Page 63 of The KING Review

“Oh, wow,” I say with a forced laugh; she can tell it’s forced. “Are we doing girl talk right now?”

“No,” Fia says flatly. “You know I hate girl talk. We’re doing sister talk.”

I groan. “I—” I hesitate, unsure of how to phrase it. “It’s not my place to say.”

Fia sets her glass on the coffee table. “That’s as good as a yes.”

My chest deflates, but I don’t know what she wants or expects from me. She’d never try to control me—Fia isn’t like that—but I can tell just from her expression that she is trying to tread carefully. She’s trying to protect both her sister and her friend from one another.

“Look, I know that individual things in isolation don’t make or break a relationship,” she says diplomatically. “Like, for example, the age gap alone. Or the fact that Grant has a child. Or the power imbalance involved with the fact that you’re his student.”

“I’m not used to you giving sermons,” I deadpan, but the joke falls flat.

Fia gives a conflicted smile. “Those are all things that create… significant hurdles for a relationship like one you’d have with him to succeed.”

“I know,” I say quietly.

“It’s just… it’s a lot to commit to. Not only because he has a child.”

“What makes you think I don’t want to commit?” I ask, voice going defensive.

“I can’t tell you what you want,” she says gently, clearly unaffected by my tone. “I know that you know what you want with your whole heart. You always have. But I just… want to impress upon you the seriousness of the situation. Okay?”

I blink, the bridge of my nose suddenly stinging.

Fia shifts on the sofa, settling her hand on my thigh, warm through my leggings. “Grant King is going to fall in love with you.”

I’m incapable of speaking, but I nod, gripping the stem of my glass so hard it feels like I could shatter it in my hand.

“You know that’s what’s going to happen, right? Once it does… you’re the bad guy if you change your mind.” Fia clears her throat. She hates doing the big sister talk, but she’ll always be honest with me. “He must know it’ll happen, too. It’s probably scaring him quite a lot.”

I chuckle; I can’t help myself. “It is.”

My mind goes back to riding his thigh in Lab C. Him coming in his pants. I feel my face heat, and Fia’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God. Something has happened, hasn’t it?”

The floorboards creak by the office door, and Cade steps into the room. “Did I win?”

My mouth falls open as I calculate their expressions, realization dawning on me. “Are you fucking serious right now? You have not been betting on us?”

I’m sure it must have been Cade’s idea, but I’m impressed he managed to get Fia to go along with it. Cade just grins. “You can’t tell me you didn’t see that coming, little Hart.”

I snort a laugh, but at least it assuages some of my fear about Fia and Cade knowing about me and Grant. I guess there isn’t really a “me and Grant” yet, but I want there to be. At least I know that I have them on my side, and that’s important to me.

Fia touches my knee again. “You really like him?”

I meet her gaze, and I can feel Cade’s eyes on me, too. “Yes,” I say honestly. “I really like him. And I know he really likes me, too.”

Chapter Nineteen

Legitimate Competition

Grant

This woman is making me crazed. I already knew that, but it’s never been more abundantly clear to me than now, as I sit at the professor’s desk in a group of silent study pods for an Intro to Readable Body Language research session, and my phone lights up with a text.

Don’t:

well, if my private study supervisor isn’t professor daddy