Page 63 of A Valiant Prince

“Sure,” Anna replies, turning to me.

“You want me to come with you?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Stay here and play with Augs. I’m just going to get the computer and check on my query, and then I’ll come back here,” she says.

“Alright,” I say as I kiss her.

“Get a room,” Auggie quips. I smile against Anna’s lips as does she.

Anna and Jack head out, and Auggie lets me break. He stands to the side looking at me.

“You love her, don’t you?” he asks.

The cue slips in my hand and I miss the ball. I look up at him.

He’s smirking. “Well, I guess that’s a real ‘yes’ then, isn’t it?” he says.

I lean back and take a breath. “Is it that obvious?” I ask.

“Uh, yeah,” he says.

“Shit,” I reply.

“You haven’t told her yet, have you?” he prods.

I shake my head.

“You know she loves you too, right?” he questions.

“How do you know?” I inquire.

“I might be a prick, but I’m not stupid, and I’m certainly not blind,” he responds as he hits a ball into the corner pocket.

I let out another breath. “I’m in fucking deep,” I admit, running a hand through my hair.

“Don’t fuck it up, or I’ll have you killed,” Auggie says with a grin but then quickly realizes what he’s said.

“Oh, shit. I mean…I…fuck, I didn’t mean it like that,” he tries to explain. I laugh.

“Auggie, if you wanted to kill me, I’m pretty sure you would have figured out a way to do it while we were on a boat in the middle of nowhere,” I say with a laugh.

He shrugs. “Yeah, still…” He trails off. “How are you…you know, handling things?” he asks, his voice taking on a serious tone that is very unlike him.

“I’m sorting shit out the best I can, I guess. It’s a lot to take in all at once,” I reply.

“Fuck yeah, it is. If you ever need to talk or anything…I mean, I know what it’s like and all…being a prince that is.” He stammers through as much of a heartfelt speech as I think Auggie is capable of.

“I appreciate that,” I say to him.

“Chris is a good one to talk to. He’s flipping brilliant, but he’s also sort of that wise-beyond-his-years type of guy,” Auggie suggests.

“Good to know,” I say as I call the winning ball in the corner pocket.

The door to the back flies open and very pissed-off Anna storms inside.

“I just don’t understand. Why would the storm have knocked out the power to the Wi-Fi, Jack? I thought you said there was a backup generator,” she grumbles.

“Anna, I’m sorry. You can re-run the search tomorrow. The lightning must have struck close to the cottage and fried the Wi-Fi,” Jack says. Anna doesn’t bother looking in at us as she storms past Jack and upstairs. Jack turns to us and sighs, running a hand through his hair.

---