Page 94 of The King's Maiden

“Calm your tits, Gia. I’m not talking about love. But getting attached is becoming more and more of a real possibility and that would be so incredibly stupid of me.”

She tilted her head to look at me in a way that reminded me so starkly of Landon. I groaned, blinking away the image of his face that popped in my head.

“Would it really be so bad? I mean, if he feels the same, maybe this could lead to something between the two of you.”

Before she could bottle up and sell the eternal optimism I wanted to drink right now, I faced facts. “He’s just doing his job. Training me for The Quest. When I told him he could have his way with me, he kindly said no thanks.”

She shot me a pointed look.

“I’m paraphrasing, obviously. But either way, metaphorical hymen still fully intact over here.”

Gia laughed and pulled the hand I’d shot into the air back down to my lap.

“Did he say why not?”

“No. Not really. Stuff about not rushing, but I don’t know if I should buy it. I’m pretty sure he knows something happened between Kingston and I at the Maiden Selection. If he knows Kingston is into me, that’s probably a line he won’t cross. I don’t know much about him, but it’s not hard to guess that’d be a deal-breaker.”

She hummed as she thought that over. As she scanned my book pile, her mouth twisted and brow dipped. She picked up the first book in a particular favorite series of mine, a why choose dark romance by Tate James.

Flipping the special edition over, she arched a brow my way. “What would MK do?”

“Um...Fall in love with the best friends and taunt the holdout mercilessly until he pulls his head out of his ass?”

She snorted, holding out the book to me. “Might not be the worst plan.”

I laughed as I took it from her. “Not exactly the same situation here.”

“Isn’t it? You’re stuck living in a house with all of them. They’re all fucking hot. They want you, whether they’re allwilling to admit it right now or not. Dye your hair pink and go be the bad bitch who gets all three of them.”

“Two of them. Max Dread is an ass. And a liar.”

I filled her in on what happened with Max and his father, sharing what Landon had told me, too.

She considered all of it, but she wasn’t convinced. “Wasn’t Merle the guy you thought dismissed you on day one?”

“Yeah, but Kingston swears they were together. And Max found me out on the lawn with Brutus. Kind of convenient, don’t you think? What if I blurred their voices, and it was really Max on the intercom telling me to leave?”

Gia shook her head. “Nope. Not even considering it.”

“Because it would put a damper on your why choose dreams for me?”

“Obviously.” She nudged my side. “You know I’m a sucker for the Dark Knight trope, too. My money is on there being more to Max than meets the eye.”

I snorted. “You date him, then.”

But even as I said it, possessiveness flared inside me. I scowled at the foolish organ in my chest.

Gia laughed, picking up on my reaction without me saying a word. “He’s all yours, Princess.”

Climbing to her feet, she stared longingly at my pile of books and setup for the day before begrudgingly tightening the strap of her backpack on her shoulders.

“I have to get back to class but keep me posted. I want to hear all about the party tonight, too.”

“Will do. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She waved and took off, leaving me alone with my books and my thoughts. But since I could probably spend hours going back and forth over the three guys occupying my mind, I picked upanother book and pushed the thoughts aside. There’d be plenty of drama waiting for me tonight, surely.

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