Page 30 of The Lost Kings

Gio

M y brother stood next to me as we watched Presley pet the baby cows roaming the pasture. The sun was bright, the field was green and lush, and we weren’t supposed to be here. We’d broken into the pasture from the east gate, and wandered in, so our best friend could see all the baby Highland cows.

“There’s so many babies!” Presley practically squealed as she stuck her hand out and pet the calf that had shaggy brown fur and a massive nose.

She wore a pair of jeans, ripped in the knees, and a cropped T-shirt that rose every time she clapped her hands.

A smile had tugged on each of our mouths as we looked down and realized she wore her cowboy boots out here.

Like always, a warmth unfurled in my chest like spun gold. Looping and tying around my heart in a tight vise.

Clearing my throat, I quietly addressed my brother, “Dad wants us to stop attending classes. Says he wants us to start helping with the soup kitchen, and whatever the fuck else El Peligro is doing.”

King glanced over at me in confusion. “We already explained why we’re going to school…and he already gave us his blessing.”

His gaze returned to Presley as she continued to talk to the baby cows, petting their heads and…

naming them. She’d taken out her braid, which left her dark, long hair wavy and annoyingly gorgeous.

Two days ago, we’d driven her out here and watched her do the same thing, and the entire time we hadn’t spoken about how it felt to be in that back seat, or how she’d kissed our hands.

Or how right it felt.

My gaze darted to the girl a few yards away and then back to my brother, keeping my voice low.

“Dad’s cousin was drunk the other night, out near the staff quarters.

They were having some kind of party. I overheard some stuff about Dad’s charity…

and the fact that several of the members are starting to defect and want to go back to the power the gang used to wield.

Sounds like a lot of them are tired of the Robin Hood routine. ”

Dad and Mom had never been completely honest with us about the gang they were both seemingly attached to.

It was Hector who shared things with us.

He and our abuela would occasionally share a story or two.

We’d heard enough to deduce that when our grandfather, Manny, had run it, things were dangerous, and the gang was feared.

It had roots in the cartel, which gave them an edge that rival gangs didn’t have, and frankly didn’t mess with.

Kingston shifted against the fence. “Do you think Dad wants to pull us in and help maintain the image he’s been upholding all these years?

Wouldn’t that be exactly what Kyle and Scotty were doing with Presley?

I scratched the back of my neck. “Fuck if I know, but I’m not going to stop attending school to find out.”

Kingston continued to stare at Presley, and all it did was take me back to a thousand other times I’d watch him stare at her throughout our lives, worried he’d be as in love with her as I was. Things had been tense between us for years as we’d circled this one issue.

This one person.

This feeling I’d had for so long never left, and it continued to feel heavy and terrifying. The fear of Kingston kissing her, and not me .

It would break me, but I knew he cared for her the way I did.

I knew, deep down, we both selfishly wanted the same thing from the same exact person, and I had no idea what that would do to us.

My brother was the other half of my soul, and I had no intentions of doing something that would separate me from him…

Yet if he had her. And I didn’t.

I couldn’t let that happen.

We’d been fighting over Presley since we were old enough to talk. Since that first moment she came crashing into our block tower on wobbly legs, with a smile that seemed to brand itself on our hearts.

“What if Dad forces it?” I asked, kicking at a clump of dirt.

My brother didn’t stop staring at Presley while he let my question hang in the air. I knew how I would respond, which meant that was likely his answer as well. We simply wouldn’t listen to our dad, and we’d never leave Presley, so things would get fucking messy.

Presley finally turned away from the animal pen and let out a deep sigh.

“That was exactly what I needed. How can I ever repay you guys for taking me twice in a week?”

I smiled at her and tugged on the bottom of her shirt; it showed her purple bra strap, and more of her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice as the three of us turned and started back toward the car.

Her hand suddenly wrapped around mine, and I returned the gesture.

Glancing to the side, I saw she was holding Kingston’s as well.

She would never understand that she was the sun to both of us.

For me, she was the brightest star in my universe, and for Kingston, she was the light that drew life from the ground. She meant more to us than she was supposed to.

