Page 45 of Broken King

Rylie screeches again. “It moved. Fucking speed, Cade. Help me. Then I’ll help you help her. I’m a registered dietician, and I’m married to a stubborn woman. I can help you figure out a few meals to bring to her, so it’s one less thing for her to stress over. And I can help you figure out how to get out of the friend zone.”

When I don’t answer my sister, she laughs. “It’s obvious you want her. Your voice changes when you talk about her. It goes kinda soft. And you are not soft. I mean, she’s incredible. She’s gorgeous. She’s strong-willed. She’s a powerful woman who won’t put up with your shit. You’ve got that whole, alpha male fighter, protector thing going on, but Scarlet Kingston is the ultimate alpha female, and you know it. Seriously... all of Philadelphia knows it.”

“She’s pretty incredible, Ry.” She always was.

“Then come get the snake. And in return, I’ll help you get the girl.”

The snake Rylie was screaming about was a little garter snake, perfectly harmless and happy to be rehomed into the woods behind their house. Less than five minutes later, I’m sitting at the kitchen table she’d just been sitting on while she makes a pot of soup for me to take to Scarlet. According to her, it freezes well, and is heart, and therefore, blood pressure friendly. Low salt, healthy protein, and chunks of fresh veggies.

God, I love my sister.

As the soup simmers on the stove, she offers me a glass of iced tea and sits down at the table with me. “Tell me about her, Cade. Tell me something I don’t know from Philadelphia Magazine or from growing up here. Tell me why you’re drawn to her, and why I should help you.”

I study my sister. Yet another fiery red-head in my life with the passion and excitability all red-heads are known for. I decide it’s time to finally tell someone the truth. “Scarlet and I were together in some way or another for almost two years in high school. She begged me to keep it from her brothers, and, at first, I was okay with it because she was a sophomore and I was a junior.

We were young.

What did hiding matter?

I think at first, sneaking around was part of the fun. But it turned into more pretty quickly.”

I lean forward on the table and wipe the condensation from my glass. Talking about this isn’t something I’m completely comfortable with, even with my sister. Scarlet has always been mine. I’ve never shared any of this before, not like this. “Even back then, she was the strongest person I’d ever met. She knew who she was and what she wanted. She wasn’t afraid to go after whatever that was. And for a long time, it was me.” I think of her back then. She was beautiful in such a natural way. She could have ruled the school, but she didn’t. She wasn’t interested. “Scarlet had this way about her. Her energy just sucked me in, and I loved it. She was fearless. Except when it came to her brothers.”

“I thought Becket was one of your best friends.”

“He was.” I think back to those years I spent lying to him. I hated it. I didn’t hate it enough to give her up though. “He still is. And he still doesn’t know. I was in love with her. But I was a dumb kid. What the hell did I know?” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince her or myself.

“We all are when we’re teenagers, Cade. We haven’t experienced living enough to have any real clue about life.” Rylie stands back up to stir the soup, then cocks a hip and points the wooden spoon at me. “If you two were so in love, why did it end?”

“I was graduating and going into the marines. I wanted to talk to Becks about everything. I wanted to bring us out into the open. I wanted to do the long-distance thing. But she didn’t want any of that. She ended it.” At least, that’s what I remember thinking back then. Now, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I’d have fought for her.

Rylie turns the stove off and covers the pot, then starts doing the dishes in the sink. “So you left for the marines, and that was it? You never talked to her again?”

“I wrote her a few letters that summer but never heard back from her.”

Water from the sprayer on the sink flies at me across the room when my crazy sister decided I need to be wet. “What the hell, Rylie?”

“You are such a dumb man. Seriously. You’re sitting here telling me that for two years you were willing to go sneaking around your best friend’s back. Which, by the way, makes you a shitty friend, and I would love to be a fly on the wall when you finally fess up to Becket Kingston. I mean seriously, if I didn’t play for the other team, I’d be willing to take him for a test drive. But I digress.”

I grimace and close my eyes. “Oh, God. That’s a visual I never needed.”

“But if you cared so much, maybe even loved her, why did you let her go so easily?”

I think back to those last few months of high school. “I think it had started to get harder. Harder to find time to be together without anyone finding out. Harder to hide it from Becks and Sam. I think I wanted her to be willing to fight for us. She knew I wanted to be a marine. That wasn’t new. And yet, she was so willing to let me go. I trusted her in a way I’d never trusted anyone, and she broke that trust.”

“How did she break your trust? By breaking up with you?” Rylie offers me a towel but doesn’t give me a chance to answer. “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be back then. She might have broken up with you, but it sounds like she was upfront about it. I think she broke your heart, not your trust, Cade.” Her green eyes soften around the edges. “Maybe you both needed to grow up and live your lives alone before it was time to live it together. Maybe now, it’s time to live it together.”

“She’s always been the one who got away.”

“Build back the trust you used to have, Cade. You have so much to gain if you think this is what you want. Build that back. Be there for her. Make sure she knows that you want to be more than her friend, but don’t pressure her.”

I lean back in my seat. “Yeah. Because that should be easy.”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy. You guys had it once before it broke. Fix it, Cade. It might just be the most important thing you ever do.”

I hang my head, knowing Rylie’s right. Getting Scarlet Kingston to give us a chance is sure to be the hardest fight I’ve ever won. But no fight has ever been more worth it.

Rylie leans against the counter, a smug smile in place. “Oh, and Cade...”

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