Page 5 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

Eventually the calls and unheard voicemails stopped. I wasn’t even angry with her anymore, but so much time had passed that I felt embarrassed about calling her, so I just did nothing. I wouldn’t have known what to say. Whitney had told me that she’d seen an article about Dante and Lemon being engaged, so I guess she must have forgiven him for what he and his brother did. I managed to stay away from all the online and televised coverage of the Monterran royals. I didn’t want the constant reminder because it felt like somebody was performing unanesthetized open-heart surgery on me every time I thought about Rafe.

Which Whitney knew, because she was the one person in whom I had confided all of my heartbreak. She knew how badly he had hurt me and how I wanted to move on. She had also watched the show. Repeatedly. She saw what I had been through. I knew she was on my side, but she had a soft spot for Rafe and told me more than once that she secretly hoped we would reunite.

And that was before she had even met him.

It had surprised me that my often cynical friend was a romantic deep down.

“You can’t be nice to him,” I told her. “If we’re nice to him, he’ll never leave. I need him to go away.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Whitney replied. “You know everyone in town has your back. We’ll close ranks. But just know that my heart’s not really in it. You belong together. It’s fate. And I want to come visit you in your castle.”

We pulled up to the diner, and she turned the engine off. “Not that any of it matters. I know you. You won’t stay angry with him, and I’ll get to plan my vacation to Monterra.”

She got out, leaving me alone in the minivan. She was right about one thing, at least. I didn’t like being angry. It made me not feel like myself. Despite my hardships, I always wanted to see the bright side. Aunt Sylvia told her friends I was her little eternal optimist. She used to joke that everyone should forget about the glass half-empty or glass half-full debate because I’d see an empty glass and say it was filled with invisible magical water.

I always wanted to see the good. In my life, and in other people. It wasn’t that I was blind or unable to see things for what they were, but that I chose to live a certain way.

Or rather, I used to choose to live a certain way. What I had gone through with Rafe had changed me fundamentally. For months, my optimism had disappeared. I had been depressed and surly and not fun to be around. I had only just started being me again, wanting to see the bright side, wanting to be happy.

Right up to the moment when I found him in my guesthouse.

Sighing, I went inside to put on my apron and get ready for my shift.

All of the regulars were there, and I drifted from table to table, taking orders, pouring coffee, and making mindless small talk. I approached Max and his friends, who sat in “their” booth as they had every day for decades. “Hey there, sweetie,” he said, holding out his coffee cup. He always smelled of Old Spice. “What do you call a Cyclone fan with two brain cells?”

“What?”

“Pregnant.”

His table erupted into loud laughter, and I joined in. Frog Hollow was about an hour’s drive from Iowa City, and in a state where football was a religion, these men were diehard University of Iowa Hawkeye fans. Which made the Iowa State Cyclones their mortal enemies. If any of their children or grandchildren went to ISU, they would probably get disowned. “You better not let Whitney hear you making any pregnancy jokes,” I warned them after the laughter died down.

“We won’t. I don’t have a death wish.” Max took a sip of his coffee. “How’s that aunt of yours? Still the prettiest girl in town?”

I had long suspected that Max had a major crush on Aunt Sylvia. “Maybe you should come over for dinner soon and check for yourself.”

He gave me a smile and a wink as I went back to the counter. Whitney stood behind it, cutting two pieces of chocolate pie. “Nicole took pity on us and ordered us some pie.”

Nicole sat on the barstool across from us. “I need people to eat with me so that I don’t actually sit here and eat the entire pie. Which I totally could.”

“I’m guessing the date didn’t go so well?” I asked sympathetically.

She nodded and shoved in another bite. She was a very pretty high school teacher about our age who had moved here two years ago. She and Whitney even looked a little alike, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. People often mistook them for sisters. But unfortunately Frog Hollow had far more single women than single and available men, so Nicole had resorted to online dating. “I moved here to end up with some nice strapping farm boy, and instead I get stuck with the lying losers who aren’t even a little bit interested in a relationship.”

I sighed. The dating thing obviously wasn’t happening for me either. Marriage seemed far off, but I did want someone who was all mine. Someone who would love and adore me.

Family and friends weren’t quite the same. I’d almost had that kind of relationship once, and I wanted it again.

Just not with Prince Lying.

“Wow,” Nicole said to me. “I’ve never seen you sad around pie before. What’s going on?”

“You mean the whole town doesn’t know already?” I grumbled as I dragged my fork across the top layer of my slice. “That would be a first.”

She looked at Whitney, who was only too happy to explain. “Her prince is here and staying in their guesthouse.”

“What?” Nicole shrieked, and everyone in the diner turned to stare at us. “Are you serious?”

“Keep your voice down,” I hissed at her. They’d all find out soon enough, and I would be subject to their pitying glances. Everyone had finally started treating me normally again, and I didn’t want to go back to how things had been after the show ended.

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