Page 65 of Royal Crush

Carlo smirked as he handed it over, and I was never more grateful for my weird ability to remember numbers than I was right then. It was a little parlor trick—one that was almost never necessary—but right then, it meant I might get to hear Aleric’s voice.

“Hello?” He sounded half-asleep.

“Aleric King? This is Prince Carlo.”

“Holy fuck. Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Shit. Sorry. Fuck! Please tell me Camillo’s okay. I mean Prince Camillo. I mean His…Highness?”

In spite of my body still in pain, I burst into laughter so hard my eyes filled with tears. “It’s me.”

“I hate you.”

“You don’t.” My grin made my cheeks ache. Fuck, I needed this.

“You’re being serious, right? This is Camillo?”

“I’m on my brother’s phone. Cillian has mine, and I didn’t think he’d let me call you today.”

There was a long beat of silence, and then he spoke again, his throat thick with emotion. “You’re okay, right?”

“Just a UTI. They tend to knock me on my ass. Literally.”

“Yeah, I—I know. I know they can be dangerous.”

I took a breath. “It was my own fault. I knew something was wrong, but I had to see you. The studio called and told me I wasn’t needed on set, and I thought I might have said something to scare you off.”

Carlo cleared his throat, and I looked up as he mouthed, ‘You’re so in love.’

I flipped him off.

“No. Baby, no,” Aleric said quickly. “They told me you requested the day off.”

“What?” That was strange. “Something’s going on.”

“I’m willing to bet they’re trying to punish us for not getting on board with the body double shot. They can make more money if they have the actual prince on cast credits. But I’ll get to the bottom of it, okay? Just promise me you’ll focus on getting better.”

“I’ll be out tomorrow.” I hesitated, looking at my brother for a long beat. “If I sent a car, would you come see me?”

“At the palace?”

“I live in apartments on the grounds, but yes,” I said.

Carlo’s brows flew up. After Hugo, I’d never brought anyone home besides Roget, and he always snuck in and out. No one ever saw him.

Aleric laughed in my ear. “Yeah. God, I need to kiss you.”

“Mm,” I answered. I wasn’t about to reciprocate in front of my brother. He would never, ever stop giving me shit about it.

“I’m shooting until six tomorrow. But…I can stay the night. If you want.”

“I want. I won’t be up for much socializing, but?—”

“Babe. A night in bed just holding you is all I want right now. Is that—would that be okay?”

“More than. I can’t wait. I’ll see you soon.”

“I—yeah.” His hesitation was two words long. Two words I wanted to hear but I knew we probably weren’t ready for. And ifwe were, I wanted to see his face when he said them. I wanted to feel his body pressed against mine and his warm lips against my skin. “I can’t wait.”

“Get a room,” Carlo said loudly.

---