Page 126 of Tormented Kings

And fuck was it ever life-changing.

Some of the hottest sex I’ve ever had was between two men I care about so much.

It was the turning point between us. The start of something new. Or so I thought.

The next day, it was like it hadn’t happened.

I’m trying to be understanding. I know out of all of us Preston has it the worst. I just wish he could leave Tina and be happy. Even if it’s not out in the open with the two of us. But he won’t stand up to his father. He won’t risk his father taking it out on me. It shows how much he cares about me, and I love it. But I also hate that he has to go through it.

“As much as it sucks, I’m not sure we’re really going to get anywhere with Preston while his father still has control over him and while he’s engaged to Tina.”

“I know.” A wave of sadness settles over me. We finally have him. We finally got the words we’ve been craving from him. Only we don’t get to keep him. At least not right now.

“We’re all stressed,” Declan says. “Studying for exams has been slowly draining us, and then there’s the actual exam week. Let’s get through this first. One day at a time, okay?”

“Yeah, one day at a time.”

But when will the day we get to be happy come? A week, a month, a year from now?

Just thinking about it makes me want to claw at my skin.

“You haven’t touched your pizza,” Declan points out, gesturing to the plate.

“Not hungry,” I sigh, leaning my head against his chest. “Too stressed.”

“Me too.” He kisses the top of my head.

It’s Christmas morning, and I’ve been up since five. I woke up and was too excited to go back to sleep.

I love Christmas. The decorations, the music, the food. Everything.

Last year, it was just my mom and me in our cozy little cottage with presents under our tree of homemade ornaments. It was the same as all the years before. Wake up, open stockings, have breakfast, open gifts, then watch a Christmas movie while supper cooks, eat, watch another movie, and then go to bed. It was something I looked forward to.

This year, with all these new changes, I’m not sure what to expect.

The tree isn’t the same. In the living room, Mark has a massive ten foot tree put up with so many properly placed and expensive ornaments.

I mean, the house looks amazing, like Christmas puked all over the place. But everything seems too fancy. My vision of Christmas looks like Santa’s workshop with greens, yellows, and reds. Not blues, white, and gold.

This isn’t my house, so I have no right to complain. But it makes me miss the cottage. Renovations are done, and it’s ready for me to move back in. Only I’m not sure if I want to.

I’ve come to enjoy living here. Seeing Grayson all the time has been fun. I don’t hate the way he enjoys waking me up every morning, and my friends started coming over here, so I’m seeing them more.

After the past month of cramming for exams and hardly having time to see anyone, even the guys, it’s nice to know that I get a few weeks to just relax and enjoy life.

My life is just perfect. Just kidding, it’s still a fucking shit show. Hell, with every new day, it seems to be going further and further downhill. All because there's still a very big looming threat that seems to have all of our lives in a choke-hold.

Collin says his contacts have dug up a lot on his dad, but nothing that he can use against him just yet. If he hits him now, and it doesn’t go as planned, it could ruin everything. They’re waiting for that smoking gun of evidence.

Thankfully, it’s been awhile since he’s bugged Collin. Collin hasn’t gotten a call from him since the time he went to meet with his dad.

So, I’m guessing it’s a safe bet to say that we’ve been keeping a good enough distance outside and inside the school to not draw suspicion.

It’s been hard, but I go over to their house whenever Mom does, and I’ve gotten a few more of our special meetings with him in his office.

The guys have been texting me, complaining about how they don’t think it’s fair that Grayson gets to see me more than the others as of late. He loves to piss them off and respond with ‘brother privileges’.

Things between Declan and me are amazing. He’s so damn sweet and loving. I just hate that I haven't seen much of him, or any of them, for a while between studying for exams and then exam week.