Page 91 of King of Hearts

Alex had been bathed, fed, and burped, so now she was sleeping soundly in the crib my sister had ordered and set up for when I came to visit. I had turned to goo when I saw how many things she’d already bought for my baby girl.

The door opened with a click then shut, and I knew it wasn’t the man who was sharing this room with me tonight who had entered.

“I’ve been patient, but I need to know what the hell happened, and I know this is super shitty, but I’m not going to lie—at the top of my nosey list is why the hell you walked in looking at Juan like he was your knight in shining armor, and why you’re sharing a room with him…and why you never mentioned anything while I practically lived with you for ten days?”

I smiled at her, snuggling into the plush chair she had by the window. She settled on the bed, cradling her own mug of coffee.Probably isn’t decaf. Bitch.

“Did I ever tell you I had a massive crush on Juan?”

My sister’s green eyes grew into huge saucers. “What? No, you never told me that. How am I just hearing about this?”

I blushed and brought my sleeve up to my face, trying to hide my smile.

“I saw him play hockey my freshman year at RFU, and at first it was just the way he moved on the ice that I was drawn to, the way he seemed to glide so beautifully…it was like he was made for it. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, and when he took his helmet off on the players bench…” I blushed again, shaking my head. “Mal, it was like everything faded away. Nothing had ever felt like that before. The way he shook his hair, the way he swept it out of his face…god, I was completely obsessed with him. I tried to talk to him after the game, but he ignored me. He walked right past me like I didn’t exist, and that was the first time anything like that had happened to me…with guys at least.”

“So, you saw him as a challenge?” Mal smiled at me over the brim of her cup.

I shook my head. “No…I just wasn’t expecting it. I was actually super embarrassed, but then I saw him again at a local hangout spot, that place off First Street, and that feeling came back…like everything else had just become a blur, except for him. I watched him like a stalker that entire night, and no joke…I tried talking to him again.”

My sister laughed, tossing her head back, and it made me laugh too.

“So, what happened that time?”

I covered my face in shame. “He ignored me again…totally talked to a different girl and ignored me.”

“Did you happen to grab a different date that night?” my sister asked, knowing me too well.

“Of course I did…I thought I could make him jealous, even though he didn’t know I even existed.”

“Poor freshman Taylor.”

I wiped my eyes, loving how good it felt to laugh with her again.

“I was seriously so obsessed with him. I knew his favorite places to eat and hang out…then I made all these ambitious plans over the summer before sophomore year, and what was the first thing that happened?”

My sister covered her face, cradling her mug between her legs. “I became friends with him.”

“Not just friends—best friends, and suddenly all he saw me as was Mallory’s little sister.”

“Still, you should have told him…or me, for that matter.”

I shook my head again, biting back another smile. “I ended up making a move on him senior year, right before I found out I was pregnant. I stole his number from your phone and texted him to come over…”

“Was this around the time Juan gave me crap for not being there for you?” Mal’s voice rose a little as she narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at me.

I shrugged. “Close to it…it was a little before. Anyway, I kissed him. Then when he kissed me back, I told him I thought he was Holden.”

“No!” Mallory threw a pillow at me.

“Yep.” I nodded weakly.

Mal’s voice lowered. “Is that why you two didn’t get along?”

“Sort of…I hurt him pretty badly when I said I was waiting for Holden, and he came by one morning like he always seemed to back then and said something awful to me. Then he took that girl to your wedding, and it was just…” I blinked, looking out the window to clear the emotions away. “Anyway, as you know, I ended up staying with him, and then everything with my dad happened, but we had preexisting feelings…so things sort of moved along.”

“Wait a second,” Mal said conspiratorially. “Have you two had sex?”

I blushed.

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