Page 107 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

“Wecare.” King reached over East’s shoulder to stroke his fingers down my cheek, a soft, approving look in his eyes. “You need to come back to school, James. That’s the first step.” He took East’s shoulders and turned him around so he could look him in the eye.“I’ve made sure the press will be nowhere nearAstor, and anything else that’s worrying you, we can deal with, together. Everything has a solution, and we’ll help you find it. But you have to start looking after yourself.”

East gave a slow nod and reached back for my hand. “Okay. Does that mean no martinis for dinner?”

King chuckled and winked at the two of us. “How about a compromise? Martiniswithdinner.”

“I can do that.”

“And tonight, you sleep with us.”

“Just sleep?”

“Yes. But if you’re a good boy, we may not sleep as much the next night.”

“Deal.”

“Good, now get inside so we can get some food in you.” King swatted him on the ass, and as East headed for the door, I looked over to see King watching him go.

“He’s more difficult to ignore than you’d expect, isn’t he?” I said, already thinking up an excuse to skip out on work so I could stay.

“That’s one way to put it.”

“And another?”

“Maybe he’s not the only one who thrives on a challenge.”

Truer words had never been spoken. But who would’ve guessed we’d all end up being each other’s greatest challenge of all?

FORTY

zac

ARRIVING AT ASTOR the next day was a completely different scene from the prior two days. With King taking care of the situation behind the scenes, the entire campus, as well as the Waldorf Towers, was now a no-press zone, which meant the media couldn’t get anywhere near close enough to harass East or his friends. Cops were stationed at frequent intervals to enforce the new boundaries, which made everything a lot quieter walking in that morning—and a lot more surreal.

I hated that I had a meeting all the TAs were required to attend early that morning, or I would’ve liked to be there with East when he arrived. But King had taken care of that too, making sure the driver who usually chauffeured the princes around in their Sprinter—Scotty, maybe?—had picked up East first before stopping at the Towers for the rest of his crew. The last thing King needed was all of those guys finding out about him or where he lived. Even though West had claimed he wouldn’t say anything to the others, it was only a matter of time before he spilled what he knew. I doubted that group kept secrets from each other for long.

“Why don’t you leave all that for now?” King said when I dropped my folder for the third time in a matter of minutes.He pushed his chair back from his desk, giving his sole focus to where I worked steadily at my own station, or was trying to. I was just distracted. I kept glancing at the clock and wondering if East had made it here, if anyone had bothered him, if he was upset or working through things a little better, if he’d heard anything else about his father now that he’d apparently made bail.

“Zac?” King said. “He should be here anytime. Why don’t you go check on him?”

“No, I don’t need to do that. I’m sure he’s fine.” I would’ve sent him a text to make sure, but King still had East’s phone, unconvinced it was a good time to give it back.

He stood and came around his desk, stopping by mine. “Go. It’ll make usbothfeel better.”

“You too, huh?”

King brushed his thumb over my lips. “Yes, me too.”

Knowing I wasn’t the only irrational one in the room made me wish I could wrap my arms around King and give him the kiss I wanted to. It was only our location that stopped me, and that was when I realized how dangerous it was to blur the lines of whatever this relationship happening between the three of us was.

None of us were ready for any of this to end. Not yet.

I set my work aside and started across the room, but then King cleared his throat behind me. When I turned around, he put one hand on the closed door and brought the other up to cup my face. Then he lowered his mouth down on mine, and every fiber in my body came alive. Nowthiswas straight out of a direct fantasy of mine, because how many times had I imagined him kissing me in this very office? Too many to count, but it had been worth the wait. King was hungry but restrained, given that we couldn’t take things further. Leaving it there only rampedup anticipation, though we were missing a certain someone who would make this moment complete.

King stole another kiss and then stepped back. “Tell East to stop by my office today. I’d like to see him.”

Translation: he was just as concerned and wanted to see with his own eyes that East was all in one piece.

“I’ll tell him. Try not to stress, professor.”

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