Page 27 of The Lost Kings

Kingston

I ’d cut off my arm and hand it to Presley if she needed it, but this public-school gig was getting old as fuck.

Gio sighed, and I knew he was feeling it too.

We’d already finished our courses, so the classes didn’t keep our interest. The only thing that did was sneaking out to take turns to watch Presley in each of her classes.

We were only here for her, and the fact that she wouldn’t even be able to complete the entire reason for attending school, was starting to frustrate me.

We had to play a part, and that was fucking exhausting.

Like now, as we watched some kid in her class smile at her and offer her his notes.

If I wasn’t pretending to be a senior in high school, I could walk over to him and explain in vivid detail what I’d do to him if he ever tried to smile at Presley James again.

Gio watched them as intently as I did, and I glanced over at my brother, seeing the same rage that burned inside me reflecting in him.

It reminded me of that time in Mexico when he’d pushed me into the pool.

I wasn’t sure that feeling ever left him, but he’d seemed to get better at hiding or managing it.

Presley took the offered notes with a smile and the guy relaxed while the two started to chat.

Maybe he’d be brave enough to ask her to prom, and we’d have to ruin that for her just like we did with anyone who ever dared to get too close to her.

She’d never get that first kiss, and while I didn’t mind preventing any other idiot from touching those perfect lips of hers, I did feel guilty that she had no idea she was being sabotaged.

But then I’d play out the scenario of what would happen if she fell for one of these pricks and Scotty found out.

He’d kill them, and Presley would blame herself.

Gio tipped his head back next to me, staring at the moon that was still visible in the sky.

“You want to do it, or me?” I muttered quietly.

“I’ll do it, you took care of the last one.”

Yeah, the jock who I’d heard saying Presley’s ass was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen wouldn’t be coming back to school anytime soon, not after I’d “ accidently” spilled my drink on him at a party and then tossed my lit Zippo at him.

When he was screaming “what the fuck my problem was,” I had simply explained he needed to stay away from Presley.

He didn’t fight back, and he was fine. Barely a single mark on his stupid pristine face, but the thing that pissed me off was that none of these idiots ever fought us on seeing her.

I wondered what would happen when we finally found the guy who would. Not that it mattered, we knew the score.

I watched as the kid leaned over Presley’s shoulder and pointed at something on the paper.

My gut twisted with something unfamiliar.

If I took long enough to examine what that feeling was, perhaps there’d be a way to make it stop.

As it was, anytime anyone got close to her, or made her smile, it felt like I was the one burning on the inside.

Pushing off the wall, I turned away from watching her and reminded my brother to be quick as I walked toward the car.

Gio and I shared a car, and while it wasn’t brand-new, it was something we were proud of.

We’d been restoring the 1969 Camaro for the past year and were finally able to drive it.

We were in the student parking lot, waiting for school to be out, so we could watch Presley get picked up by Scotty, and then we could finally head home but someone slapping the hood of our car had us both dropping our phones and gaping out the windshield.

“Can you guys give me a ride home?” Presley ducked her head, staring into the passenger side window while holding the straps of her backpack.

She wore black leggings, a cropped sweatshirt and Doc Martens.

Her hair was braided in two symmetrical rows, and her lashes were thicker and darker than normal.

In fact, her cheeks looked brighter, and her brows were fuller too. Was she wearing makeup?

Panic ran through me at the realization, but I couldn’t even focus on it because her demeanor was sad and deflated. It made my gut sink as Gio opened his door and slid his seat forward for her to crawl inside the back.

A few onlookers glanced our way, likely wondering why she was with us when during school we made it a point not to be seen together. We took off and Gio spun around in his seat, facing her. His window was down, which made pieces of her hair blow around.

“What’s wrong?”

We both knew what was likely bothering her. The guy who had flirted with her yesterday was now giving her the cold shoulder and ignoring her. Just like every other guy who’d acted even remotely interested in her.

Her lip trembled from where I saw in the rearview mirror.

Even that looked more glossy than usual.

It didn’t matter that she was wearing makeup; it just bugged me because she had never needed to wear it.

Ever since attending school, she was suddenly worried about how she looked, and it made me fucking crazy.

She sounded so hopeless as she tugged at her backpack strap. “I think maybe you guys were right about this being a bad idea… ”

Gio glanced over at me while I kept my eyes on the road.

“They’re all idiots, Pres.”

She sniffed, and my heart felt like it was going to combust. I could count on one hand the number of times Presley James cried throughout her life.

Never had she cried during the times Scotty had pushed her in training.

She hadn’t shed a tear when she was sent into the woods in shorts, bare feet, and nothing but a T-shirt on in the dead of winter.

She was given two hours to secure clothing and food.

I’d never forget her showing up half a day later, blue lips, bloody feet and a fucking smile on her face.

She’d only ever cried after Scotty had to put one of his dogs down due to cancer, when she watched My Girl, and that time Gio broke her seashells.

That was it.

