Page 1 of Puck King
One
Colton
The clickof high heels on the hardwood floors above me echoed throughout the mansion. As they stomped down the stairs, I knew she was pissed off even before she slammed the magazine on the table.
Everleigh crossed her arms and leaned against the ornate dining room table. I glanced at my sister but didn’t look at the magazine.
She pointed to the glossy cover and then put her hands on her hips. “What is this?”
“Good morning, Sis.” I continued scrolling through my phone as I ate my protein bowl. “It’s oats, chia seeds and bacon.”
She pulled out the heavy chair beside me and flipped open the magazine. “I wasn’t talking about your disgusting breakfast. I’m talking about this story.”
I set down the spoon and dabbed at my mouth with the linen napkin. “What story?” I knew what she was talking about, but didn’t feel like discussing my recent breakup.
“Will you look at it?” Her voice quivered as she jabbed at the pages with her dark manicured nails.
I sighed and replaced my breakfast with the magazine. The word ‘cheater’ took up half the page and the bottom half was filled with photos of me and Brittany. Tacky lightning bolt graphics split each of the photos in two.
I raised my eyebrows and then shut the magazine. “This is a tabloid.” Alongside the story of my breakup was a grainy photo of an extraterrestrial and a picture of Elvis. “Nobody reads these.”
One of our kitchen staff, an older woman named Sheila, stepped to my side and offered me some more coffee. As she filled my blue and white New York Thunder mug, her eyes flickered to the story. Everleigh snatched the magazine, rolled it up, and shoved it into the designer handbag.
“Coffee, Miss King?” Sheila asked.
“Please.” Everleigh pulled a travel mug from her bag and handed it to Sheila. “Colton.” Everleigh’s voice was low. Our staff were loyal, and most had worked for our family for years, but we still tried to keep any drama to a minimum. The fewer ears that heard the dirty goods of the King family, the better. “Everyone sees these magazines. And, it looks like Brittany is doing a tell-all interview.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
Everleigh cleared her throat and rubbed her hands on the skirt of her dress. My sister worked for the family business but she dressed like she worked at a fashion magazine, not the King Corporation. “Is it true?” Her voice was barely audible.
I stared into her narrowed eyes. “Are you serious?” I seethed.
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “Is it true?”
I stood and chugged back my coffee. “Thanks, Ev. I just lost my appetite.”
Sheila reappeared and handed Everleigh her travel mug. “Thank you.” Everleigh smiled. Sheila must have picked up on the tension in the room and quickly cleared my dishes, disappearing into the staff kitchen.
Everleigh crossed her arms. “You know I have to ask.”
“Do you?” I growled. “After everything we grew up with in this house,” I slammed my fist onto the expensive table, disrupting the polished silver place setting, “you are going to stand there and ask if I cheated on my girlfriend?”
“Shhh,” Everleigh hissed.
“You’re something else.” I was shaking as I walked upstairs. Everleigh and I were rarely back at the country manor at the same time, but Dad insisted that we spend the holidays there. He was trying to keep us together, but since mom died, nothing had been the same. I glanced around my bedroom, but it no longer felt like home. Before college, Mom had let me hang hockey posters on the walls and display all of my trophies, but one of Dad’s wannabe-designer girlfriends had redecorated all of the bedrooms. At least Everleigh and I had found something we both agreed on – she sucked. It looked like Marie Antoinette was about to burst out from behind the heavy floral curtains and hand me a piece of cake.
I took the back way through the house to avoid Everleigh, but she was waiting at the side of my Range Rover.
“What?” I threw my hands up in the air and tossed my bag into the back seat.
“Don’t you realize what a PR nightmare this is going to be? The hockey team is already…” Her voice trailed off.
I paused halfway in the driver’s seat and faced her. “The team is already what?”
“I didn’t mean…” she stammered, unable to look me in the eye.
The team wasn’t in last place, but we were damn close. “That story has nothing to do with the team.” I pushed the button for the garage door and one of ten grumbled as it opened to a wintery landscape. “It’s all lies, Ever.” I sighed. “Don’t worry about it, it will go away.”
