Page 111 of The King's Maiden

A bed he’d probably vacated, as soon as I fell asleep, and he’d been able to extricate himself from my clingy tangle of limbs.

Refusing to even play devil’s advocate and wonder ifmaybeI’d woken up alone because my Knight had gone to fetch me food, I got out of bed. I grabbed my most obnoxious sleep shirt and threw it on my body.

The grumpy cats all over it rapidly infused me with joy.

They also reminded me of how Landon’s eye twitched whenever I wore it.

“Gah!”

I tore it off and grabbed one I hadn’t worn yet. It was less offensive to the eye, and therefore, had been shoved down to the bottom of the drawer. That would work.

No obvious Landon association.

The shirt was safe.

I ran my fingers through my hair while I peed, brushed my teeth, and bolted from the room, needing to get out of there before he came back. The door slammed behind me.

And as if my weak moment had purposefully summoned him, Max Dread stepped out of his room.

“Do you mi?—”

“Nope!” I threw my hand up as I cut him off. “Not today, Satan! I amnotin the mood!”

My voice rang out down the hall, but I didn’t care.

“Cute PJs!” Max called after me.

“Wore them just for you, buddy!”

“Perfect. I love the way your tits bounce in it when you’re not wearing a bra.”

I spun around to give him two middle fingers to the sky, but Vivian’s shriek from his room took care of that karma for me. My laugh came out a little louder and way more satisfied than necessary. His answering growl, and the slam of his door, told me he’d heard it.

Flying around the banister at the top of the stairs, I took them down two at a time before jumping onto the main landing. My light verbal sparring with Max had released some of the tension in my body. But I was still wound up, and I needed food.

Probably a mild sedative, too.

I pushed my way through the kitchen doors and couldn’t decide if I was relieved or disappointed when I didn’t find Landon making me a breakfast I most certainly didn’t want. My mood deflated, starting a spiral downward as confusion crept in.

“He needed to take the day to deal with some urgent personal matters.”

Whipping around, I spotted Kingston eyeing me from behind the fridge door. He offered me a weak attempt at a smile, but didn’t say anything else.

I sat down at the kitchen island with ahumph.“Oh. I’m not—I wasn’t?—”

“Quinn, I’m his best friend. Other than what I witnessed at the party, he didn’t give me details. But he said you two had aheavynight. That’s not a word Landon typically uses unless big emotions come out.” He poured a glass of juice and held it out to me. “If it had been me, I’d be looking for him, too.”

I accepted the juice, twirling the glass in my hands as I processed what Kingston said. What had happened between us last nighthadbrought up big emotions—in me. But apparently it had brought up stuff for Landon that meant he needed to get away.

Kingston touched my hand before pulling back. “It’s not because of you.”

“Stop that.”

“What?”

“Saying things like you know what I’m thinking.”

His eyebrows rose. “That’s not what you were thinking?”

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