Page 51 of The Lost Kings

“Well, the night of our birthday, our dad made us promise that if we ever interfered in any way with your future, we’d leave.” Kingston gently shifted the tip of the pen over my skin while my mind wandered back a year and some months.

“That night,” Gio continued from behind me, “you’d told Scotty you were done training, and because of that, our dad said we had to leave.”

My stomach dropped out.

“I was the reason you were forced to leave without saying goodbye?”

That couldn’t be right…no one had said anything. No one had ever warned me…

Gio pressed another kiss on my shoulder.

“ We were the reason, Elvis. Not you. But Scotty was in our living room, along with your dad, and they promised to send you away somewhere we’d never find you if we didn’t go.

We agreed it was best if we left that night because of your declaration and what they’d learned about our relationship. ”

Oh. “They likely weren’t thrilled that the three of us had been together.”

Kingston groaned from near my feet. “You make it sound like we’re a throuple or something, and I’m definitely not fucking my own brother. So, we can’t be that. You’re just with both of us, and now when we want to be together, we’re in the same place.”

“Regardless, I’m sure our parents weren’t thrilled.”

“Fuck ‘em,” Gio sighed.

“So you left that night…and Scotty was supposed to tell me?” I searched Kingston’s face and his brows crumpled. Gio’s fingers stalled in my hair too.

“Yes, and your dad.”

Anger swirled around like a dust storm, making my fists tighten around the blanket. “What else?”

“Scotty promised we could text you and he’d never interfere with you contacting us, and he swore that if you were ever in any kind of trouble, he’d let us know immediately.”

That was a lot to process. Scotty had hidden their communications from me, lied to me about them leaving early, and threatened to send me away as a way to manipulate and control my best friends.

That anger turned into rage as I thought back over how Scotty had first told me he’d hidden their communication from me.

Scotty’s text to them had said, “Get home now.” So of course, they rushed back…because he’d promised to always tell them if I was in any danger.

Gio explained, “We were angry when we first got back because we’d assumed you didn’t want anything to do with us after we’d spent so many months texting and calling you.”

I still hadn’t figured out how I would explain that Scotty told me six months in, but I was too stubborn to check after that. They’d be so hurt when they realized I had ghosted them. But I also felt like I had my reasons.

“What have you been doing all this time while you were in Mexico?”

I waited for one of them to answer me, but they each remained quiet. Kingston finished his drawing and then sat back on his elbows, watching me. Gio tugged me back into his chest and began kissing me.

Lightly pushing at him, I sat up and stared between them. “What have you guys been doing?”

“I’ll tell you what, Elvis. Let’s make a deal.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Gio then over at his twin. “What sort of deal?”

“We’ll tell you everything, all the things we’ve been up to and why…”

Kingston paused, watching me carefully.

“If I what?”

Gio finished, “Let us fuck you.”

Heat flared in my core at the mere idea of them both taking me like that. The video Gio had sent came to mind, and I pictured what I would look like having Kingston under me and Gio behind me. I blinked to stop the barrage of filthy images.

“Why not just tell me what you’ve been up to?”

Kingston’s eyes flashed with something that looked like hurt, but it was the way he messed with the blankets that told me he was nervous. Did they think I’d leave the second they told me?

It made me even more curious as to what was going on.

“This feels manipulative. I haven’t lost my virginity yet, but I didn’t want it given in a negotiation.”

“Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing with Adrian?” Kingston’s tone dripped with annoyance.

I pulled away from his hold and out of Gio’s to inspect them.

“Are you both really going to act as though you have a leg to stand on right now?”

Gio’s eyes lowered, but Kingston’s remained burning directly into me. I didn’t give them the chance to say anything as I pushed on.

“You left me. I’ve been without any friends, anyone to talk to, anyone to dream with or laugh or do anything we once did.

You took that from me. While I understand the beginning and can forgive you for leaving without saying goodbye…

you left me for almost two years. Now you’re here judging the one friendship I made? ”

“Now it’s a friendship?” Gio used his fingers to make air quotes, and it made me want to throw a pillow at his face.

“Yes, whether you guys like it or not, Adrian is my friend. It’s why I didn’t allow Scotty to pull the plug on our alliance. I care for him.”

Their gazes locked with each other and something silent passed between them, and I knew that was my cue to leave.

I never stood a chance when the two of them began to silently plot against me or whatever it was they did.

It’s how they claimed my first kiss and everything in that car the first time. It’s how we got here.

Unspoken feelings and sacrifices.

Searching the bed for clothes, I found one of the twins’ T-shirts and threw it over my head. It was long enough that it covered my ass. I found my thong, pulled it on and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Gio glared up at me, still kneeling on the blankets.

I stepped over a bundle of pillows until I cleared the edge of the little nest they’d created and moved to the window. “I’m going back to my room. I made plans with Adrian in the morning, and I’d like to get some rest.”

I should have known it wasn’t a good sign that neither of them tried to stop me. I should have known it wasn’t like them to just let me leave, but I did it anyway.