Page 23 of The Lost Kings

White light lit up a few clouds hovering overhead, and distant thunder rumbled as the wind coiled through my hair.

It made the longer strands whip against my face.

I pushed it back and kept my eyes down on the small pathway in front of me.

My window was on the complete opposite end of the mansion, so I had to be careful as I walked.

While my footing was sure, the wind was much stronger with it being close to the end of February.

My hoodie was no match for the air that bit at my legs and the moisture in the air that crowded my lungs.

I moved faster, until finally I saw the ledge that led to Gio and King’s room. It had the same flat veranda area in front of the window but theirs was a bit more modern. Tonight, the window was shut but they never kept it locked.

I pulled up on it right as rain started falling in heavy drops against my face. I straddled the ledge with one leg and ducked under, pushing inside and falling flat on their loft floor. I got to my knees and sat up, a plume of smoke drifted up from the corner.

“What in the fuck are you doing, Elvis ?” Kingston rasped while tipping his head back from the two-seater couch he was reclined on.

Something fluttered in my chest at the cadence of his voice, but it dove into my stomach painfully fast when I registered he’d called me the wrong nickname.

I hated when he called me Elvis, it always felt like he was making fun of me.

Even being annoyed with him, I couldn’t help but notice the thing swooping in my chest was the same wicked thing that had beat against my breast in that closet, when he was standing so close to me.

I’d been so angry, and yet I’d burned as if he’d set me aflame.

I pushed my hair back from my face and stood, peering over the loft railing and seeing Gio playing a video game down below, their large flat-screen lit up with a myriad of colors and a car driving fast over terrain.

“I need to talk to you guys.”

Gio called up from below, “Is that Elvis?”

“Yeah!” King shouted back as if I weren’t here to say it myself.

I rolled my eyes at their dumb nickname for me and walked over to where Kingston was sitting.

He didn’t lift his feet, just raised his brow in challenge as if he dared me to forgive him for what he’d done and go back to how things were between us.

That fluttering only worsened as I swallowed my pride and sat down on top of his legs, which made him smile.

“You have to stop calling me that, it’s stupid.”

Gio made some sort of pained sound from below followed by a loud crash on the screen.

“Fuck, that thing always gets me!”

Kingston blew out another plume of smoke and then handed me his blunt. “Haven’t stopped in sixteen years. Don’t think it’ll stop now that we’re almost eighteen.”

I wrinkled my nose at his offered hand. He knew I hated weed unless it was in brownie or gummy form.

I didn’t smoke or vape. I ignored his comment about being almost eighteen because I still hadn’t come to terms with it.

I was one year and six months younger than my best friends, and I’d dealt with that disappointment my whole life, which always felt manageable.

Until now. Becoming an adult felt different, as if they’d pluck out their roots from the soil of the manor and walk away from me forever .

“Still too good for our weed?” Gio asked, climbing the last step to their loft.

I shook my head while Gio made room on the armrest, his arm touching mine.

“I’m not too good for it; I just don’t like inhaling substances that could be bad for my lungs.”

King laughed quietly while Gio reached over and took the smoke from his brother and inhaled.

“I think one day you might like the way certain things feel on your throat, mi reina .”

I shook my head. “Not smoke.”

“No.” Gio smirked, while shaking his head. “Not smoke…probably something a bit warmer, and smoother.”

Yuck. “If this is about that warm eggnog your mom tried to serve last Christmas, I stand by what I said. It should never ever be warm, it’s not normal.”

I heard Kingston choke, and then he kept coughing, which served him right.

He shouldn’t be smoking. After one last clearing of his lungs, he moved his feet, which were under me, to kick his brother but all it did was make me fall sideways.

My face was suddenly in Kingston’s lap, smashing against his phone or whatever he had in his pocket.

“Ow!” I sat up quickly, slapping at King’s stomach. “You better not have a gun in your pocket. That’s too freaking big to be your phone. Scotty will kill you if you took anything from the armory.”

His eyes grew wider as a flush crept under his eyes, and that’s when Gio burst out laughing. King’s mouth snapped shut and he shoved me back into place so he could get up.

“Jesus. It’s not a fucking gun, Pres.”

Fine, his phone then. Whatever.

He was mad now, which sucked, but it wasn’t my mistake. “It was his fault.” I pointed at his brother. “And I’m only mad because your phone hurt my face when I fell. ”

Gio had doubled over laughing but I made out something he said. “Wasn’t his phone.”

Then wha?—

“What are you doing here, Presley?” Kingston interjected snidely.

I crossed my arms and made myself more comfortable on the couch. “I came here to ask you guys for probably the biggest favor I’ve ever asked you.”

They didn’t say anything, so I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued.

“I want to enroll in the local high school next week. I’m only hoping to attend for a few months, until June.”

They were both quiet before sharing a look with one another. It was almost as if they’d known I was going to enroll or something. I couldn’t prove it but it was just a feeling I had. Finally, it was Kingston who spoke up.

“Why?”

My mouth parted with a response when Gio cut in. “Aren’t you done with your required courses? Scotty’s had you working on a crazy tutoring schedule, I think you’re ahead of us.”

I tugged at my pajama shorts nervously, unsure how to even explain this to them.

They were my best friends, and they’d seen me in every stage of life from having the flu to wearing designer gowns to charity functions.