“I know you guys just did me a solid and helped me through this horrible week, but I wanted to see if—” She stalled and slowed down. It forced us to slow with her and then turn as she stopped completely .

Her blue eyes were downcast as a flush of red lit up her narrow cheekbones.

“What is it, ? mi reina ?” Kingston asked, using his free hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.

Her flush deepened again, and I wanted to remember this moment when the sun lit up her face and made her hair look like there were little strands of gold woven through it.

Or the flush in her cheeks from the happiness she felt around the fluffy cows.

This was Presley being happy, in her most natural state, and I was starved to see her like this more often.

“It’s just…um, I was wondering if you guys could help me maybe meet someone in school. I’m embarrassed to even ask, and I know we can’t act like we know each other in person, but maybe if you know someone who you could introduce me to and maybe say I’m your cousin or something?”

Fuck. Why did she keep coming back to this?

Kingston let her hand go and took a step away. “You want to be kissed that badly, you’re willing to have us set you up with someone?”

Presley tried to release my hand, but I wouldn’t let go. “Just answer the question.”

She looked a little shocked as she tugged to be released again. “It’s something that’s important to me.”

I shifted so she was forced to step closer to me. “But why are you so set on it, Elvis? What will kissing do for you?”

She finally tugged her hand hard enough that I let her go and she started walking back to the car. “Just forget it.”

Kingston and I both took long strides to keep up with her. “Explain it to us.”

She crossed her arms over her chest but continued toward the car. “No, just forget I said anything.”

We were right behind her, and the second she reached for the door handle, I grabbed her belt loop and pulled her back.

“Just wait a second. ”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and it tore at me in a way that nothing ever had. It was like Presley was evolving into a completely new person, and I had no idea what to do with her.

Kingston moved behind her, opened the door, and pushed the driver’s seat forward. “Get in the car, Presley.”

“No, honestly at this point I want to walk.” She raised her chin and shifted away from the door.

I had yet to release her, so I led her back to the car by the back of her jeans. “You don’t have a choice, Elvis. Get. In. The. Car.”

“Fine!”

I let her go right as she darted for the opening. Once she was inside, I shut the door and then stared at my brother from where he moved to the opposite side of the car.

“You getting in or am I?” Kingston asked.

My fists clenched tightly as worry gnawed at me. I knew exactly what would come next. It was a humming in my blood, an echo in my chest of something I’d wanted for years but had never caught or examined. Like a loose butterfly in my chest that finally landed somewhere that I could inspect it.

Swallowing the thickness in my throat I replied, “I think we both know neither of us can get in there.”

Kingston paused then shook his head. “Don’t really think either of us has a choice.”

My eyes snapped up, meeting his. We silently glared at one another in challenge.

“Are you suggesting we both get in there?” Because if we did, then…there’d be no turning back.

My twin didn’t reply, but his jaw ticked a few times. “It’s neither of us or it’s both of us.”

My stomach might as well have turned into a hollow pit for how empty it felt.

My heart hammered out a warning in my chest, but my twin just kept his gaze on me.

He offered me a silent assurance that we’d be okay, and I chose to cling to that look.

That glint in his eye said that he had some plan, or some idea of how we’d make it out of this intact and still best friends.

It wasn’t until he opened the door and slid inside that I moved and did the same exact thing on the opposite side.

The interior of the car was dark because we’d parked in the shade, but it smelled like Presley’s shampoo. She used something that had coconut and oranges in it, and ever since I was young, I’d been addicted to it.

“Why are you guys back here?” Presley asked, angrily. Her arms were still crossed over her chest and her face was red. The piece of hair Kingston had tucked behind her ear had come loose and was now resting against her cheek.

Kingston caught my eye from over her head, and I realized then and there this was going to require us both to put our pride aside and just focus on her and what she needed.

“Presley, we weren’t making fun of you about your request to be introduced to someone.”

She sniffed and I nearly pulled her into my arms.

“Fuck, Pres. Don’t cry.”

She turned to look at me, her lips pursed, and her brows knitted. “I’m not crying. I’m angry. You guys have so many friends, and all I wanted was for you to introduce me to one of them.”