Page 33 of A Royal Menace

Nothing is going to happen between us. It can’t. The sooner I accept that, the better.

Filling my lungs with salty sea air, I push up out of the chair and head back into the room. Callie doesn’t look at me as I walk by. She shakes a couple of aspirin out of the bottle I gave her this morning, pops them into her mouth, and chases them with a long draught of water.Smart woman.

I grab a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before I close myself in the bathroom. After changing, washing my hands and face, and brushing my teeth, I open the door and step back out intothe room. I spot Callie in her bed, the covers pulled up to her chin as she watches television.

Dropping my dirty clothes on top of my suitcase, I sit on my bed and scoot back until I’m leaning against the headboard. Callie doesn’t speak or acknowledge me in any way, and I stifle a sigh. I guess were not going to talk about that almost-kiss in the elevator.

It’s probably for the best.

I focus on the T.V. and see she’s watching an old rerun of “The Office.” One corner of my mouth quirks up. This is one of my all-time favorite television shows. I lean forward to tuck a couple of pillows behind me, then lean back, getting comfortable.

I look over at Callie, moving only my eyes so as not to catch her attention, and I see her staring at the screen with a sleepy smile on her face. I move my gaze back to the show, my own smile growing wider.

It’s nice, doing something as mundane as enjoying a show with Callie. No angry words between us. No tension flaring. No awkwardness at all.

“That’s what she said,” we both blurt in unison with Steve Carell as his character, Michael Scott, says it in response to another character’s line.

Callie and I both look at each other with open mouths and wide eyes, and then matching laughs burst out of us. As the laughter dies, we smile at each other for a few beats before turning back to the T.V.

Muscles I didn’t even know were tensed ease into relaxation, and I let out a long cleansing breath. Everything is going to be okay between Callie and me.

And if we can just forget that weirdly charged moment in the elevator, we might even come out of this weekend as friends.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Callie

Emmett:Happy Monday!

Me:That’s an oxymoron.

Emmett:It can’t be all bad.“Nutella” was released on a Monday.

Me:And the Titanic sank on a Monday. Poor, frozen Jack.

Emmett:Did you just Google that? Because if I’m being honest, I had to Google mine.

Me:No Googling. Just one of the random facts that are spinning around in my head at any given time.

Emmett:Like how the human head weighs eight pounds?

Me:Now you’re just quoting “Jerry Maguire.”

Emmett:Show me the money!

Me:On that note, I should probably get to work now.

Emmett:Me, too. Seriously though, have a good day.

Me:Same to you.

Things were a little awkward when Royal and I were packing up to leave the convention yesterday, but not terrible. We were friendly enough, and I feel like we both somehow managed to put that weird scene in the elevator behind us. I was drunk and he was, at the very least, buzzed…I think.

No, he definitely was. Why else would he almost kiss me?

My main problem this morning is that I’m not sure how I should act when I see him at work in a few minutes. Are we friends now? Or will we go right back to being antagonistic rivals now that we’re back in the real world?

A sigh slips through my lips as I check my reflection in the mirror attached to my car’s sun visor. I look…normal, and I have the sudden urge to swipe on some lipstick or at least a tinted gloss. Frowning, I flip the sun visor back up and pop my car door open. I’m being ridiculous.

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