Page 5 of Forever King

“Like what?” I say in the best innocent voice I can muster.

“Um, like that kickass interview, dude! You killed it! I have to ask. Was she flirting with you as much as it seems in the write-up? I wasn’t even there, and I swear the whole article sounds like she was coming onto you.”

Damn. I had hoped the interviewer, a very nice woman named Lisa Bradley who had to be at least forty, would have made the article sound much less playful than it was in reality. Not that either one of us did anything untoward. I thought she conducted herself professionally, if not a little more informally than I’ve gotten used to since I started the Hope Forward Foundation, but I had thought she’d tighten up our discussion. Clearly, she hadn’t.

“It wasn’t like that,” I answer, already tired of talking about this latest public relations effort.

I accept I’m the face of the foundation. I just don’t care much for it to be about my face. I’d rather conversations be about my hand, to be honest.

“You should see the comments under the article, Ronan. Holy fuck! Not only are they talking about how you look in the picture that accompanies it, but people definitely picked up on the vibe that woman was putting down. Let me guess. You didn’t even realize she was hitting on you, right?”

The way Marius says that—like I’m either too stupid or too naïve to understand when someone likes me—rubs me the wrong way, and I snap, “Maybe I just don’t need anyone but Kate to think I’m something fucking special. Ever think of that?”

He doesn’t speak for a long moment before quietly saying, “Hey, I wasn’t busting your balls or saying you wanted her or anything. Whatever gets people to give to the foundation works for me, and I know you feel the same.”

That defuses my sudden anger, and I quickly return to feeling good again. “Yeah. You’re right. Hey, I need to get going. Are you coming into the city today, or is it a Lily day?”

In the background, my niece makes a cooing sound. Marius replies to her with baby talk I still can’t believe comes from that mouth I’ve heard say some of the dirtiest shit when we were younger and then says, “No, I’ll be there. Maybe I’ll bring herand she can charm anyone who wasn’t completely seduced by that interview. Sound good?”

I roll my eyes and struggle to not tell him to fuck himself. He is talking about a baby, so I should refrain.

“Tell Eden I said hi. She’s meeting with Kate and the other bridesmaids tonight, so remember that, funny guy.”

Marius laughs and ends the call. Or maybe Lily did. Who knows with the two of them anymore.

2

Kate

My cousins Carrieand Marni give me one final wave before heading off in a cab down Fifth Avenue. I turn around and smile at Eden and Ava as Salem takes a work phone call. The last of the sun’s rays disappear behind one of the buildings around us, and I glance down at my watch to see if there’s still time for me to pop into the travel agent’s office nearby.

“Are you joining us for an impromptu girls’ night out?” Ava asks, making Eden chuckle.

Nudging her friend, she says, “Impromptu? We’ve been planning this for weeks. As soon as Kate asked us to meet her tonight, we decided we were going to make it a girls’ night.”

Ava waves away her comment and focuses her attention on me. “Yeah, yeah. We deserve a night out. So what do you say, Kate? Want to join us for some drinks at a restaurant Eden claims is to die for?”

Salem looks over at us and nods. “Count me in! I’ll be done with this call in a second.”

Something akin to peer pressure settles into me, but I shake my head, determined to get my secret errand complete before I go home tonight. “I wish I could, but I have a parent meeting. I have to go back to school right now, in fact.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eden’s eyebrows shoot up into her forehead. “At seven o’clock at night? That school better be paying you well for after-hours service like this.”

Before I can add more to my lie, she turns to Ava and laughs. “Remember how our teachers at school used to practically disappear right after school let out? They couldn’t wait to be rid of us.”

“Do you blame them? We weren’t bad, but they had to deal with the five King brothers and countless other teenage boys. You’d speed out of the faculty parking lot as soon as you could too after a day with them.”

I nod, remembering how devilish Marius and Theo King were back in school. Those poor teachers. They had good reason to want to escape from our prep school as soon as possible once the final bell rang.

Eden laughs. “I would have had a drinking problem if I was one of our teachers in high school.”

Finished with her phone call, Salem rejoins the group as cars speed by us. “You know, Kellen never talks about when he was a teenager. I’d always assumed it was because he thought I’d be jealous, which is ridiculous, but was he as bad as I imagine back then?”

All three of us turn our heads to look at her and nod. “He wasn’t as bad as Marius, but yeah, he was a hellraiser. Always pranking people and doing stupid things,” Eden answers.

Salem rolls her eyes. “Just as I thought.”

“The only King who wasn’t a thorn in every teacher’s side was Ronan,” Ava says sweetly, touching my arm. “You got the good brother.”