Page 50 of Broken King

As I driveto Crucible with the taste of Scarlet still lingering on my lips, I know I made the right move. When Becket called, it was because he’d set off the alarm at Crucible. Imogen changed the code last week, and I guess I forgot to tell him. His timing sucked, but it was also perfect. As much as I wanted Scarlet earlier, I want her more in all the moments to come.

Had we gone further tonight, she may have regretted it tomorrow and built back the walls I’m working on lowering, fortifying them even stronger.

When I walk into Crucible, Becks is beating the shit out of a heavy bag. I’m about to make what’s likely a shitty night for him shittier. Nobody beats on a bag like that without reason. “Yo,” I call from the door, but he doesn’t hear me over the Fort Minor song blasting from his phone.

He slows down when I move into his line of sight, then hold the bag steady for him

“Sorry, Saint. I didn’t mean for you to come out here. I just didn’t want you to get a call from the security company.” He jabs the bag a few more times. “You ever have a woman who drives you insane?” He doesn’t wait for my answer. “I swear to God, Kendall is one person when it’s just us and a completely different person around everyone else.” One last punch to the bag, way harder than he should be hitting it, then he backs off. “I don’t know, man. She drives me crazy.” He pulls his gloves off and throws them on the floor. “I didn’t mean to drag you out of the house. I was good once you gave me the code.”

“I was with Scarlet when you called.” I move around the bag and lean against the metal cage the guys practice in, watching him stretch his arms. They’re gonna hurt tomorrow after that little display.

His head snaps up. “Is she okay?”

“She will be.” I wait a moment before adding, “I’ll make sure of it.”

Becks picks his gloves up from the floor and throws them in his bag. “Yeah... Don’t think Scarlet will be happy about that. She hates help.”

“She always did.”

Becks stops and stares. “Has she now? And how, exactly, would you know what Scarlet’s always done, Saint?”

“Listen first, react after. Okay, King?” Becks looks at me quizzically but nods his head. “I was in love with your sister in high school. We were together for two years, and we kept it from you.” I shake my head, feeling like a teenage girl for my confession. “We kept it from everyone. Your mom wouldn’t let Scarlet date, and she didn’t want you and Max to have to lie for her. So we kept it quiet... I loved her, man.”

Becks’s face is neutral when he asks, “When did it start?”

“Our junior year. You, me, and Sam were going to watch Max’s football game, and Scarlet tagged along. I’d never met anyone like her. I knew I was a goner. The same still holds true.” I remember coming out of the bathrooms by the concession stand at one point, and there she was, leaning against the massive cement wall of the bleachers. Her dark hair pulled high in a ponytail, a navy blue Kroydon Hills Prep hoodie on, and the tightest blue jeans molded to her legs with knee-high black boots. My teenage brain came up with about a hundred and twenty things I could do to her under those bleachers in three point five seconds.

When Scarlet saw me and smiled, I was sunk.

When she asked me for my phone and put her number in, the same way I did to hers a few weeks ago, I couldn’t believe she was so bold. I’d never met a girl who didn’t think they had to play coy at our age. But not Scarlet. She texted me that night, and we talked all week.

Just us.

She asked me not to say anything to Becket, and at first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. By the time it did, it was too late. I was in love and willing to do whatever it took to keep her.

“It’s about goddamn time, Saint.”

I stare at Becks. “What the hell are you talking about?” He couldn’t...

“I know you two thought Sam and I didn’t know. But we did. We figured it out our senior year.” His brow lifts with a devilish smile. “Come on, now. We’re not idiots, and you two were not as fucking careful as you thought you were.” He leans next to me against the cage. “I wondered if you were ever going to man up.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” This doesn’t make any sense.

Scarlet’s family is the most intrusive family I’ve ever met.

His dopey smile grows. “It wasn’t my business. It was Scarlet’s and yours. She was safe with you. I knew you’d never let anything happen to her. So I just figured when you guys were ready to tell us, you would. It was easy to figure out you two ended things when you left for the marines. She moped around all fucking summer but never said a word. I figured if she wanted me to know, she’d tell me, and she didn’t.” He shoves my shoulder. “I never thought you’d knock her up a decade later though. I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Yeah. Me either. But I think us getting back together was what was always meant to happen. The baby just pushed us in that direction. Now, I just gotta get Scarlet on the same page.”

Becks laughs. “Sounds like we’ve both got women problems, brother.”

“Yeah. I guess we do.”

Imogen’s waiting for me when I get home after my stop at Crucible. She’s sitting at the kitchen table with hot pink noise-canceling headphones covering her ears and a pencil in her hand, tapping out a beat. Her laptop is in front of her, covered in stickers with sheets of music spread out next to it and a notebook open with lyrics scribbled inside. Gen’s never been overly organized when it came to her music, but it works for her.

I pull at one of the padded speakers covering her ear. “Hey.”

Startled, she yanks them from her ears, tilts her head, and gives me her pissed-off eyes. “Jesus Christ, Cade. You scared the shit out of me.”

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