coming down from a high.
I rush to her and take her hands — shaking and sweating — in mine. “What happened? Are you okay? What did he do?”
“I’m fine.” Kim fakes a smile.
She needs to stop faking smiles when she’s this horrible at them.
“Kim!” I scold. “What the hell? You look on the verge of a breakdown.”
“It’s just Xander being Xander.” She waves her hand in dismissal and fixes the hem of her dark green dress. “I missed you.”
Her arms wrap around me. Even though I don’t want her to change the subject, I don’t pull away.
Kim takes shaky breaths and I realise how much she needs this hug. She’s a loner and I’m practically the only friend she has. Except for Kir, her family aren’t the affectionate type. I always feel like she needs human touch more than anything. She’s just not so good at expressing her needs.
“I’m here for you, Kim. You know that, right?”
She nods into my neck without saying anything.
When she finally steps back, a reluctant smile is plastered on her face. “How about you? Are you okay?”
I FaceTimed with Kim and told her all about Aiden’s engagement with Silver, my father, Knox, and Teal.
Every time she tried to ask me about my feelings considering Aiden’s engagement, I shut down and ended the conversation.
I knew she’d bring it up again when we met face-to-face.
“What are you doing here?” I try to deflect.
“Dad brought me. He’s all over fundraisers.” She pauses, narrowing her eyes. “You don’t get to change the subject.”
Brilliant. Here we go.
“King doesn’t see Silver as a woman. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Kim places a hand over her breast. “I would bet Kir’s life on it and you know I’d never do that unless I was sure.”
“They’re fucking engaged, Kim. They’re getting married.”
Every day, I wake up hoping last week’s revelation is a nasty nightmare, but I’m brought back to reality all too soon. The fall hurts, you know. It’s like crashing and burning at the same time with no way out.
“It could be something arranged by their parents.” Kim taps her chin like a detective. “Jonathan King and Sebastian Queens are childhood friends and have been allies for as long as I can remember.”
“Aiden isn’t the type who could be forced into doing anything.”
“This must’ve happened way before you came along, Ellie. King is the logical type, and if he thought marrying Silver would ensure his future and his relationship with his father, he would have agreed to it.”
“Then why did he keep me in the dark about it?”
“I don’t know. He’s the only one who can answer that.” She rubs my arm. “All I know is that King isn’t interested in Silver, and honestly, I think it’s the same for her.”
I raise an eyebrow. “So now you’re an expert on how Silver feels?”
“We were all raised together, remember? Silver and I were friends once upon a time.”
“Wait. What?”
“It was before my fall from grace.” She throws up a hand dismissively. “Anyway, she’s a bitch, but I don’t think Aiden is her endgame. Silver is the type of person who hides her real favourites so no one snatches them away. When we used to play together, she’d take out all her dolls except for her favourite, Anastasia. She hid it in a place I couldn’t find. I hate her, but thinking logically, if she really loves Aiden, she wouldn’t be all territorial about him in public. She would’ve made her moves in the background.”
Kim’s words bring back what Tara told me some time ago. She said Silver isn’t interested in Aiden but does her best so everyone knows he’s hers.
Tara also mentioned rumours has it that Silver has a secret boyfriend and is camouflaging him by using Aiden as a front.
If that’s the case, then Silver runs a lot deeper than I thought. What’s her endgame exactly?
Not that I care.
It’s not Silver who matters. It’s the fact that Aiden hid his engagement to her knowing full well how much his history with her bothered the living bejesus out of me.
“I really don’t want to do this, but I can talk to her if you like?” Kim asks with a careful tone.
“Thanks, but you don’t have to.” I drag her with me by the arm. “Come on, let’s find Knox.”
“And Teal!” she squeals. “I’m super excited to meet Knox’s twin sister. I’m sure she’s as fun as him.”
Since I told Kim about Knox having a twin, she’s been dying to get to