I wasn’t sure I could handle this. First, I didn’t want to lie to her. Or withhold information. But was withholding any better than lying? And I had to help her find a mate when being with her was what I wanted more than anything. Torture. This was torture, pure and simple.
“What are you thinking about?” Wren tugged on my arm, pulling my fist away from my chin.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on. You are most definitely thinking about something.” She sipped her wine.
“Sometimes I wish you didn’t know me as well as you do.”
“Nah. You like that I know you. You know it.”
“Do I like it? Sure. But it can make things hard.” I looked into her violet eyes, wishing I could make her understand what I was going to have to do. “Very hard.”
I heard laughing and looked over to where Preston sat with his friends. I’d never felt that carefree before. As the oldest, responsibility had always fallen on me.
“Oh.” Wren noticed where my eyes were trained. “You are really worried, huh?”
That wasn’t what I’d been thinking about, but it wasn’t like I could tell her the truth. And I was worried about Preston.
“Yeah, I’m worried.”
“He’s going to be fine. Just fine.” She patted my hand.
The sun had fully disappeared, leaving us with a completely dark sky. “I hope.” I ran my fingers over her hand. We touched each other a lot. I’d always wondered if she understood what she did to me each and every time we touched.
The server brought over a basket of chips.
“Thanks.” She took a yellow chip and dipped it in the spicy dip that came with them. “That took long enough,” she whispered after the server moved out of earshot.
“Evidently being part of the royal family doesn’t get you faster service.” I tried a chip. It was still warm.
“Nope. Well, I bet it would be for my mother.”
“Oh yes. No one would keep her waiting.” I’d come close earlier that day.
“Except for me.” She leaned back in her chair. “I should probably go.”
“It’s up to you.”
“I need more chips.” She took two and dipped each carefully. “And mints.”
“I’ve missed you,” I blurted out.
“You already told me that.”
“And I can’t say it again?” I could say it a million times, and she still wouldn’t understand how strongly I felt that statement.
“No. You can say it as many times as you want. I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”
“Hey, it’s my favorite older brother.” Preston pulled up a chair to our table.
“I’m your only older brother. And shouldn’t you address the princess first?” He was pushing his luck, and I was sure he knew it.
“Oh. Sorry.” He actually looked embarrassed as he turned to Wren.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s messing with you.”
“I didn’t know you were back.” He reached over and took a handful of chips.
I glared at him. He was lucky Wren knew him so well. Otherwise he’d be treading on some seriously thin ice.
Wren pushed the dip closer to him. “I only got back today.”
He dipped three chips at once. “Welcome home.”
“Thanks.” She popped a mint in her mouth.
I wasn’t sure how she switched back and forth between mints and chips like that. They were such different flavors. “Was there a reason you came over here, Preston?”
“Can’t I just want to say hello to my brother?”
“Sure, you can. But that’s not why you came over.” I wasn’t going to play along with his games. I had too much else going on.
“True. I need a favor.” He crossed one leg over the other.
“I’m truly shocked.”
Wren snickered.
“I know. I know. I promise this is the last one.” Preston crossed his arms.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I was going to help him. We both knew that, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to talk some sense into him. If he made false promises to the wrong person, he could find himself in hot water.
“May I speak with you alone?” Preston made a side eye toward Wren.
“Nuh uh. I”m not missing out on this.” Wren grabbed another few chips.
“Preston, are you asking a Royal to excuse herself? Do you realize how grossly inappropriate that is?” This kid needed to learn his place.
“It’s okay,” Wren pulled the dip closer to her again. “I mean I won’t excuse myself, but it’s okay that he asked.”
It wasn’t okay that he asked, but I appreciated her reaction. Wren kept her head and managed to keep elitism at bay despite how easy it would be to let her place in the court get to her head. She was going to make one heck of a queen.
“I wasn’t asking her to go anywhere. I was asking you to come with me.” Preston didn’t seem to get it. Wren didn’t want to be excluded from the conversation, which meant she wouldn’t be. If he wanted to talk with me alone he was going to have to wait until later. And even then Wren would try to get information from me. She did not enjoy being left out of things. Not that I blamed her.
“Preston, either spill it or go back to your friends.” I was losing patience.
“I need to borrow some money.”
Wren coughed, and I knew she was trying to cover laughing.
“See? This is why I didn’t want to talk in front of her.” There was a whine to Preston’s voice.
“Hey, sorry.” Wren tried to compose herself. “I’m all better now. Continue.”
“What is there to continue?” Preston frowned. “I need to borrow money from you, Frost.”
“Why?” I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I asked anyway.
“Because I do. Please don’t make me go into it right now.”
“Why don’t you want me to know?” Wren scooted her chair around closer to him. “Because that’s why you don’t want to go into it. Don’t lie.”
“It’s embarrassing.” He finally looked a bit embarrassed about his behavior. Our mother would have killed him for the disrespect he was showing Wren.