They had never shown any interest in me one way or another, but for whatever reason my dad and Scotty seemed to think they’d follow me all the way to public school.

It was ridiculous and yet, there, buried under my heart, in soil that would never see the light of day, was a fragile and very pathetic crush that liked to linger in my lungs when I’d breathe in their scents and burn in the backs of my eyes when I’d hear them talk about a girl that had messaged them.

Occasionally when they weren’t looking, I’d focus on how much they’d changed, how their bodies had been honed into weapons with stacked muscle and veins running up their arms in ways that I couldn’t help but stare at.

I knew it was wrong .

The shame I felt on an almost daily basis was exhausting, and the mortification was even worse. They saw me as a friend, if not a little sister, and nothing more.

With a heavy sigh, I crossed my arms. “I’m sixteen now, and if I don’t get out of this house and start making friends, then my chance at dating or getting my first kiss will be nonexistent.”

There was a horrible, uncomfortable silence that stretched between us. One so awkward and noticeable that I finally looked up, seeing them both silently communicating with each other. I hated when they did that.

“Stop doing the twin thing.” I shoved at Gio’s arm.

Kingston’s jaw flexed as if he were annoyed. Gio blew out a harsh breath before looking down.

“So what do you want from us?” Gio asked.

Here it went. I inhaled a sharp breath before slowly letting it out. “Scotty said I have to convince you guys to go with me. I have no idea why, because I’m perfectly capable of handling things on my own, but he’s making that a requirement.”

King’s amber eyes narrowed while a small smirk lifted along his lips. “So we have to go in order for you to go?”

“Yes.”

Gio crossed his arms, his brows caving. “But we’re already finished with all of our courses.”

“Scotty said he’d forge documents for us.”

Kingston scoffed and shook his head. “Wow, how kind of Uncle Scotty. He’s doing all this just so you can see if your Prince Charming is waiting for you in the Rake Forge public school system.”

Asshole . Obviously, I wasn’t expecting my soulmate to find me in high school; I merely wanted to date or get some friends.

I elbowed Gio out of sheer irritation with them both.

However, because he was sitting on the arm of the couch, he started to tip sideways.

Instead of embracing the fall gracefully, he pulled my arm, which had me jerking to the side automatically, forcing him to fall on top of me.

“Gio!” I mumbled into his shoulder, but I felt him laughing above me. His palm moved to the side of my face while he sat up, staring down at me.

“If you’re wanting to get your first kiss out of the way, I can help.”

My face flushed, the crush I harbored flared to life with excitement, which was exactly why I had to tamp it down and push him off me.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Kingston glared at us from where he stood.

“You do realize most the guys in public school have already kissed girls…”

Gio scoffed, hiding a laugh, and for some reason it made me feel lame enough that my face turned red.

I shrugged. “So what?”

“So, the first time you kiss someone it’s awkward. You have to sort of learn how to do it right. If you kiss some guy you’re into and he’s expecting you to know what you’re doing, it might embarrass you.”

I was already embarrassed.

My eyes were hard as I assessed my best friend from across the room.

Gio tugged my hand into his lap, stroking over my knuckles.

“We’re just watching out for you. We don’t want you to encounter something that will make you feel unprepared, or that could make people talk about you or draw attention to you.

Even with a fake name, Pres, you can’t draw attention to yourself. ”

My gut sank because I knew he was right. If I were going just to learn and keep my head down, that would be one thing, but I was specifically going to make friends, or hopefully a boyfriend.

“Besides, how fair would that be to the guy you kiss or end up dating? What if you develop feelings for him, and then he meets Scotty?”

A knot formed in my throat picturing that. Scotty would find a way to make him disappear. Anyone that would become a complication to me taking over the family would have to be removed from the equation .

“So what am I supposed to do?” I felt defeated and frustrated as I tossed my hand out toward King but glared over at Gio. “Haven’t you guys kissed girls before? I’ve seen you Snapchat girls…can’t you coach me without actually touching me?”

Their faces turned the smallest amount of pink before Kingston cleared his throat.

“Don’t confuse affection with distraction.”

I didn’t know what that meant, nor did I care.

“It’s still the same result either way. You guys get to live a life, while I don’t?—”

Gio cut in with a glare. “We aren’t the ones being groomed to take over a crime syndicate…don’t you think that might mean an arranged marriage down the line somewhere?”

I laughed, getting to my feet. “You know my dad would never agree to anything even remotely close to that.”

The twins stared at each other, not saying anything out loud.

I cut my hand through the air. “Stop it.”

Gio exhaled. “Look, we’re only trying to look out for you, same as always. This isn’t a good idea. If you need to be kissed that badly, then one of us will do that for you. No need to go to school for it.”

Something throbbed in my chest. A blazing fire, cooled with the calmest rain. If I were to dig up that crush that I buried so often, then I’d confess that I wanted them to be my first kiss, but I already knew how this was going to go.

Only one of them would do it.

Just one, and whoever didn’t kiss me, would break me.

I couldn’t do that to us…

Forcing my eyes shut, I practically begged them. “Will you please consider going? For me. Please?”

They glanced at one another before giving me a soft nod. Gio replied, “We’ll consider it, Pres. Promise.”

I watched him turn to go, feeling frustrated and strangely confused.

Without waiting for Kingston to say anything, I walked over to the window and slid out onto the veranda where the rain began to pelt my face and soak my hair.