Page 40 of Tantalizing Kings

Now, I get the real thing.

I’m playing the fool, thinking that once this deal is over, I’ll have her out of my system. But it’s all a lie. I’ll never be able to get Sadie Evans out of my mind, or my heart. She will always be my obsession.

Part of me feels bad for the woman I’m going to marry because, in the back of my mind, I’ll always be reminded that she’s not Sadie. And never will be.

“The limo, really?” Preston grumbles as he slides in when we get to his house to pick him up.

“Why not?” I grin, leaning back in my seat. “Limos are for special occasions, and I think finally fucking Sadie counts.”

He rolls his eyes as the car starts to move again. “I highly doubt getting laid counts as a special occasion. It's a daily occurrence for me.”

“Yes, but it’s who it’s with that's the special part.”

“Some girl we all had the hots for when we were kids? Look, I know we all agreed to stay away from her and shit, but really, Gray? It’s been years now. Aren't you over your little school boy crush?”

Anger rises within me. “No,” I growl. “It was never some silly crush to me. And the only reason I made that deal was because I knew that even if I was with her then, I would have had to end things at some point and break her heart.”

He lets out a snort of laughter as he shakes his head. “It’s funny you think you would be the one out of the three of us she would have picked.”

“And what, you think she would have picked you?” I ask, leaning forward in my seat.

“No.” He shrugs. “I’m too fucked up for a girl like her. It would have been Declan. You and I both know that. We never stood a chance.”

“From where I’m sitting, we have our chance now.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “She asked us to teach her how to fuck, Grayson, not to be her boyfriends. At the end of the day, a girl like Sadie wants someone who can love her, hold her at night, and give her the world. Can you do that? Can you be her forever?”

I say nothing, jaw ticking as I lean back in my seat and look out the window.

“My point exactly. We had our lives planned out for us while we were still in our fathers’ ball sacks. The pact was pointless because none of us stood a chance at having Sadie as our forever.”

I hate that he’s right. I hate that not once before Sadie did I ever think of a girl as anything more than a friend, maybe someone to warm my bed when I got a little bit older. Because he’s right, our lives were already owned by someone else.

“This is just sex, Grayson. Sex with a girl who sparked our interest back then. I know you and Declan still have a thing for her, but that's not the case for me anymore. Why get all hung up over someone I could never have? It was a moment of weakness back then. I was still a boy. A small part of me believed in love. But there’s no such thing as love. Only regret and pain.” He lets out a humorless chuckle. “If anything, I have the better end of the deal when it comes to the three of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m to be married to a woman who only cares about sex and money. And I’m someone who could never love her. We’re both going to do our own thing, fuck around in the shadows while putting on a happy face for the public. She’s not going to expect me to love her, or to treat her well. And that's how it should be.”

“God, you really are fucked up,” I mutter.

“Thank you.” He winks.

I roll my eyes and a second later, Declan slides into the limo.

“Hey,” he greets, taking a seat next to Preston. He looks from me to Preston and then back to me. “Ah, everything okay?”

“Yup. Everything is fine. You just missed the part where I told Grayson that we’re all destined to have a loveless future,” Preston says casually.

“Oh...” Declan’s brows furrow. “About that. I wanted to talk to you guys.”

“About what?” I raise a brow.

“So, you know Mia, right?”

“Your future wife? Yes, we know her, Dec.” Preston chuckles, and Declan’s face heats.

“Well, we were talking the other day and she told me some things that really had me thinking.”

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