Page 107 of Tall, Royal Hater
“I admit, though, it was weird that he didn’t shut down my flirting.” I tipped my chin and smirked. “But then again, who can resist me, right?”
“Right,” she agreed, her grin growing.
“Come on, let’s get going, otherwise I won’t have time to do shit, and you won’t be able to drool over your fiancé,” I said, sliding off the edge of the bed.
I turned to my best friend as she stood up, and the way uncertainty weighed down on her shoulders made my chest ache. I engulfed her smaller form in a squeezing bear hug. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. You and Kai, and Kareem and Safira too. It’ll work itself out.”
She cuddled into me. “Thank you. You and Sher too.”
I grunted and shoved her away. “Yeah, no.”
She staggered back, giggling. “Mariyah!”
“Bye.”
Chapter 26
Mariyah
Ithought I was a horse girl.
Admittedly, I’d never ridden a horse before, but I’d read enough cowboy romances to presume that I’d love galloping through a field somewhere in the State of Khaas with some smoking hot cowboy dreaming about wifey-ing me up.
But that same morning, before our trip to the famous Olimtir Castle, Esmeralda took me to the palace stables, with Kai and Shehryar tailing us, to introduce me to Kai’s rescued stallion, Bucky. There she persuaded me into an impromptu horse-ridinglesson on one of Kai’s other horses, a pretty brown one called Big Guns.
And I was subsequently,embarrassinglyproved how wrong I’d been.
The horse-riding dream did not translate into reality.
It started falling apart the moment Bucky tried to bite half my fucking hair off. But according to the stablemaster, Jorge, I wasn’t to take it personally because Bucky didn’t like anyone other than Kai and Esmeralda—fucking adopted child.
And then it crumbled a thousand times faster when I actually climbed onto Big Guns.
Esmeralda, Kai, and Shehryar were all naturals on horseback like they’d grown up in the Wild West of Khaas—even Kai in his fat-arse jacket. While I felt like Big Guns was mocking me for wearing a helmet by shaking me around like jelly on a plate, trying towibble-wobble-splatme.
In fact, I nearly fell off twice and begged to have my soul saved multiple times, and when Esmeralda suggested the four of us ride through the forest to the other side, I was almost on the verge of tears. Thankfully, she, Kai, and Jorge all took pity on me and got me off the damned scary beast of an animal so I could walk through the forest instead.
It was fucking humiliating to the umpteenth degree. Especially considering Shehryar had been next to me on one of the king’s horses the whole freaking time, witnessing the entirety of my inexperience. If I hadn’t been grinding my mortification between my molars, I might have actually died of it on the spot.
I never wanted to relive it. Ever again.
But the world had other plans—actually, it was the fucking dickhead.
Because for some reason, most likely to elongate the pain of my embarrassment, when I declared I’d walk through the forest…
So did he.
With me. Together. While Esmeralda and Kai stayed on horseback.
And my bitch of a best friend, living in her fantasy land where Shehryar and I become a thing, agreed with bright, bubbling enthusiasm.
So, he and I ended up trudging through the forest that curved around the backside of Chaukham Palace side by side-ish, while Esmeralda and Kai rode about ten metres ahead.
Oddly, it wasn’t actually that bad, and at some point, I partially forgot my moment of shame.
It wasn’t as cold as it had been the previous two days, but the sky was cast with pale clouds above the mixture of evergreen leaves and naked branches, though it wasn’t predicted to rain—Kai had triple-checked more than five times. Twigs snapped under our shoes, pops of white and pink winter flowers brightened the damp bushes and foliage around the forest floor, and the soothing rustle of a soft breeze mixed with the constant clop of hooves was therapeutic. Even when it was punctured by Esmeralda’s giggles and giddy babbling.
Shehryar and I hadn’t shared a word, but the atmosphere wasn’t hot or uncomfortable. I supposed we kind of fucked that out of each other over the last two nights. But saying that, my attention kept darting in his direction once I noticed the frown of concentration on his brows.
