Page 59 of Red King

“Maggie, I mean it. Do you swear?” I shouldn’t talk about this, but I need a friend right now. I’m sure I can count on Maggie.

She nods. “I swear to god. May my vagina grow sharp teeth if I’m lying.”

I throw out a laugh. “Oh, my word! Sharp teeth. Now, that would be terrible.”

“I like my vagina as is, thank you. Let me have it. I’m your friend. I promise not to tell a soul. You can count on me. I swear.” She puts her hand on her heart.

I drink down half of my wine.

“That bad, huh?” She looks concerned.

I nod. “Oh, yeah.” I suck in a deep breath. “I kissed Arctic. Actually, that isn’t true. He kissed me.”

Her eyes go comically wide. “Arctic, Arctic? As in,theArctic?” she says in a rush. “The king? That Arctic?”

I nod.

“Oh, boy!” She downs half of her wine as well. “Tell me everything and from the beginning.”

“I felt like there might be something between us. It’s often felt charged, but I thought it was just me. That I was imagining it because I’m very attracted to him,” I mutter the last, feeling like a naughty child.

“Who wouldn’t be? And it’s not because he’s the king, either. He’s just so…so gorgeous. So manly. So…”

“Alpha,” I offer.

“Oh, yes. That’s the right word, alright.” She nods. “He has this authority about him. It’s easy to see he’s used to getting his way. He’s sexy and mysterious. Oh, and seriously brooding and intense.”

I laugh. “He is all of those things. I would add asshole and arrogant and conceited, too.”

“What did he do?”

“I thought it was one-sided; turns out I was wrong. It happened after I left the dinner a little early the other night. He seemed to be hitting it off with one of the Tributes. Everyone was having a good time. I didn’t feel like it was necessary for me to stay until the end, so I left slightly early. Cathy was fine with it.”

“Okaaaaaay.” Maggie nods. “And then?”

“A guard started flirting with me as soon as I got outside the reception hall. He offered to walk me home and I took your advice and accepted. But I had never planned on actually doing anything with him. We had…”

I tell her blow by blow what happened, not leaving a single thing out. I remember every detail because I’ve played it through my head so many times.

Maggie’s eyes get bigger and bigger.

“So, if you guys hadn’t been interrupted…?” Maggie says.

“I think we would have had sex right there in the supply closet. I would not have said no. In fact, I was begging him at that point.” My face feels hot.

She laughs. “That’s awesome! From the sounds of things, it would have blown your mind.”

“Itisn’tawesome. He’s my bossanda candidate. I could lose my job, Maggie. This can never get out.”

“You can trust me. This doesn’t go beyond this room. What’s happened since? Have you seen him? I can’t believe you’ve waited this long to come and talk to me.”

“That’s just it. I haven’t seen him. He’s been in hiding since everyone found out that he’s the king. It’s my fault it happened.”

“Bullshit!” She gives me a look. “He was the one who followed you. Not the other way around.”

“He’s right, though; it was my job to—”

“You’re kidding me, right? You said the evening was a great success. You said that Cathy had everything under control. There was nothing wrong with leaving at that point. You made an executive decision, something he had given you the authority to do and even encouraged.”

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