I flicked my eyes to the rearview mirror and saw two salty tears trail down her cheeks and I pulled the car off to the side of the road.

“Heyyyy,” she whined, while Gio cursed.

I got out of the car and slammed my seat forward, while crawling into the back seat and then pulling my door closed. Gio slid over the seat until he was sitting next to her, and I was on the opposite side, sandwiching her between us.

The tinted windows hid us as we all crowded the back seat, the low music blocked out the strange silence that hung in the air.

This was new for us, and delicate…it felt as dangerous as stepping in a minefield.

Something had been brewing among the three of us, and while Gio and I hadn’t fought about it yet, it was only a matter of time.

Because he looked at her the way I did, and I knew his chest caved in at the thought of her one day leaving us behind, just like mine did.

This was more than friendship, and it could ruin us.

“No one likes me.” Presley hiccupped, swiping at her face. “I thought I could make friends, but it’s been weeks, and no one likes me. No girls and no guys. I’m never going to go on a date. I’m not going to prom, and I’m not ever going to get kissed. ”

She was crying so hard she had begun to shake, and her voice cracked.

I glanced over at my brother, who was already watching me.

It took me back two years when we were on that balcony in Mexico, and Presley had talked about leaving us behind.

I’d known he’d pushed me in the water because I was flirting with her, but that moment when we’d looked at each other and silently acknowledged each other’s pain still haunted me.

This moment felt the same.

“Presley, you’re not crying over those assholes who can’t shoot the hat off a stuffed squirrel from five hundred yards away.”

She sniffed. “That’s only when I have the long-range rifle.”

“They still couldn’t do it,” Gio said, using his thumb to swipe her tear from one cheek, so I did the other.

She didn’t react to how we both had touched her, and maybe throughout our lives we’d given her that exact feeling a thousand times, and it didn’t feel any different to her.

It felt monumental to me, and I was positive it did to Gio as well.

Things were changing.

We may have agreed to protect her when Scotty had asked us, but we were already in too deep not to watch out for her. We would have done this whether he asked us or not.

Presley placed both her hands over her face and groaned. “I’m so embarrassed. I begged my parents for this opportunity, only to be a total loser and repel absolutely everyone I meet.”

“Come on, Elvis, you’re not being fair to yourself.” Gio shook her thigh, but she only sniffed again.

“If I can’t even do this, what makes anyone think I can lead a family?”

I sighed, relaxing into the seat. “Well for starters, you know how we feel about you leading a family. We think it’s bullshit and you should settle down on a farm instead.

However, for the sake of your feelings, you’re not leading until you’re old enough, and when you do lead, you won’t be dealing with teenagers befriending you. ”

She let out a small bubble of laughter that hit me like a brick to the chest. It was that tinkling sound she’d always made, the one I could hear from several rooms over. The one that made me think of warm dirt and a gentle hand against my face. Dark hair, freckled nose, blue eyes and… home .

“I wanted to have my first kiss, my first boyfriend because I thought maybe it would help desensitize me to things once I am leading. What if I meet some evil mafia boss, but because I’ve never been kissed, I fall for him?”

Gio grunted, which I was grateful for because I inhaled a sharp breath.

We’d just recently joked about her first kiss as if it were nothing. We offered to take it as if she was offering a stick of gum when, in reality, it was nothing short of monumental.

Her head lifted and her mascara had begun to run the smallest bit, smudging just under her eyes. “You guys make it look so easy.”

“What?” I asked, trying to clarify if she meant kissing or breathing…my mind was all over the place. My heart felt like it was trying to pound out of my chest; my skin felt too hot. What if she asked us to do it…to take her first kiss?

By all rights we had no other choice, but which one of us would do it?

She glanced over at me. “Being popular and making friends.”

Oh, right. I cleared my throat, tugging at my jeans. “We’re literally only there because of you, Pres.”

“Well, then how come you’re not helping me become cool? You don’t talk to me or even act like you know me—” Her voice trailed off as her face scrunched up. If I had to guess, she was sorting out how impossible that would be for us.

“We’re playing a game there, Pres. We can’t draw attention to you in any way and we really can’t be seen with you. You know this.”

She nodded. “I know…I just hate this.”

Gio ran his hand down the length of her braid then tucked a few stray pieces of hair behind her ear. “I think you need to go get a fix. ”

She perked up, swiping at her face. “I haven’t been in a really long time.”

“Then, let’s go.” I patted her knee, but she grabbed my hand and held on to it while doing the same with Gio’s.

“Thank you.” She pressed her lips to our knuckles, and it made my breath hitch.

By the expression on my brother’s face, it had the same effect on him.

Her lips were touching my skin, her warm breath…

fuck, how could something so innocent feel so insanely hot?

I had to squeeze my eyes shut and remember that my best friend was only sixteen.

I wasn’t eighteen yet, but it didn’t matter.

She was Presley. If we did take her first kiss, there couldn’t be any emotion behind it.

Once she released us, I jolted out of the back and took my position in the front seat.

I had to stop this, all of it. Right the fuck now.