthouse. I couldn’t blame him, given the crowd of photographers and news trucks out on the sidewalks just waiting to bombard him with questions. I wouldn’t want to deal with that either. But with only a few weeks left of classes, he couldn’t miss out on much more or he’d be in danger of not graduating.

It was a good thing he’d been given sanctuary at King’s place, though, because no one even knew he was there. The same couldn’t be said for his friends, who had to dodge their own set of questions every time the Sprinter van dropped them off at the gates. I didn’t know any of them well, but I appreciated the way they refused to give up information about East or his family. Not to mention the tall, broody one had a scowl that made the press back off that much quicker.

“Yo, Zac.” I was heading to my next class when West jogged after me. The only interaction we usually had was when I was giving East a hard time, so even though I stopped, curious what he wanted, I was right back in TA mode.

I arched a brow. “Can I help you?”

“‘Can I help you?’So proper.” West smirked, and it was easy to see why he and East were such good friends. They were both little shits. “Yes, actually, you can.”

He lowered his bag and unzipped it, only to pull out another bag, this one soft leather and packed full.

“You come bearing gifts?” I said. “No thank you.”

West glanced around us and lowered his voice. “It’s not for you—it’s for East.”

I reared back in surprise. East? Why would he be giving me something for him? I was under the impression he hadn’t told any of his friends about me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, on the off chance he was trying to suss me out and didn’t really know the truth. East liked his secrets, and I wasn’t about to give them up, even to his best friend.

West rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, I know about you and King. No one else does, and it’s probably better that it stays that way for now.”

Shit.“I see.”

He shoved the bag into my arms. “This is some of East’s things that I thought he might want until he comes home. Make sure he gets it.”

“He’ll get it.”

“Good.” He narrowed his sky-blue eyes like there was more he wanted to say but wasn’t sure this was the right time or place to do it. He started to turn on his heel, but his “fuck it” switch must’ve flipped on, because he faced me again and added, “Just so you’re aware, East keeps his circle tight. The fact that he’s chosen you in this moment to be with him? It means something. You fuck with that, you fuck with all of us. You got me?”

I shouldered the bag and nodded, secretly glad East had people in his life who cared about him enough to stand up for him. “Got it,” I said, before correcting myself. “I’ve gothim.”

West continued to stare me down, but I stood toe to toe with him, unblinking. “You better.”

“I do. And so does King.”

The mention of our professor had his forehead creasing. No doubt he had a million questions about that one. About all three of us, really, but he must’ve realized I wasn’t the one he should ask about all those details.West gave a curt nod and backed away, holding my stare until he rounded the corner.

None of those princes were my favorite people, but I could respect their loyalty. Admired it, even. Though that was the last compliment I’d ever direct their way.

AT THE END of the day, I grabbed East’s bag from where I’d stashed it in King’s office, and then walked to the end of the block, where an unmarked car sat on the corner to pick me up. Since we couldn’t exactly be seen leaving campus together, King had left earlier. I was supposed to be back at work tonight, but I had time to make a pit stop at his place first if the traffic wasn’t too bad.

Could I have sent East’s things with King instead of doing it myself? Yes. But selfishly, I wanted to see East and make sure he was okay. He’d still been sleeping when I left King’s this morning, and I hadn’t wanted to wake him. The fact that he was stubbornly choosing to sleep alone even as he wanted us both near was frustrating, but East did things in his own time. Maybe he was doing better today.

After everything that had happened with East since our return, the conversation we’d had in the car about going our separate ways became irrelevant. There was no way King or I were going to walk away from East now, or each other. We hadn’t said the words out loud, but we’d fallen into the same relationship we’d enjoyed on the island when we were within thewalls of the penthouse, while keeping to our strict roles outside of it.

One glance at King’s expression when I found them at his private pool told me today wasn’t the day East snapped out of it.King stood at the edge near the shallow end, watching as East swam laps at a furious pace.

“Has he come up for air yet?” I set East’s bag on a chair and went over to King, free now to greet him the way I wanted to—a kiss to those full lips.

“Once,” King said, turning back to the pool. “But as soon as I wanted to talk, he disappeared underwater and hasn’t stopped since.”

“That isn’t good.”

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