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“Please, just call me Kate,” I remind her for the millionth time.
“She’s very modest,” Ax chuckles, and Eli shoves him.
“Maybe you can teach her some of your karate skills,” Eli offers, eyeing me. “I heard she can’t throw a very good punch.”
Jewel and three of the other girls who must be in her karate class hurriedly get down from the table to show me their recent lesson. They end with a bow and I clap for them, chuckling. “I definitely have a lot to learn,” I tell her and she beams at me.
“My mom says even if you aren’t royalty, everyone should be treated like a princess,” one of the girls says, eyeing me.
“Your mom is a smart lady,” I tell her.
“Does that mean I should make people bow to me?” One of the girls asks curiously and I laugh as I eye the guys.
“How about some princess training?” I ask and the girls all cheer. “Well, for one thing you have to know how to wave. Usually, it’s when being carried in on thrones but we can use these chairs for now.”
The guys' faces all fall when they realize they are being roped in. Jayla laughs loudly and comes to stand with me as we round the girls up, each one getting a turn to sit on a chair while the guys lift the chair into the air. By the time the last girl is done, I’m pretty sure the guys all want to throw me in the pool.
Even if they do, it was worth it.
The party ends after cake and Jewel surprises me by jumping into my arms to hug me. “How long are you going to be here?” She asks.
“I’m not sure,” I hesitate awkwardly.
“Can I come over to see you again?”
“That sounds fun, I’d like that,” I tell her, nodding and she rushes to catch up to her mom.
I close the door with the full intention of heading to my room but Eli blocks me as he stands in front of the staircase.
“Oh no, you are on royal clean up duty.”
“I’m exhausted—”
“Not a chance babe!” I hear Asher yell from the kitchen.
I help clean up the plates and cups scattered across the patio and start on the dishes. By the time I finish, I truly am wiped. Asher holds a drink to me but I shake my head.
“I’m going to sleep,” I tell him but he frowns at me.
“Don’t go back to hiding from us, Kate,” he says softly. “Don’t hide from me.”
My stomach twists. I don’t think anyone can stay mad at Asher for too long. My energy for even holding on to my anger is gone. Being mad isn’t fixing anything. I have nowhere to go. And the only upside is so far these guys have been the only ones to not hurt me. At least not physically, because the pain of being lied to is a different kind of hurt.
My hesitation brings hope to his eyes and I groan as I take the drink from him. He grins and leads me down the hall where Ax and Eli are starting up a video game. They both eye me and Eli offers me a smile. Asher flops on the couch and tries to pull me into his lap. I take a seat on the floor instead and he reaches out to run his hands through my hair.
“Kate and I versus you two,” he says, handing me a controller.
“I don’t even know how to play,” I laugh at him.
“It’s easy, don't worry.”
“He just wants to be able to blame you when he loses,” Eli snorts.
Asher gives me a run down of which buttons punch and which one moves. Seconds into the first match, I still wind up losing and Asher ruffles my hand. “You’ll get the hang of it, babe.”
After the fourth or fifth round of dying immediately, I manage to last a few minutes and even kill Eli’s character. Ax kills me immediately after, but I take it as a win and grin to myself.
“I let her get me, I felt bad,” Eli teases and I glare at him.
