“How do you know that?” I ask like I could have seen the future back then. I can’t say for certain that we’d be sitting here right now if she had let me love her back then.
“The next night, I saw you at the frat party, and after that first kiss we shared, I just knew …” She trails off.
“Knew what?” I ask.
“That I wouldn’t be able to do with you what I did with Bones.” She drops her head. “That I wouldn’t have been able to separate feelings for just casual sex, so I pushed you away.”
“Is that how you felt about me?” she asks. “Did you have feelings for me?”
“Yes,” I answer without any hesitation. This is my chance. To be there for her in a way that Bones never wanted to be.
“But … you were a dick to me.” She narrows her eyes at me.
“I was jealous. I wanted you for myself.”
She straddles my hips, and I readjust myself onto my back, staring up at her. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“What was I supposed to say? Hey, I’ve liked you since you were in third grade. But by the time I wanted to approach you, you were already fucking my best friend?”
“Third grade?” She chuckles, thinking I’m joking.
I nod. “Yep. Duncan Wiltz walked behind you and shoved you out of the swing.”
She bursts out laughing. “How did you know that?”
“I had Mrs. Hollan’s class, and her window faced the playground.” I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was two grades ahead of her, and it was our last year at the elementary school. Her mother always dressed her in bright colors. She was hard to miss.
Her mouth opens wide as she stares down at me in shock.
“I watched you lie there on the ground and cry while he sat there swinging, laughing at you.”
“I can’t believe you remember that.”
“You were wearing a pink shirt with white polka dots and jeans. You had pigtails. A pink ribbon on the right one with a yellow wrapped around the other.”
“That is …” She blinks.
“Adorable.”
“Kinda stalkerish.” She laughs. “But I remember that day too. Well, not what I wore, but the best part was that he came back to school that next Monday with a …” She trails off as I smile. Hers drops off her face, and she tilts her head to the side. “No … did you …? Titan.” She slaps my bare chest. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. You broke his arm, didn’t you?”
I shrug “Must have been karma.” I followed that motherfucker home after school and broke his arm with my bare hands. And I told him if he said a word, I’d break the other. He never touched her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
EMILEE
IT’S BEEN A week since I found The Palace. I’ve been trying to talk Titan into taking me back, but he’s not having it. I haven’t gotten to see him much since then actually because he’s been crazy busy. He gets to the Royal Suite late and leaves early. If I was paranoid, I’d say he’s ignoring me on purpose after the conversation we had that morning in the bed at The Palace. How he had feelings for me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away from him if I had slept with him. Good thing I’m not.
This morning, I decided to go downstairs and get breakfast instead of ordering room service. And I called up the girls, so Jasmine and Haven both sit across from me at the buffet. We’re waiting on our food when I see the blonde from the other day walk into the restaurant. “Sandy?” I call out.
She turns to look at me and smiles. I’m guessing she remembers me.
“Who the fuck is Sandy?” Jasmine asks, looking over her shoulder to where I am.
“A queen,” I answer.
“Oh.” Her eyes light up.
“Hi.” Sandy comes up to our table. “Em, is it?”
“It’s Emilee, but you can call me Em.” I reach out and shake her hand. “This is Jasmine and Haven. My best friends.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Em. Jasmine and Haven.” She nods to each of them.
“You too,” I say, scooting over to allow her to sit down next to me. I’m curious about her, and Titan isn’t going to tell me anything.
“So you’re a queen?” Jasmine comes out and asks.
“Yep.” She nods.
“Did you guys do a job together?” Jasmine wags her eyebrows.
I roll my eyes.
“No. I saw her in The Palace the other day,” I inform her.
Her green eyes widen at that. “No way.”
I nod.
“Was that your first time there?” Sandy asks me.
“Yes.”
“Is it what you thought it was going to be?” she asks.
“Well …” I’m not sure how to answer that since I didn’t really have any expectations, considering I didn’t know that it existed.