Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming home.” I threw the blanket on Vaughn and awkwardly stood next to him before sitting again.

Greer took her time to face us again. Vaughn was covered and I hadn’t gotten to do what I had intended, so there was nothing to see.

“I didn’t know you had company.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Greer this is Vaughn. Vaughn, this is my roommate Greer.”

He nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

I realized under other circumstances he probably would have stood up.

She looked back and forth between us. “Do you think we could catch up for a quick second? Inside.”

“Oh yeah. Sure.”

“I’ll just eat this last donut.” He wagged his eyebrows and I slapped him on the shoulder before I followed my roommate inside the apartment.

“Who in the hell is that?” She spun on her heels.

I stepped backward. “That’s Vaughn.”

“Vaughn? Vaughn? Who is Vaughn?” she sputtered. I couldn’t remember seeing her flustered like this.

I looked at the ceiling. “He’s my … he’s … we’ve been dating.”

Her eyes widened. “You have a boyfriend? Since when?”

I shrugged. “Since a few months, I guess.” It sounded terrible. As if I had kept a dark secret from her.

“Why didn’t you mention him? I don’t understand, Emily.”

“You’re never here. Did you want me to text it to you? That seemed weird.”

She looked angry. “This is somehow my fault?”

“Are you mad I’m dating someone?”

She folded her arms. “No. Yes. I’m mad I don’t know about it. How did this happen?”

“We met at that bar you took me to—”

“No, not that. The part about you and me not sharing big information like this. Although, yeah I do want to know about him. But, this. You and me. How did this happen? I knew more about what was going on your life before you moved here. How could you have dated a man this long and I had no idea?”

I sighed. “You’re busy. I’m busy. You have Preston. It’s not like our calendars really match up anymore. Or have at all since I moved in.”

I looked over my shoulder. Vaughn was fi

nishing off the donut and reading the news. Over the past few months the apartment had felt like ours. Vaughn’s and mine. We spent every night here except one or two when he needed to leave earlier than usual for a meeting. Occasionally he was gone for business.

Greer hadn’t slept here in so many nights I had lost count. I knew she had dropped by to grab more clothes because she would message me, but that was it. I thought back to how things evolved.

“When I first went out with him it seemed too new. I didn’t want to jinx it. You know that feeling?”

She nodded sadly.

“And then it kept going. We kept seeing each other and I didn’t know how to drop it into a conversation. I’m sorry, Greer.”

“It is my fault.” Her shoulders slumped.