Page 133 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

I quietly thanked Zain and took a mug of black coffee from the tray while Candy placed the bowls down on the table and took the seat opposite me.

“Everything of hers. Meaning her phone, tablet, and laptop,” Trevor deadpanned. “Not everything in the house.”

“See? Petty,” Candy teased and chucked a pretzel into his mouth.

“Good,” Pierre said, slumping into the chair next to Candy. “Be petty. You’re allowed to be petty.”

Kai scowled. “I wasn’t being—”

“Also, I’d like some tea too, if you’re still offering to make it.”

Zain rolled his eyes from across the table as Shehryar took a mug. “I already made you some.”

Pierre put a hand over his heart and fluttered his eyelashes. “You know me so well.”

“I wasn’t being petty,” Kai grumbled, louder this time. “They’re smart TVs. I was being safe just in case Beau knew… You can login into an email on a smart TV. Or plug in a USB stick.”

The atmosphere sobered up as Kai glared at his mug of tea. My heart didn’t exactly ache, but it did a dull clench for how deeply he’d thought it all through. I reached over, taking the hand hanging between his thighs and entwining my fingers through his. The crease between his brows melted away as he glanced at me, and I smiled. He didn’t smile back, but he lifted our hands and pressed a long, firm kiss to the back of my hand that launched a soft flutter of butterflies inside me.

“Bloody Neves, I’m so fucking single,” Pierre whisper-groaned at the same time Candy asked, “Are you planning to give it all back to Beau Fletcher once Trevor’s done?”

“Only what he needs for work,” Kai answered, his thumb absently brushing across my skin. Zain finally took his seat next to Trevor with the last mug on the tray.

“Can we smash the rest?” Clearly, Candy had been contemplating the option hopefully for a while because the question fired off his tongue with an almost childlike excitement.

“You’re not smashing anything inside my house,” Trevor declared.

“Who said anything about doing it inside?”

“No.”

“You could donate the TVs to an orphanage or a shelter for the homeless,” Shehryar said, giving Candy a disapproving look over the rim of his mug.

Pierre lifted his mug in agreement, but Candy rolled his eyes. “Thank you for chucking a bucket of guilt all over my idea.”

“You’re welcome.” Candy narrowed a distasteful gaze at Shehryar.

“How about we donate three of the TVs—assuming one needs to go back to Beau—and smash her laptop, phone and tablet?” I suggested.

“I vote for Princess Esmeralda’s idea,” Pierre said.

“You can vote, but it isn’t going to change the fact you’re not smashing anything,” Trevor said.

“Oh,” I mumbled, my shoulders sagging. Candy’s idea had sounded fun.

Trevor’s gaze flicked up once, twice, and lingered on mine. Then he threw his head back and sighed up at the ceiling. “Dammit.” He huffed and straightened up. “Okay, fine. Give me an hour and then you can smash her phone. But only her phone, okay?”

Pierre laughed, Candy gaped, Zain smirked, and I grinned at Trevor. He gave me a reluctant smile back that lifted into a smirk as he directed it to Kai. “You realise you’re never going to be able to say no to her, right?”

My cheeks went hot, and my grin wavered shyly. “I know,” Kai said, but not even the slightest glimpse of his dimple appeared in his right cheek. His face remained soft but impassive, his eyes bright and quiet at the same time, and it poked at me uncomfortably.

I couldn’t tell if he was sluggish from slipping down from the adrenaline rush after everything that had happened or if his mind was reeling instead and his emotions were everywhere.

But I was going to find once we were alone.

* * *

Mariyah

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