Page 69 of Royal Rising

But I never thought of us having a happily ever after together.

Kalle has dated countless women, and every time he came through the door with another one, I wondered if she would end up being The One.

Never me.

I’m not queen material, and that’s fine.

But I’m thirty-two years old—we both are. When a relationship fails when you’re twenty-two, you think you’ve got years left to find your person. But when you’re thirty-two and thinking of starting a relationship that can’t end well…

Kalle and I would never end well because he would never want me for his queen.

Except, didn’t he say something like that?

I think maybe I should stop him right there, before he can say something he’ll regret.

That might break my heart.

But then Kalle smiles like I’ve always wanted him to smile at me. Things shift, soften. Begin to melt like chocolate left out in the sun and I can’t help but wonder… maybe?

Maybe…?

“This.” Kalle says, motioning between us. Because there is very much anusat this moment. We’ve always been a team, but this feels different.

It feels like I should get out of bed and stop this before it’s too late.

But I don’t get up. “Together,” he continues, “but… more.”

No, I want to say. Because it’s not possible. And I’ll get hurt. “I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “We’re friends.”

“We could be more? More than just friends.” He sounds almost… hopeful.

How can that be? “I thought you…”

“I think it was you.”

Does it matter now? If it was Kalle who put on the brakes or me who wouldn’t take a chance. It doesn’t seem important, not with the way Kalle is looking at me.

But it was me. I know there were times when Kalle looked at me just like he’s looking right now, and I stopped it. I’d move or say something or just leave.

Like I want to jump out of the bed and leave.

Because when you’ve been in love with a man as long as I’ve been in love with Kalle Erickson, it hurts too much to even consider anything more than the status quo.

I’ve been happy with him as my friend but if he’s asking me to try…

“I don’t know,” I admit because I have no clue what else to say. One minute I was asleep and the next Kalle is still here and asking why we aren’t together, and right now, I can’t seem to think of a single good reason why we’re not.

Edie and Kalle. It makes sense. The best kind of sense.

Kalle lies down again and my goodness, that’s a nice chest. “There is a problem though.”

“What?”

“Who, you should ask.”

“Fenella?”

He chuckles. “Fenella is not a problem. Fenella was a distraction from the real problem.”

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