Page 37 of Tantalizing Kings

He gives me this look, this knowing look like he was waiting for me to finally realize who he was. The relief on his face is clear as he gives me a soft look and a nod. “Yeah.”

My feet are moving before I can even think, and I’m over to him in a second, wrapping my arms around his waist and squeezing tight. I don’t care who's here or who's watching. This man was my everything for so long. He looks so different, so grown up.

“Hey there, Lollipop,” he murmurs into the top of my head as he holds me tight. I huff out a watery laugh at the old nickname. “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

“I missed you too,” I reply, my voice breaking. “Why did you leave?”

He pulls back, so he can look me in the eye. “I didn’t want to. I had to.” I go to open my mouth to ask why, but he stops me. “I’ll tell you another time. But know this, I never meant to disappear from your life.”

“What the fuck is going on here? Collin, why are you hugging a student like she’s your long lost lover or something?” Preston roars angrily, a sneer slashed across his face.

And then I remember he’s a teacher, and I take a step back, cheeks heating as I feel all their eyes on me.

“His mom and my mom are best friends,” I answer Preston for his brother. “Our families are close. Collin has been like a big brother to me since I was born.” I don’t miss the look on Collin’s face when I said big brother, like the idea of that grosses him out. But why would it?

“How the hell didn’t I know that?” Preston demands. “You didn’t think to say anything when you found out she would be working for the host club?”

“My past is none of your business, Preston,” Collin replies in a clipped tone.

Preston’s eyes cast a dark look our way. “She’s the reason why you took a sudden interest in being a hands-on teacher for the club, isn’t it?” He shakes his head. “Fucking ridiculous.”

“Shut your mouth,” Collin growls at his brother.

But Preston sees something on Collin’s face that I don’t. He gives his brother a cruel smirk. “You like her, don’t you? Did you have some kind of fucked up crush on her when you were younger? You're five years older than her. She was like ten when you left at fifteen. Did you want to fuck a ten-year-old, Collin?”

“I said shut the fuck up,” Collin steps closer to Preston.

What is Preston talking about? Why would he say thesethings?Collin never felt like that toward me. Did he?I mean, I had a little crush on him before he left, but he was older. He wouldn’t have seen me like that.

“Did you think now that she's of age that it's your chance to finally have her?” The look on Preston’s face as he gets into his brother’s space is pure venom. “Do you know why she came here? Why she’s working for us? The deal she made?” He waits, but Collin says nothing, just breathes heavily, his nostrils flaring. “No?” He lowers his voice so only Collin and us standing around him can hear. “I’ll tell you then. Grayson, Declan, and myself are going to fuck her. We’re taking her to Wonderlust this weekend where we’re going to do so many things to her sinful little body.”

“No,” Collin snarls, fists clenching at his side. “You will not touch her.”

“Oh, yes, we will. We will do much more than just touch her. You know what I like, you know everything about the club. And I can’t wait to do that all withher.”

Everything happens in a flash. Collin’s fist snaps forward, crashing right into his brother's face.

“Oh my god!” I scream as Preston crumbles to the floor with a grunt, blood gushing from his nose.

“Stay the fuck away from her! I mean it!” Collin roars. He looks at me, my eyes wide with fear. His face morphs from fury to regret when he sees my face. But he doesn’t say anything as he pushes past us all and storms out of the room.

Preston sits on the ground, laughing maniacally as I watch Collin go.

“Well, that was a fucking shit show,” Grayson comments. I turn to see him toss a towel down to Preston.

“Are you okay?” I ask as Preston presses the towel to his nose and gets to his feet.

“No, I’m not. You shouldn’t be here. You're going to cause a lot more trouble than you're worth,” he snarls before pushing past me and into the room he went in with the girl on my first day.

Tears spring to my eyes, my mind racing with so much confusion. “I don’t know what’s going on,” I whisper, looking up at Grayson and Declan.

“We don’t either,” Declan says, pulling me into a hug. “Let us talk to him. Why don’t you go home if you don’t have any more classes for the day, and we’ll be by tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“I’ll walk you home,” Grayson offers, pulling me out of Declan’s arms and into his.

This is all wrong, all messed up. Collin comes back into my life, and when I should be happy, excited to have someone who meant so much to me back, I’m left feeling upset and confused. Why did he get so worked up over the things Preston was saying? Why does he care what I do with the guys? He hasn’t seen me in years, why do I matter so much to him now?

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