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“That’s more like it.” Fitz snickered again. “Speaking of commands, or rather, royal decrees, have you given any thought to what I asked?”
I stared up into the branches of the tree above me, struggling with my own emotions. “Fitz, I know it must be stressful picking a new relationship, and it probably feels like the weight of a country is on your shoulders, but I promise, you don’t need me for this.”
“Trust me when I say I do and that weight is terribly heavy.” His voice deepened, reminding me he wasn’t the boy I’d known years ago any longer. “I need you, Coco. Please.”
“Look, Fitz, we’ve played this game for years where you pretend you’re a prince and I’m a princess, but I just lost my job and I really need a friend right now. Okay?”
“Fantastic.” His celebratory tone was not exactly the reaction I was looking for. “Then nothing is holding you there any longer. I’ll send your airline tickets right away.”
“I’m being serious, Fitz. I might have to move home and all you want to talk about is this silly—“
“Michaela.” All frivolity vanished from his tone, replaced with serious instruction. “Do me a favor. Google my name on your phone, yes?”
My instincts told me to argue, but after my day, I didn’t have it in me. “Fine. Hold on.”
I activated the speakerphone and launched the search engine on my phone. As I entered his name, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had planted a few hits as a joke. After pressing enter, I impatiently waited for the page to load.
But the results were not what I expected. Not a few hits, but pages and pages of results for one of my oldest friends. I clicked on the image tab and drew in a sharp breath.
The guy on the screen was hot. No question about that. Dark eyes, tan skin, clothes that looked worth a fortune, and he’d mastered that messy look that looked effortless. That thick mop of hair looked ripe for messing up by the fistful. I stared, perhaps a little too long, but no one in their right mind would blame me. Whoever he was, he’d mastered that impish look, equal parts mischief and sultry appeal. Like he was still chill enough to climb trees, but man enough to—
I read his name, and my mouth hung open in shock.
“You’re a prince.” I stumbled backward into the tree’s trunk. “Crown Prince of Nolcovia.” My brain refused to believe it. “No way. This can’t be you.”
My Fitz had ears that stuck out and hands too large and awkward for his size. In my memory, he was all gangly limbs and lopsided smiles, a squidgy wisp of a boy whose body never seemed to fill out his clothes completely.
This guy in the picture was… none of those things. The eyes… his eyes reminded me of him. But Fitz couldn’t be hot. Fitz was goofy, odd, and endearing, but not hot. Fitz once challenged me to see who would fit the most Cheese Doodles in their mouth without chewing and had won.
He couldn’t run a country.
“Coco!” His voice called from my phone. “Hey, Coco!”
My eyes shifted back to my phone and the picture of the fully grown and matured Fitz. “Hello?” I struggled to conceal what I felt, but there wasn’t a mountain big enough to hide the stunned tone of my voice.
“Are you okay?” His deep tenor sounded over the phone line. “I know the realization is likely a shock, but I have been trying to tell you for over a decade.”
“Well, excuse me if it’s hard to imagine someone being royalty after you’ve seen grape soda come out of their nose.”
“Hey now,” he couldn’t help his laughter, “if memory serves, that was your fault. You made me laugh so hard—“
“I had to do it.” Memories bombarded me, no less funny than they were fifteen years ago. “How else was I going to get the M&M’s out of your nose? It was a scientific endeavor.”
“It was horrifying, and it burned.” His rolling laughter made it hard to want to apologize. “I was sneezing purple and bits of candy shell for a week.”
“And you want my help?” I meant for it to be a joke, but it landed heavier than I expected. As his voice sobered, I knew he felt it as well.
“Desperately,” Fitz answered. “You’ve always been my compass. I can’t do this without you.”
Chills crept over my skin as the truth settled over me. “You’re a prince.” It wasn’t a question anymore. My childhood best friend was actually royalty. “And you need me?” That one was definitely a question because, out of all the people in the world, why on earth would he need me?
“So much, yes. But I understand this is difficult. You have a life and,” he obviously forgot my job had imploded that morning, “the holiday is coming up. Your mother will want to see you and I can’t promise you’d be back. You have me over a barrel, Coco. Whatever you want, it’s yours.” He paused. “But only if you’ll come.”
Time stopped for a moment. As much as everything around me screamed, years had gone by and nothing was as it was, I couldn’t shake the recognition I felt when he spoke. Prince or not, he was still one of my oldest friends, and didn’t I pride myself on integrity, on doing what was right because it was right, not because it was easy or benefited me? After everything we’d been through together, didn’t I owe him this?
“Okay,” I agreed. “I’m in. Let’s do it.”
Michaela
