Now it was my turn to sigh. “You’re right.”
“I don’t even have to ask you to know who it is and who it will always be when it comes to a King, so keep it to him. As much as Bishop is dark and broody, he does have strong feelings for you, Madison, so don’t take that shit lightly.”
“But he lied,” I whispered, looking out to the clearing in the backyard. Behind the pool house, there was a forest. Filled with old log trees and probably more trees. My mind was waiving, trying to run away with the issue at front.
“He did, and he has hidden a lot from you, as he was trained to do, Madison. Remember that before you start any more of that shit.”
“I won’t forgive him. He’s slept with the woman I thought was my mother and he had kept his ex alive all this time. He may have strong feelings for me, Jase.” I braved my eyes to his. “But I wasn’t the first, or the only one.”
He offered me a small smile and then leaned back in his chair, just as Sam walked out with trays of waffles, maple syrup, and whipped cream. She placed it all on the table with plates, knives, and forks, as well as a large jug of iced orange juice and some crystal glasses. I gestured to the food and Jase dug in.
“Actually, you’re wrong,” he added in. “You are the only one.”
“So why did you come?” I asked, deflecting this conversation and pouring syrup on my waffles with huge chunks of butter and cream. He watched me every now and then, loading his own waffle.
“Ah—seriously?” He glared down at my third squirt of maple.
“What?” I questioned innocently, sucking the residue off of my thumb.
“God, I walked in at the wrong time,” Nate muttered from the doorway with Brantley behind him. I popped my finger out of my mouth and smiled softly at them both. “Come eat. Sam makes mean waffles.”
“Want some waffles with that syrup?” Jase continued to judge me, folding his and eating it with his hands. The caveman.
I glared as Brantley and Nate both got comfortable on either side of me, getting started on their waffles.
“Don’t judge my waffle skill. Anyway…”
“I will if you continue that bullshit. One word for you: diabetes.”
He tossed the waffle onto his plate, licking his finger clean. “It’s Hunter.”
My chewing slowed, but Nate and Brantley continued to eat like it was nothing. “Okay,” I edged him to carry on.
He poured some OJ and took a swig. “He’s not happy about you being our sister.”
I paused my chewing and I put my waffle back on my plate. “I gathered.” Then I poured some juice. Maybe he just hated me all along and the smooth exterior he held was a fake. Funny that I used to think he was the nicest King and Brantley was the worst. How things can change in one night.
“I’ve come to shed some light on that.”
I waved for him to carry on. “Okay.”
“Hunter, like the others—” he shot a piercing glare and Nate, who, with a mouth full of waffle and syrup dripping down his chin, paused and looked around dumbfounded. “What?” Then he eyed Brantley.
Brantley shrugged. “I know.”
“I don’t!” Yet again, I’m left out of the loop.
“You’re not out of the loop, Madison. From now on, you will know everything we know.”
“Okay well, can you start with Hunter?”
“He, like the other kings, had feelings for you. Strong feelings for you. So when he found out—”
“—I was his sister he got grossed out.”
Jase’s face softened.
“Well, he should have come to me, because I too, have had thoughts about him.”
“Yeah?” Nate queried, an eyebrow perched.
“Yes… it was, well, all of you, in this dream.”
Nate grinned, leaning back. “Do go on, Kitty, I’m quite enjoying this.”
I flipped him off as Brantley chuckled beside me. Since last night, I had a newfound peace with being around Brantley. Like I had a deeper connection with him now that I knew our history. A history we still hadn’t spoken about.
“He won’t. He’s too ashamed and he has way too much pride.”
“Well, now I know where she gets it from,” Nate muttered from behind his glass. I kicked him under the table and his eyes cut to me. “Ow!” he continued to glare at me while taking a massive bite out of his waffle.
Ignoring Nate and his typical childish shenanigans, I looked back at Jase. “Will he talk with me?”
Jase shrugged. “We can tie him up in the basement and make him listen.”
I chuckled, picking up my waffle again. He shot me a small wink before continuing to eat his. We all fell into an easy breakfast chat, the talk ranging from Nate wanting to throw a party this weekend, to college next year. It’s then I realized we will all be going separate ways—maybe. It made me ask, because terror slowly seeped into my bones about not having these boys with me.
“Um, college? Where—”
“Madison?” That voice made my attention snap straight to the entryway.
“Mother,” I snarled, throwing my waffle back to my plate.
There goes my appetite.
ASAP Rocky was rapping about how he loved bad bitches, and with every pull-up, sweat spilled over my flesh. My fingers squeezed the slippery bar. Thirty-four, thirty-five. I started rapping the words, unlatching and dropping to the ground. The door to my gym swung open, but I ignored it. Part of me knew who it was, and the other part hoped it wasn’t. The song continued to drown out the silence as I moved to the bench, laying down and wrapping my fingers around the barbell. Madison was angry with me, for the fucking hundredth time since I’ve known her. The essence of her anger was probably her mom's shit, and then there's me not telling her about it all this time, but I’ve been with her long enough to know that she’d be more hurt than angry. Angry Madison I could deal with, hurt Madison was territory I was unsure of. The fact that I kept Khales alive would have only intensified her anger even more too, no doubt.
“B?”
My jaw clenched, anger bubbling inside, so I started pumping the heavy iron.
“I know you’re mad at me.”
I hooked the barbell back onto the latches and sat up. “That’s where you’re wrong, I’m not fucking angry. I’m confused as to why the fuck you let him find you.”
She sighed, taking a seat beside me on the bench. “I had heard you moved on, and then he—”
I turned to face her, my eyes hardening. “You outed yourself out of jealousy?”
“What? No, well, I don’t—”
“—you better be careful with your next words…”
She stood, running her fingers through her hair. “Well, shit, I don’t know, B! You’ve never had anyone else but me, what the hell was I supposed to do about finding out the one guy I loved, my first love, had moved on with some new girl. Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
My eye twitched.
I sucked in a breath, stood and walked toward her. She stepped back, but I countered it. “You did this out of jealousy?”
Her eyes darted around the room. You could almost hear her brain trying to reach out and snatch whatever excuse she could find from thin air. “Do you not care about me at all, B?”
Her back collided with the wall and my hands came up to either side of her head, caging her in. “Listen very carefully—” my phone vibrated in my pocket and I reached inside, seeing it was Nate before sliding it unlocked. “What?”
“Yo, so I’m thinking I want to throw a party this weekend since everything has been so fucking depressing.”
“Why?” My eyes remained on Khales’. Hers dropped to my mouth, and then came back to my eyes. I knew what she was doing, and if she tried any shady shit, I’d rip her lips off.
“Well, our girl isn’t doing so good…”
“My girl,” I corrected through a growl.
Khales' eyes slanted, so I brought my hand to her throat. Shock flashed across her face.
I grinned. “Continue.”
“Yeah, you might need to get used to sharing her.”
My grip around Khales’ throat instinctively tightened. “What the fuck do you mean?”
She started tapping at my hand, so I released her a little.
“She’s mad, I get it.”