uninvited

chapter fortysix

unheard

He left. Literally. He was outside the barricade.

The only reason she knew this is because she caught Frick pouting. He was upset Kell took Godrick and Kar with him. Everyone else was upset that their future king was unsafe.

She wasn't worried until she realized everyone else was.

That was yesterday. Today she was a basket case. She knew she could call for him and he would come, but she'd rather cut out her tongue and stick it in her eye then to be that needy.

Julian found her hiding place and climbed under the bleachers with her.

"You lead the enemy to my location and you're going to wish I would have let Kellum have you."

"You still going tonight?"

"No choice. Brady is up my ass. Dude is relentless."

Tonight, they were opening the studio to all their friends. A grand opening of sorts.

And somehow, she'd been roped into singing. Brady was relentless, team him up with Johnny and it had been impossible to keep saying no. Add Julian's pleads and she was left baring her soul to all her friends.

She'd rather go nude in front of everyone. In a way, it was like going nude in front of everyone.

"Mad at me for chasing your boyfriend away?"

"I chased him off."

"That's true." He laid out then motioned her to him.

Something he's done zillions of times and she felt bad that she hesitated. If he noticed, he didn't mention it. Which only made her feel worse. "You know I love you, right? Like crazy love you."

"I do. I love you too. Always have, always will."

"Still glad you stuck with me?"

"Always." He kissed her forehead. "If she had been the one for me then she wouldn't have needed me to choose between her and you."

"I feel the same way."

"But does he?"

"We'll find out soon enough." If there was even a chance that they were mated, then he would have to show up sometime today or he'd start wigging.

Or they both would, she guessed.

"It would be better if he didn't. Then I could stop worrying about all this mark shit. I could stop worrying about all the queen shit too. You know as well as me, I'm no queen."

"Oh, I don't know. You've been ruling over me for as long as I can remember."

That earned him a pinch. "Not the same thing."

"Most girls would love to be queen of the world. There will be perks I'm sure."

"None worth the grief. You ever think about goody two shoes?"

"I do. Sometimes I wonder if she's okay or not, but there's also a part of me that doesn't want to know. If she's not okay it's better not to know. She made her choice, Jess."

She held him tight. "It's not too late for me to hunt her down and kick her ass. Say the word."

"You can calm down, ninja. I think if she was the one for me, I wouldn't have been having so much fun with Meg."