“You’re embarrassed of me knowing?” Wren put a hand to her chest. “It’s just me.”
“It’s just you?” Preston arched a brow. “You can’t say things like that.”
“She can say anything she likes,” I pointed out. The only person who could tell her what to say or not to say was her mother, and that was only until Wren became queen.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do, but you still have to respect her.”
“This isn’t about respect. I need money.” His shoulders hunched.
“Why?” I pressed.
“Because.” He looked down at the table. “Just because.”
“You can’t expect him to give you money if he doesn’t know what it is for.” Wren crossed her legs at her ankles. Her leggings exposed a series of metal anklets.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. I owe someone. Okay? Is that enough?”
“Who do you owe?” I tried to keep my voice level, but I was angry. He knew better than to take a loan. Why hadn’t he come to me in the first place?
“No one good,” Preston mumbled.
“I assumed that much.” I sighed. “Listen, Preston. I’d like to help you. You know that. But you have to give me something to work with.”
“Work with the fact that I’m in trouble if you don’t help.” Preston glanced over his shoulder.
“But trouble with who?” I asked.
“Whom, but who’s being specific?” He corrected.
“Really, Preston?” Wren rolled her eyes. “You are going to correct his grammar right now?”
“You can tell me.” I was worried. Preston had asked for money plenty of times, but this time felt different.
“I can’t.” He trembled. “I really can’t.”
“Then I can’t help you.” I didn't want to use tough love, but sometimes that was the only way.
“Damn it, Frost. You’ve been in a pinch before. Don’t let me down here.”
“I won’t let you down, if you give me something to work with. I need to know who you borrowed money from.”
“It’s not someone from this court.”
Wren and I exchanged looks. This wasn’t good. Doing business outside the court boundaries was forbidden.
“See? This is why I didn’t want to say anything in present company.”
“You think I’m going to tell my mom?” Wren scowled. “Because if you do, you are absolutely crazy.”
“It was stupid. I know that.”
“Stupid or not, how did you do it? Who was your go-between?” I needed details.
“I don’t want to get him in trouble.”
“So it’s a him?” Wren asked.
“Did you think it was a her?” Preston slumped down in his seat.
“Well, I couldn’t rule it out. Women can be just as stupid as men. They just aren’t as often.”
“Because they don’t have the chance to as often,” I said half under my breath.
Evidently it was loud enough for Wren to hear. “Very, very true.”
“Look, I can’t tell you.” Preston straightened. “I would if I could.”
“Then don’t expect me to give you money. I can’t. I have to know who I’m dealing with.”
“Fine. I’ll find someone else.” Preston pushed back his chair.
“Who? Who else are you going to find?” I snapped. “Someone else you want to owe? Think before you act, Preston. Life isn’t a game.”
“I’m well aware of that.” Preston’s expression darkened. “Far more than you could imagine.”
Wren reached over and wrapped her hand around his wrist. “You can trust me, Preston. I can help you.”
“I do trust you, but you can’t help me other than giving me money.”
“She’s not lending you money. And I’m not either unless you tell me more. I’m not asking for anything much here.”
“But you are. You are asking for the impossible.” Preston stood up.
“Just give us some time.” Wren clasped her hands together. “We’ll get back to you, Preston.”
He nodded at both of us. “Fine.” He walked away.
“We’ll get back to you?”
Wren rubbed her forehead. “He’s in trouble, Frost. We have to do something.”
“He needs to fess up.” There was entirely too much going on. I was already close to losing it over having to take Wren to find a mate, and now I had to worry about Preston getting himself in serious hot water. I was running out of patience.
“Just because he needs to do something doesn’t mean he will.” She popped another mint in her mouth.
“No kidding.” She was right, and I knew it. Preston didn’t have to tell me anything, and he wouldn’t unless he had to. That meant things would get worse before they got better.
She put her hands on my shoulders. “Frost, you can’t always put everything on your shoulders. You are strong. Everyone knows that. But having strength doesn’t mean it’s your responsibility to carry the weight of the world.”
“He’s my brother.” I closed my eyes and gave myself a few seconds to enjoy her touch. Every inch of me responded to the smallest brush of her fingers. “I have to take care of him.”
“You won’t always be here to catch him. One day he’s going to have to fend for himself.”
“But that day isn’t now.” I had to believe he’d be strong enough by the time I couldn’t be there. He’d have to grow up one day.
“How is he ever going to fend for himself if you don’t let him fall?” She sighed. “You know what. Forget I said that. What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one,” I admitted.
“Fantastic. So what would you have done had I not suggested he give us time?” She arched an eyebrow.
“Gotten answers from him.” I sounded lame. We both knew that. She’d bought me time. Much needed time. “Eventually.”
She nodded. “I need to go talk to my mom.”
“What about Preston? Any advice?” It was my problem, but Wren was the best problem solver I knew.
“I’m going to see what I can find out.” She stood. “He’s going to make it through this.”
I wished I had her confidence.