Page 67 of Royal Rising

“It doesn’t matter,” I say gruffly, dropping an arm over my eyes.

She slips her fingers under my arm, stroking my cheek, and at the simple touch, everything inside me squeezes painfully. “It does. Of course it does.” I shrug and her hand slips to my shoulder to give it a squeeze.

Her hands are so small, but strong.

“Do you want to be king?” she asks in a quiet voice. “Honestly.”

“No. But I could do it with you.”

She gives a quick intake of breath. I’ve caught her off guard. “That’s not fair.”

I lift my arm and peek at her. “Maybe not, but you wanted me to be honest. It’s the truth. You’ve been with me through everything, Edie, and I can’t imagine—I can’t honestly picture me being king without you being there beside me. When Dad told me to grab whoever I have my eye on, I thought of you. Because… you. You need to be there when I do this.”

“I’m not your security blanket.” But Edie sounds wistful, and her eyes are a little glassy.

I pull up her sheet so it’s covering her shoulder. “You kind of are.” And then I mean to tweak her nose but end up resting the back of my hand against her cheek. “I like it.”

“Kalle…”

“I meant it when I said you should marry me. I know I messed up the delivery.” I wait for her to agree but she only waits for me to continue. “I think we’d be a good team.”

“But we haven’t ever—”

“Gone on a date?”

“Kissed.”

The air goes heavy in the room and the cat stretches, his paws kneading the blanket. “Why haven’t we kissed yet?” I ask.

Edie’s eyes flick to my mouth, exactly like I did to her a moment ago. For once, she seems to be at a loss for words.

“Ever wanted to find out what it’s like?”

21

Edie

Ican’t look awayfrom Kalle.

My heart breaks for him, to have to endure all the insults and condescending remarks. I wonder if the king knows and then decide no. Dante wouldn’t be welcome if Magnus knew how he treated his son. The lack of respect is appalling, all because of jealousy.

But that’s not why I can’t stop staring at him.

Last night, seeing the undressed and very wet Kalle was one thing. Those abs will live on forever in my mind. But not only did he spend the night in my bed, this morning he’s also shirtless and his muscled chest with the sprinkling of hair looks like the best kind of pillow right now.

I should get up.

We can talk about this upright, and fully dressed. That would be best.

We should get up, get dressed, and figure out what’s going on in town. Was the power off all night? Are there any problems after the storm? What about the bar? Plus, Ernie needs to be fed.

But I stay right where I am because I can’t believe Kalle just asked if I’ve ever wanted to kiss him.

Kissing Kalle…

I nod helplessly. It may ruin everything, it might be the worst thing I could do, but I’m past lying about how I feel.

Yes, I’ve wanted to kiss Kalle, every day for the last sixteen years. I want to kiss him when I see him in the morning, I want to be the last one to press my lips against his at night. I want to find out if his lips are as soft as they seem and if his beard will leave a burn on my cheeks.

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