Dahlia Aldridge
My pulse beat fast, my bare feet hitting the marble staircase as I easily raced down two flights, pushing any remaining negative thoughts from my head. It was fairly easy, considering King was only seconds away. The entire circular staircase wound down through a massive tower that went up nearly five stories to a glass ceiling, each wall heavy with greenery and open windows that let that sweet scent of my mother’s garden in from outside. My heart was on hyper speed, and when I saw the first glimpse of my best friend, an impossible-to-control smile broke onto my face.
My best friend, who had been goneallsummer. Damn him. I mean, I knew it was necessary, especially since he was going to be taking over his father’s company one day, but I had hated when he’d left. Even more, I had hated the thought that he might love it there and never come back home. King had promised me he would, but I’d been hesitant to be hopeful.
I should have known better. King was a man of his word. Always.
It helped that he also had called me every single morning, right after waking up, just to ask how I was doing.Yes, I was aware. The man was going to end up breaking my heart.The memory of him leaving that first day of summer slammed through my consciousness, making me sick to my stomach before reminding myself that his absence was over. He was essential to my life.
“Are you sure you packed everything?” I asked quietly. We were standing in the middle of our cul-de-sac, my other guys standing nearby, no doubt hoping to escape the possible waterworks that could occur. I cried at inspirational Olympic commercials and cute kittens, so their worry was valid.
Kingston squeezed my hand, his dry-cleaned button-down and dress pants rather casual for him. Yet, even when wearing a tux, the man maintained an effortless ease that only someone like him could perfect. I nearly sighed like a lovesick idiot, but I was caught off guard at the sadness in his gaze. It was rare to see such vulnerable and blunt emotion on his face, so it had my heart squeezing in concern.
“Everything but you,” he admitted. “Are you positive you don’t want to come with?”
Oh, I wanted to go. I also didn’t want to be too clingy. A hard balance for someone like me.
“You’ll be back in August, right?” I whispered, my voice threatening to break.
King, knowing me as well as he did, wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head as I breathed in his comforting, familiar scent.
“Of course. You’re back here, Dahlia. Make sure to leave your phone on ring so I can call you. I’m going to miss the sound of your voice, so I’ll need to hear it. Often.” His chuckle at the end of that had me blushing.
I was always torn between wanting to believe his sweet words and taking them as him teasing me. I was clueless when it came to him and all of the others. Maybe I would finally figure out my shit this summer and tell them how I felt.
One could hope.
Without another word, while holding back my tears, I stepped away as he got into his family’s car. The driver waved us off, and I stood in the center of our street until my mom called me in for dinner. The rest of the night I’d been plagued with the concern that I’d never see him again.
That those words had been our last.
Thank the lord they hadn’t been. I’d been thrilled to receive a message from him once he was on his family jet, and then when he had video chatted with me once arriving, I’d felt a ton better. My heart squeezed extra hard as I turned the last rounded corner of the staircase.
Kingston Ross.
Heir to his father’s multi-billion-dollar international shipping company and son to two really kick-ass parents that didn’t fit the mold of what you would expect from money like theirs. No, the Ross family was all smiles and welcoming hugs, at least to me. Like I said, I’d heard different rumors, but I wasn't very liable to believe gossip. It didn’t surprise me that his parents were so unique, considering that Kingston was truly something else.
From as early as I could remember, I’d attached myself to him at the hip so that he would have to be my friend. Even at a young age, I could see how vibrant he was and how everyone seemed to hang on his every word. I hadn’t been any different. Growing up, that connection we seemed to have was comforting, but now it was… different. Now there was a side to it that I didn’t know how to handle, and it didn’t help that the man was sexy as sin and absolutely brilliant.
Unfortunately, I had yet to tell him that I no longer wanted to be friends. It had become increasingly obvious to me over the course of the summer that I could no longer handlejustbeing friends with him. The intensity with which I had missed him made my feelings just a bit too clear. Although, for the record, he was a fantastic friend… I just wanted more from him.
Hearing my footsteps, Kingston turned from where he’d been looking out one of the large windows, his bright, spring green eyes focusing fully on me. A smile that had my throat catching broke out on his tanned face as sunlight glinted off his honey blonde hair. I wasn’t embarrassed to admit that I essentially launched myself at the man, his massive, muscular arms catching me easily. Instantly, I was wrapped up against him, trying to get as close as humanly possible to his hot, 6’3’’ muscular frame. I inhaled the smell of his cologne, a rich, smoky scent like cigars accented with vanilla that reminded me of… well, home. Kingston was my home. It was that simple and that complicated.
“Dahlia.” His smooth, deep voice had me looking up at him as his large hand ran through my hair, smoothing it back in a familiar gesture while looking over my, no doubt flushed expression. “You look absolutely stunning, princess.”
See?! Do youseewhat I mean? What was I supposed to do with that?!
My eyes almost watered at the relief of being in his arms as I tried not to read into his sweet words, reminding myself that he probably didn’t feel the same way that I did. I was totally attributing more meaning to them than was there. I needed to just chill the heck out.
King placed me down gently, my feet touching the floor as my fingers smoothed over his light blue linen suit coat.
“I missed you so much, King,” I admitted, not embarrassed in the least, because it was completely true.
His large hand cupped my jaw gently as his eyes sparked with something hot and darker than usual, making me shiver. “I missed you too, more than you know.”
His forehead pressed to mine as I let out a small breath. Breaking our connection, he pulled back and flashed me a small smile. “I only arrived back about five minutes ago. I dropped my stuff and came over to see you. Of course.”
“Oh, of course,” I drew out, tapping his nose in amusement.