Ruined Castles (The Elite King's Club 8)

Tu and Marama drop their blanket down opposite me as Tu turns on the sound dock, smiling up at me behind a cheeky grin. Tu has soft dark brown skin and blue eyes. He has to be around Grace’s age, so a little older than Jesse and me, but he wears it well. When he’s not at the studio, he’s at the gym or spending time with his four-year-old daughter.

Marama is around my age with short purple hair and almond eyes. The only tattoo she has is her Tamoko. She says she doesn’t want any more yet, but I think she does it just to annoy Jesse and Tu because they both want to tattoo her.

“Why do you have to go, Mad?” Marama whines, popping open a large white box that they call a “chilly bin”. She takes out a small platter filled with cheese and crackers, laying everything out nicely as Grace hands me a glass of apple juice.

I sigh, leaning into Jesse when he wraps his arm around me, pulling me into his body. “I wish I didn’t have to.”

Grace takes out her phone and aims it at Jesse and me. The warmth from the setting sun brushes against my skin and Jesse buries his face into the crook of my neck, chuckling against me.

I shove him away playfully. “You know you do shit to piss him off.”

Jesse gestures for my phone from Grace with a sly smirk. Things between the two of them have been awkward, to say the least.

Grace tosses it onto his lap instead and he picks it up, glaring at her briefly before smiling back down at me. Six60 is playing in the background, Marama and Tu are fighting, and Grace is, despite staying far away from Jesse, happy.

Jesse’s thumb flicks through the shots Grace just took and we both laugh when we see them. One of him in my neck and me laughing, one of me obviously growling at him and his head tilted back with laughter, and the last one of him smiling down at me just as he’s about to pull me back under his arm.

Jesse has loved me like a sister and taken me into his home when I had no one—twice now. I owe him my life, but it’s something he will never allow me to give him.

He starts chatting with Tu about a back piece he’s working on, and I take this time to shuffle closer to Grace. I’m going to miss them all—especially Jesse—but Jesse and I are like family. No matter how much separation is between us, that will never change.

Grace is like a friend. I’m going to miss her.

“Don’t, or I’ll cry and that will ruin my street cred.” Grace deliberately refuses to look at me as she keeps her eyes locked on the ocean ahead of us.

I laugh, taking her hand with mine and waiting for her to finally look down to me.

She does, but it’s the unshed tears that distract me. I wrap my arm around her waist and rest my head on her shoulder.

“Are you going to be alright?”

Grace doesn’t answer for a while, and just when I think she’s not going to, she raises her bottle to her lips and swallows almost half the contents. Damn, girl. “No, but I’ll keep going anyway.”

I squeeze her tightly. “Selfie?”

She laughs, swiping the tears off her cheeks. “Okay then. One to add to our million.” She isn’t lying either. We have millions of photos together. Climbing the mountain, surfing, swimming, fire pit nights, backyard BBQs, dinner dates. So many memories in two months.

But tomorrow everything changes.

I FIDGET WITH FLUFF THAT’S stuck to the sofa, pulling at every little nub until it’s torn from the fabric. The hotel is nice. Too nice. It reminds me of New York a little, with the floor-to-ceiling bay windows that overlook the bustling city below.

I miss the comfort of Jesse’s home.

I miss Grace and her ridiculous habits that started to grow on me.

I miss Jesse and Grace. Marama and Tu. The life I got a sneak peek at viewing if I had chosen a different path, but this is my life. I have to deal with it before it destroys everyone I love.

Tillie’s name flashes over my screen again. They don’t know I’m pregnant. This baby is a secret I will protect at all costs. I hit ignore.

I know what she is calling about, though. In fact, after her little invasion of a group video chat with Saint, I’m almost certain I know why they’ll all be calling me soon.

If things have gone well and to plan, Saint should be forty thousand feet in the air and somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.

I should feel guilty, and I do. Bishop needs as many people as he can have around him right now, but he has everyone.