Page 36 of Triumphant Kings

My eyes close as I let out a groan. “Grayson. Shut up.”

“Fineeee,” he sighs heavily. “I’ll leave you ladies to do your gossiping.” He leans in close, warm breath fanning against my ear, making me shiver. “Just make sure to remind them how big my dick is. No need to skimp on the details.” He nips at my earlobe before taking off down the hall.

“That boy.” Emma swoons.

“That mouth.” Alice fans herself.

“So, you're married to our college professor and guidance counselor now, but you’re still dating the others?”

“Yes.” I chew on my lower lip. “That's what we need to talk about.”

“Duh,” Emma says.

“Speaking of others,” Mia says, words filled with amusement.

My eyes flick over in the direction she’s looking, and my heart starts to race when I see Declan and Preston walking side by side down the hall towards us.

Declan is smiling, laughing at whatever Preston is saying. It makes my belly flutter with happiness.

Preston looks relaxed, the most at ease I think I’ve ever seen him, making it almost impossible to keep the smile off my face.

As if they can sense me watching them, they both look over at me. Mine and Preston’s eyes lock, and my breath whooshes from my lungs.

A flush works its way through my body, settling in my lower belly at the intense heat of his stare.

Needing to look away, I turn my attention to Declan. This time, I smile because he looks at me with this big goofy grin on his face. That I can't help but return.

He mouths, “See you at lunch,” before walking past us. They’re giving me and my friends time to talk, even though I’m sure they wanted to come over to see me. I both love and hate that they did.

“Damnnn.” Alice whistles. “That boy looks like he wanted to fuck you right here in this hallway.”

“I’m guessing things are going good between the two of you? Last time we talked, things were rocky,” Emma says.

“Yeah.” I smile over at my besties. “Things are good.” And for the first time in a long time, I really do feel that way.

Emma pulls me out of the way of students and up against the wall. The three of them surround me, like a barrier. “Now, spill.”

“Okay, okay.” I laugh at the very serious looks on their faces.

And I do. I tell them everything from finding out the wedding was being moved up, to my crazy idea, to getting married in Collin’s office, to the party, and the aftermath. I tell them my mom and Mark know about Grayson and me, that I’m staying with all of them, and that being married to Collin changes nothing. What I don’t tell them about is Preston and Declan because that’s not my place. What they have is new, and we have a lot going on. When they’re ready to come out to the world, they will. For now, it’s just between us and the little family we’ve built.

Of course, my good mood was short-lived.

Because after spilling everything to my besties, we parted ways, and things started to go downhill.

So far, this morning has fucking sucked. I just want the day to be over already.

Since I walked to my first class, I’ve been getting dirty looks and heard people whispering. During the break between classes, people called me a few degrading names as I passed them.

All of it regarding the fact that just before break, I was very publicly in a relationship with Declan, who broke off his engagement with my best friend to be with me, only for me to go and marry someone from the faculty.

Some even called me a homewrecker. For fuck’s sake, they know Mia is gay; she’s made it known more than once. It’s not like the two of them were in love. Hell, they’re more like siblings than anything else.

Still, they don’t care about the details, just that I left this amazing guy for an older man.

Not everyone seems to hate me for it. I had a group of girls stop me, asking how I did it. How did someone poor like me get the richest man in the state to marry him? And asked if hehas any siblings. Like, are they for real? How stupid can some of these people be?

Having no idea what to say, I just walked away.

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