Page 87 of Royal Fling
“Hey, aren't you that kid from the papers?” he asked, and I stiffened.
“What kid?”
“The guy they're saying is frolicking around with the prince of Elysia,” he said.
I looked at him in the rearview mirror, trying to decide if he was a hater or not. I didn’t care to risk it.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.
“Oh,” the guy said, scratching his beard, considering me for a few more moments. “You didn’t hear about the prince and his boyfriend? Boy, you must not go out much.”
I just nodded with a forced smile and tried to ignore him.
“I’m glad for them. I don’t like what they’re writing about my brother, though, but I’m glad they’re out there setting an example for others.”
And that was all it took for my frustration to waver and in an instant connect with the driver. The fact that I was in a foreign country, far away from home, and yet this British Black guy considered me a brother.
“Yeah,” was all I said, this time with a lot more warmth than before.
I never imagined my life being a message to anyone. I just wanted to be myself. Was that too much to ask?
When I got home, I gave the guy his payment, and as I closed the door, he winked at me with a knowing grin.
Yeah, he definitely knew I wasthatguy.
When I walked into the house, Dawson and Leo were on my tail, following me upstairs into my room.
“Hey, what's up with you?” Leo asked.
“I don't want to talk, Leo.”
“Something happened, didn’t it?” he turned and said to Dawson.
I snapped my head around and huffed.
“Gee! You think?”
“Luke, what happened?” Dawson asked as I took my suitcase out of the closet and opened it flat on the bed.
“He proposed. In front of everyone,” I shouted.
“Oh, wow,” he replied as Leo gasped.
“And you turned him down?” Leo asked.
“No, I’m engaged to him. That’s why I’m in such a fantastic mood,” I hissed, throwing clothes in my suitcase with very little concern for order.
“All right, clever clogs, calm down. I’m just saying. You turned him down? Why? I thought you loved him.”
I turned to look at my brother again, and he flinched. I must have looked deranged.
“How do you know?”
“It’s quite obvious, hon.”
“Whatever. I still can’t marry him.”
“Why?”
