Page 10 of Damaged Prince
“Just a few whimpers and shifting in the bed. But they were not‘I’m so afraid’whimpers, that's for sure.” She laughs again.
“Stttoooppp,” I laugh, grabbing my pillow and throwing it at her. She bursts into giggles, dodging the pillow. Sitting up, she grabs it and brings it to her chest to hug it.
“Seriously, how are you?” Winter asks.
I pull myself into a sitting position against the headboard. “I don’t know. I feel like this should be a bigger deal than it is?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It shouldn't be a big deal. Sure, his job isn’t conventional, but to him, it means a lot. There’s... reasons.”
“Reasons that you’re not going to tell me?” I ask, hoping to maybe get a little bit of information out of her.
She closes her mouth and silently zips her lips with her hand.
“Thought so,” I say, sighing.
“Does this change how you feel about him? How you see him?”
“Yeah. Kind of.”
Her face falls, lips parting like she wants to argue with me, but I continue. “Now all I want to do is have someone tie me to a chair while he gives me a private show.” I groan, throwing my head back against the pillow.
There's a silent pause before Winter bursts into laughter.
“It’s not funny,” I whine with a pout.
“Oh, but it is.”
“You didn’t see him up there, Winter. He was like a gift sent from the damn heavens in those tight red shorts and those—”
“Lalalala!” Winter chants, plugging her ears. “I don’t want to hear it.”
That makes me laugh.
“Do you think he would?” I ask, part jokingly, but also not opposed to the idea at all.
“That boy is head over heels for you, Laney. I think you could ask him to do the Irish jig with a bag over his head and he would.”
“Well, that’s an interesting image.” I snort. “But I’ll pass.”
“So, this doesn’t change anything for you?” she asks, more serious now. She’s worried about her best friend, and I love her for it.
“No. It doesn’t change how I feel about him. If anything, it makes me want to get to know him more. There seems to be a lot about Elijah I still have yet to discover.”
“Yeah,” she agrees softly, looking away. “There is.”
“I don’t think I like that reaction.”
She sighs, looking back to me, chewing on her lip before speaking. “Elijah is my best friend.”
“I know.” I nod.
“I’d literally die for that man,” she states earnestly.
“Okay?”
“He’s been through so much hurt and pain in his past. No one else but me knows about it.” That has me sitting up straighter, a sinking feeling forming in my gut.
“What do you mean?”
