Page 67 of Red King
“He remarried within a year of our divorce, and they are expecting their first child. A boy. He may have already been born.” I shrug sadly. “I made the decision to apply for this position when I ran into his pregnant wife at the grocery store. Lexi was glowing. Jim is, no doubt, excited to be a father. No one had told me about the pregnancy. I knew right then and there that I had to get away from Cedar Pines. It sucks to live in a town where you’re handled with kid gloves. Where people look at you with pity. That’s how I felt all the time. I picked up a newspaper, and the ad for this position was right there. It was a sign. Here I am.”
“Yep, here you are. Everything you have just told me makes me want you to do this even more. Dive in, girl!”
“What are you talking about, Mags?” My voice is a little shrill. “I just told you why I needed to leave Cedar Pines. I don’t want to see Jim play happy families. I can’t go back there. I don’t want to lose this job.”
“You won’t lose your job. Stop saying that. You need this. You deserve this. Go for it! I say, if you’re attracted to Arctic, then have sex with him. I agree with Arctic. It would help you both to heal. I already told you as much without knowing your history. Are you attracted to him?” She lifts her brows.
“You know I am.”
“Do it! What do you have to lose?”
“I just told you, my job.”
“Who cares about a job? You can get another one anywhere in the world. You don’t have to go back to Cedar Pines.”
“I like it here.”
“If you guys are very careful, you’ll be fine. No one need ever find out.”
I sigh.
“Go for it, or you’ll live with some serious regrets. You know you will.” Her eyes are shining.
I look at her. She looks back at me for several long moments.
Then we both grab each other, screaming like young girls.
18
Arctic
It’s a tentative yes, but I have a few conditions of my own.
I jump up and fist-pump the air. “Yes!” It’s been a long time since I felt excited about anything.
Too long.
I sit back down as another message comes in almost immediately after the first.
For the record, I still think it’s a bad idea.
I type one straight back.
You won’t regret it. I’ll see you a little later.
Three bubbles appear and then disappear and then appear again before disappearing. I don’t take my eyes off the phone the whole time. A minute later, a message finally comes through.
What? Wait. Tonight? You’re coming over so soon?
I smile and type a message back.
Yes. Tonight. There is no time like the present, Paisley.
I wait for a few long-ass minutes but get nothing back, which I fucking love. Most females would be thrilled about my proposal. Most would beg me to come over immediately. They wouldn’t need any time to think my proposal through. They’d be all in from the start.
I’m not being arrogant; it’s a fact. I had several Tributes proposition me even before they found out that I am the king. Since my secret got out. Sally has passed me several messages a day from Tributes. Some were ladies asking me out and some were downright dirty propositions.
Paisley is nothing like them, and it makes me like her and want her so much more.
