Page 79 of The Lost Kings
Kingston scoffed in frustration. “Of course there’s more, Pres. We’ve been kissing you, nearly fucking you for months now, how could you ask that?”
I felt like I needed to stand so I could gather my thoughts more clearly, but I worried that if I moved, they’d pull me back and I’d start doing exactly what he’d described. Pushing my eyes closed, I moved off the bed and began pacing, and thankfully neither of them stopped me.
“You’re eighteen now and I know you likely have things planned. Carter left when she turned eighteen, and I don’t expect you guys to wait around for me to become old enough to?—”
“Fuck?” Gio asked, ticking his brow up.
My face flushed. “Yeah…”
Kingston lifted his shoulder nonchalantly. “We want to go see Mexico for a bit, but we were going to see if you could come.”
I desperately wanted to go with them. I loved Mexico, but I had to wait to make sure this wouldn’t just be another memory added to the shattered pieces of my heart that I’d allowed it to endure.
“But, we know Scotty will likely say no,” Gio added.
That brought me back down to earth. Right…Scotty.
“I overheard your parents talking…” I started and tried to gauge their reactions, but both were blank slates. “They were talking about me…I guess they saw us together a few times and they plan to tell my parents.”
Gio flung himself back onto the bed and groaned. “Shiiiiittttttt.”
My heart flipped around in fear. “What’s wrong?”
Kingston murmured something before dragging his hands through his hair. “You don’t understand…if our parents think there’s a chance we’ll jeopardize this family or you in some way, then they’ll send us away.”
“You just said you planned on going away,” I pointed out, trying to clarify what exactly was wrong.
“Have your parents talked to you yet?” Gio asked.
I shook my head. “I came straight here after getting dressed at Carter’s. I didn’t see them.”
King still had his hands in his hair, tugging on the ends. “What exactly did they say they saw?”
They were panicked. It was stamped clear as day across their features, and now they resembled animals caught in a trap, desperate to be free of it. And I’d asked them what I meant to them, and they’d said, “Best friend.”
I had my answer; I just didn’t like it.
Swallowing thickly, I stared at them, feeling my heart thump recklessly behind a bone-weary cage. I was stronger than this. I could withstand more than this. Which was why I decided to expose my heart before them and see what they did.
“I love you.”
Both their eyes rapidly bounced up, landing on me in a way that I hadn’t ever felt before.
My words felt rushed. “Both of you. I’m in love with you and I’m not sure what will happen to us, but I needed you to know where I was?—”
“Scotty won’t allow you to love us, Pres,” Kingston cut me off.
My mouth remained open with the words I had planned on saying, but I shut it and stepped back.
Gio spoke next, further shocking me into silence. “Weunderstood that from the start, Pres. What we’re doing…it’s fun, but it’s not forever. You’ll get older, and you’ll have to do exactly as he says, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“That’s—” My lips suddenly felt so dry they could crack. “That’s not true. I have a say…I can do what I want, with who?—”
Kingston laughed, shaking his head. “No, you can’t. The permanent scars on your knuckles tell a different story. You’re chained to the future they planned. We’ll always be your friends, Pres. Always, but we knew what this was from the start.”
Hot, white anger seemed to burn from my fingers up to my eyes, making them water. How dare they just assume without speaking to me…without allowing me the chance to even say what I wanted in my future.
“So that’s what you think of me, that I’ll just do whatever he says?”
