Page 18 of Forever King

Jesus, he sounds as defensive as she did when I asked her where Kate is. Can nobody in my goddamned life give me a straight answer?

“Still seems like you have an issue with her. You better not act stupid around her at the wedding. She’s the maid of honor and you’re the best man, so you’re going to be near one another a lot.”

Since he’s my brother, he, of course, has to be an asshole and ask, “So there’s still going to be a wedding?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and hope my head stops hurting soon. “Of course there’s going to be a wedding! Why would you say that?”

He weaves through traffic that doesn’t seem to understand the speed limit as he answers, “Because I thought you were thinking Kate is cheating on you, which, for the record, I don’t. If you were planning on marrying that sister of hers, then I’d say definitely, but Kate? No way. She’s been crazy about you for a decade. Whatever’s going on, she’s not cheating. Nope. I refuse to believe that.”

His defense of Kate doesn’t make me feel any better and only makes me wonder even more why he’s so negative when it comes to Kelly. It does distract me for a few seconds, but then I’m back to feeling miserable and sure Kate has been spending her days with another man.

I just don’t understand why.

7

Kate

Right in themiddle of the Star Trek episode about Spock’s wedding to T-Pring, the woman he was betrothed to when they were both seven, my phone vibrates across my sister’s coffee table. Surprised anyone would be calling me at just after three in the afternoon since I’d still be in school, I lean over and see it’s my sister.

As relief washes over me, I grab my phone and answer it. “Hey, you scared me there. Everything okay? I thought you were in lab this afternoon.”

“I was, but on one of my breaks, I got a call from your future husband. Guess what he asked me.”

My mind goes blank, and I say, “Uh, I have no idea.” Ronan doesn’t usually call Kelly, so him asking her anything is odd.

“He wanted to know where you are. From the sound of his voice, he found out you’ve been sneaking over to my place every morning and camping out there.”

Those words make my heart sink. I know exactly what he’s thinking right now. He knows I’ve been lying to him, and he thinks I’m doing something bad.

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I didn’t want to get into the middle of things between you two but that you’re safe. I also told him if you called me that I’d tell you to call him, so here’s me keeping my word. Kate, call that man because he sounds like he’s losing hope by the second.”

“Losing hope? Hope of what?”

My ignorance makes my sister laugh. “God, you really are naïve. Kate, he thinks you’re stepping out with another man. What else would he be thinking after finding out you’ve been lying to him about going to work for the past few weeks?”

I know precisely how that feels after finding out he cheated on me all those years ago, but what would make him immediately jump to the conclusion that I’m seeing someone else? We’re getting married in less than two weeks, for God’s sake!

“Fine. I’ll call him.”

“Good. Now that I’ve saved your relationship from turning into one of those soap operas Grandma used to make us watch when she came over to watch us when we were sick, I need to get back to studying to become a doctor. Fix this and maybe tell him the truth, okay? Because I bought that damn bridesmaid’s dress that I’ll only wear once, so I need this wedding to happen.”

That’s my sister’s way of saying she doesn’t want to see Ronan and me break up over this. I appreciate it, even if I wish I didn’t have to talk to him about this today. It’s not that I didn’t plan on doing that. Just not yet.

I guess I don’t have a choice. Somehow he found out what I’ve been up to, so I’ll have to come clean.

For a few seconds more, I watch Spock try to beat the hell out of Kirk in whatever that trial is T-Pring forced the two of them into before I gather up my stuff to go back home. I don’t know if Ronan will be there already, but I have to face him sooner or later.

I takea deep breath in and stick my key in the doorknob, but the door’s unlocked already. So he is home. My heart begins to race, but I remind myself that Ronan is the sweetest, kindest person I’ve ever known. I just hope he’s not too hurt to be that man when he sees me now.

He’s pacing back and forth through the apartment, which only makes my anxiety about the conversation we’re about to have spike even higher, but I can’t turn back now. I only hope he can understand my reason for what I’ve done.

I set my bag down on the kitchen counter and smile when he sees me. “Hey, did you have a nice day?”

Ronan stops dead and stares at me in utter disbelief. “Did I have a nice day? Well, my meeting went great, and then I saw Kara and stopped her to say thanks for carpooling with you, and she told me you quit your job two weeks ago. What the hell has been going on, Kate? Are you seeing someone else?”

His directness catches me off guard, and I don’t respond because I didn’t think he’d just jump right in like that. Ronan is usually someone who prefers to take things a little easier.