Page 80 of King of the Crease

Jesus. My life sounds like an episode of Friends. Better than Friends because there are gay people involved.

A faint chuckle comes through on the other end of the call.

“I hate hangovers. Gin will have me making love to the porcelain prince. And they only get worse as you get older,” says Agnes—yes, that Agnes.

My brain literally cannot imagine Agnes being drunk, let alone barfing into a toilet because of it.

“I didn’t start working for you until I was thirty,” she says. “I was very different in my twenties.”

We devolve into laughter, like two girlfriends gossiping about boys. I always suspected Agnes had a bit of a wild side tucked away in there.

“It seems you’re having a good time there.”

“I am.” I turn my attention to my teammates, my friends, engrossed in conversation punctuated with laughter. I am home. I feel it in my gut. “Has the king said anything about my absence?”

“He’s been focused on other things.” Her voice hitches for a moment, giving me pause. She continues before I can follow up. “I cancelled all of your December events and reworked your schedule for January, so there’ve been very little bumps with you gone. Aside from attending the ceremonial tree lighting and judging the national Christmas bake-off, you aren’t missing much.”

“I do love judging the bake-off.” I gain at least five pounds, but the cakes and cookies I get to eat are worth the tighter clothes.

“I can set up a bakery tour when you get back.” She then lists out meetings scheduled for next month. Dinner with the Dutch ambassador. Attending the World Economic Forum. Board meetings for various charities. Reality begins pushing in. My royal life is waiting for me. I blink hard to push it away.

“Thank you for everything. I am sorry if this has been a taxing time for you. Please know how appreciative I am.”

I may joke about Agnes’s strict schedule, but I’m grateful to have her by my side. The woman should be running a multi-national corporation. I wouldn’t have been able to live this fake life without her support.

“You needed this. I get so bogged down with keeping your affairs in order that I rarely stop to wonder what it’s like to be you, the challenges of living such a public life.” A maternal warmth coats her words.

“What have you been up to?” I ask her.

“Inspired by you, I went on a blind date.”

“Did you really?”

“It was all going swell, until he said I reminded him of his mother. And immediately after, he tried to kiss me. As they say in America: hard pass.”

Agnes rarely talks about her personal life, and I’ve never heard her mention a dating life. I know she never married or had kids. I wonder what she sacrificed to take care of me all these years. Hopefully, this is the start of a dating renaissance for her. I can live vicariously through her when I return to Ardenia since I won’t be able to live this openly.

“Have you met any gentlemen?” she asks.

“Actually, I have. He’s funny, and cute, and just…everything. It’s better than I could have even imagined.” Joy doesn’t fill my chest when I say that, even though it’s true. There’s an expiration date and a huge lie between me and Hank.

“I’m happy for you, Your Highness. Nick. A fun diversion before diving back into royal duties.”

Right. This is supposed to be a temporary fling. Come January, I will be Prince Nicholas again. No dudes allowed.

“You sound like you’re someplace fun, so I will let you go.”

“Thank you for everything, Agnes. I mean it. I’ll see you soon.”

“Same. And Your Highness,” she says before I hang up, “enjoy your gentleman.”

My heart swells as I check out Hank. I can’t remember a time when looking at someone felt like this—like warmth sinking deep into my bones, like something in the universe finally clicking into place. I let myself stare, taking in the curve of his smile, the way his eyes drift over the room and then land on me like they always do. For once, I’m not reaching for something out of grasp. I have it. I have him. And I’m so, so happy.

Too bad our cutest couple status is set to end soon. But dammit, I’m going to make the most of every day together.

I return to the table and throw my arms around him.

“Hey.” I lean down and kiss him.