Page 95 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

King’s mouth tugged into that delicious smirk I’d forever associate with him now. It was a slow, sensual pull of his lips that usually resulted in something sinful coming out of them.

“You’re probably right, but I’m sure he wouldn’t complain.”

Wait—so did that mean he wasokaywith us talking about this once we landed?

“Aww.” East leaned over the arm of his chair and stroked his hand down King’s thick bicep. “You’re going to miss us. That’s sweet.”

King grunted and gave a slight shrug. “The way it has to be.”

That tiny semblance of hope that had crept in for a second instantly deflated at those words. No, it wasn’t going to be okay to talk about this once we got home.

This was not going to be easy.

How was I ever supposed to look at King and not want to kiss him or put my hands on him? To not have the freedom to do so?

And East… It wasn’t much different with him. We’d never put a timeline on our hookups, but if they continued, they’d still be a secret. The last thing he’d want was for his friends to find out about us.

“I don’t like it.” I blurted the words out before I could stop them. But if there was one thing that had changed over the last few days, it was that I felt more comfortable putting myself out there, even if I hadn’t meant to do it in quite that way.

King met my eyes. “I know.”

East averted his gaze, choosing to look out the window as he brought his drink to his lips. He probably couldn’t wait to get off the plane and back to his life. He hadn’t been able to get out of the bed with us fast enough yesterday, and there definitely hadn’t been a repeat of our little slumber party last night. Not that I hadn’t considered it. It’d been nicer than I’d expected to wake up tangled in East, but I also wasn’t here for anything one-sided.

King had tried to tell me he could see our being more, but there was no way in hell East would ever consider opening himself up enough to be in a real relationship.

Relationship.

The word was unfamiliar even in my own mind. I’d had a few short ones over the years that probably would fit better in the generic “dating” category, but I’d been too busy the last couple of years with school, learning the family business, and assisting King, and any other professor that asked for my help,that it didn’t leave much time for anything more than a hookup. Something that seemed to suit East too.

Like he could feel my inner turmoil, King moved to the seat beside me and reached for my hand. He laced his fingers through mine and brought our joined hands up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.

“Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” he said.

I nodded, unable to speak with the small display of affection he was showing me—that East was trying and failing miserably not to notice.

“What about when we graduate?” East said out of the blue. “No one can say shit if none of us are at Astor anymore.”

I looked at King to gauge his reaction, and he shook his head once. “It’s probably not a smart idea.”

“Whoever said we needed to be smart?”

“Ialways have to be smart. And think ahead.”

East clamped his mouth shut, clearly getting the message, but then he couldn’t seem to help himself. “So this week was you thinking ahead, huh?”

King lowered our hands and pulled his arm back from mine. “I wasn’t thinking with any part of my head this week.” He paused. “Not the one on my shoulders, anyway.”

“Do you regret it?” The words were out of my mouth before I even realized I was going to say them, and now I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.

King settled back into his seat beside East and shook his head. “Not a second of it.”

I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. Now that I’d had this time with them, I didn’t know how I was supposed to just forget about it.

“Me either,” East said, eyeing me with a cheeky grin. “Especially knowing that tan of yours isallover now. WheneverI look at you back at Astor, I’m going to think about you lying under the sun working on those hard-to-reach tan lines.”

I chuckled, East’s words somehow managing to break through the clouds that had started to roll in with my mood. “Well, whenever I seeyou,I’m going to remember how nice it was to have someone other than me be able to shut you up.”

East’s eyes shifted to King’s lap, and he licked his lips. “Me too.”

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