12. Alexi

Breathe in. Breathe out.Repeat.

I followed Troy's instructions to the letter, but the glass of cold water didn't do anything to cool me down and make my face feel like it was anything but the surface of the sun.

I'd been prepared for stolen kisses, but Troy giving me an orgasm like he promised when our family was only a few rooms away? I hadn't thought he'd actually do it.

How could I go back out there and pretend I hadn't just been sucked dry by Troy?

A loud round of applause and cheers made me jump, and a second later, Troy's mom appeared in the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetie, you okay? You look a little flushed." She touched my forehead. "I think I have something here for cold and flu symptoms. Something is making the rounds right now. Poor Miles had it a couple of weeks ago. It broke my heart to see him so down."

She opened a drawer and took out some medicine.

"No, it's okay. I'm not sick. I think I ate too many of Tom's cupcakes, that's all."

She smiled. "It happens to all of us, honey. They're too delicious to resist."

More people came in and out of the kitchen. Needing to escape to a more private location, I headed to the bathroom upstairs.

I knew Mrs. Mason wouldn't mind me using that bathroom when there were so many people in the house.

As I walked by a semi-closed door, I overheard two familiar voices.

I didn't mean to pry, but when my ears caught my name, I stopped.

"Seriously, Troy, thank you. I know it probably feels weird to keep an eye on your brother's friends' kid, but they were worried, you know?"

"I know. It's not a problem."

I was frozen in place as Wren and Troy talked about me just a few feet away.

"Charlie called Tom almost daily when Alexi moved here. I think he needed someone to talk to so he wouldn't call Alexi himself."

"It's understandable. He's a parent."

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to Miles growing up and wanting to leave home."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Troy laughed.

"So, have you been hanging out much?"

"Not really. Just enough to…reassure you he's fine."

There was a pregnant silence and my anxiety spiked.

"Troy, has anything happened between you two?"

Troy laughed. "No way." He laughed again. "Not with him."

I heard shuffling, so I took the remaining steps to the bathroom and locked myself inside.

If my face was flushed moments ago, now I'd lost all color. My eyes watered and my chest was tight.

My brain tried to come up with an explanation, but I'd heard what I'd heard.

I took ten minutes to pull myself together and then left the bathroom.

When I turned the corner from the stairs to the living room, Troy was right there as if he'd been waiting for me.

"You've been gone a while." He smiled. "I almost sent out a one-man search party. If I'd known you'd be so close to my room, I'd have upgraded the ravishing plans."

When I didn't react, he narrowed his eyes. "Is everything okay? Did I take it too far earlier?"

"You could say that." I tried to keep my expression as bland as possible and hoped my whiter-than-white skin wouldn't give me away.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Lexi. Fuck." He ran his hands through his hair, looking really contrite.

"I'm going to eat birthday cake." I moved away from him, but he grabbed my hand.

"Let's talk. You're upset."

"I'm not upset, and it's okay. You don't need to babysit me anymore. Everyone has seen that I'm managing to stay alive and kicking in the big, bad American college. Your job here is done."

"Lexi."

"Please don't call me that."

I walked away with all the hurt I felt pressing down on my chest. Thankfully, the number of people in the house that had made it easy to escape earlier also made it easy to blend in.

Miles was the perfect birthday boy, loving all the attention. I'd always wondered what it would be like to have a younger sibling.

I managed to avoid Troy the rest of the day, even after most people left and there was only family. Coincidentally, fewer adults and Miles being down for the day made it even harder for him to pull me away.

TROY

Please, Alexi. Let's talk.

If you overheard my conversation with Wren, I can explain.

Lexi. Please.

As soon as we arrived home, I excused myself and went to my room. I needed a hot shower and to change into something comfortable so I could digest what I'd heard.

I was so confused by everything. The guy I'd spent time with recently hadn't looked like he was doing it out of obligation.

We'd had sex. He knew he was my first. He knew I'd moved to the US because I hoped we'd reconnect. There was no way he would take things that far if he was doing it out of obligation to his brother.

Then again, why hadn't he told me? It wouldn't have been a problem for me. I'd be more surprised if my parents hadn't asked Troy via his brother or Tom to check on me.

I could handle that, but the lie or omission? That was different.

"Knock, knock." Charlie was by the door.

"You know you don't need to say the words when you can do the actual knocking."

He smiled and entered the room, sitting on my bed facing me.

"You seemed upset earlier. You know you can talk to us about anything, right?"

I ran my hands over the blanket.

"Even guys?"

"I'll rephrase. You can talk to me about anything. I'd leave your dad out of the guys topic. He can run a little hot, and he has access to human killing machines."

I laughed. "Ryan, Luca, Zeke, and the team are not that scary."

"Not to you. You're like a little brother to them. It's the other guy I'm worried about."

I sighed.

"Dad, what would you do if someone you really cared about did or said something that hurt you?"

"The best way to deal with things is to talk them through. Is it possible there's a misunderstanding?"

I nodded. "Maybe. I…overheard some things."

"Out of context, things always sound much worse than they are. Have I told you how your dad and I got together?"

"You said he pretended to be your fake boyfriend so you could have a date to Aunt Hannah's wedding."

He flinched and then laughed. "See? That makes me sound like such a sad case."

"But you loved each other, so of course it all worked."

"We did, but at the time, I didn't know your dad was a prince. You know very well what it's like to gain a royal title overnight. Before I even considered that, all I knew was that Kris had lied to me about who he was, and then, suddenly, the press was talking about us."

"What should I do?"

"What you overheard… Was it that hurtful?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I would have understood if he'd told me, but he didn't, which means he lied to me."

Dad squeezed my hand. "A lie by omission is still a lie, but maybe there was a reason he didn't tell you the truth. Communication is important in any relationship, but when you're in the public eye, it's even more important. You can get through anything if you're a team."

I leaned forward and hugged my dad. "Thank you, Dad."

He wrapped his arms around me. "Anytime, honey."

When he pulled away, I could see the question in his eyes, so I sighed. "Between us?"

"Always."

"Yes, it's Troy."

He squeaked. My dad. A prince—by marriage but still a prince—squeaked. "I'm so happy for you, honey. I could always tell there was something special between you, but I wasn't sure if it was just a really good friendship."

"I think I liked him from the day we met. He was so nice to me. But then it kinda grew from there."

He smiled. "I guess now I know why you wanted to move here."

My face felt a little flushed.

Caught.

He ruffled my hair. "Talk to him. Troy is a good man, and I'm not going to lie. He's already part of the family, which makes managing your relationship so much easier."

"Thanks," I deadpanned. "Glad to be of assistance."

"Just to be clear, Alexi. You can date or marry whoever you love, okay?"

I sighed. "I just want the one person."

"Then talk to him."

When my dad left the room, I grabbed my phone and sent him a message.

ALEXI

Can we meet tomorrow? We need to talk. No more secrets.

When his reply didn't come, I tried to pretend he'd gone to bed early and wouldn't see the message until the morning.