It had been weeks since the night in Vegas and Drew still couldn’t get him out of her head. All she could think about was his lips on hers, how it felt to have him so close, the look in his eyes when he looked at her, how he looked at Liam with the same hunger. She was married, she was Queen, they vanquished all the hurdles keeping them apart, so why wasn’t she as happy as she should be? She loved Liam so much, she shouldn’t be thinking about another man, his best friend. She couldn’t get him out of her mind, and the fact that he lived at the palace didn’t make forgetting him any easier.
Drew was disappointed in herself, the fling was supposed to be the end, a final goodbye, a way to get Drake out of her system. All the fling did was serve to fuel her desire to be with him. She just needed to stop thinking about him, focus on something else anything else and eventually she wouldn’t want him anymore, right? She was distracted and distant, she knew Liam could tell something was going on, but how could she tell him that Drake had stolen a piece of her heart and she couldn’t stop thinking about him since their night in Vegas. How could she possibly tell the man that she loved that he wasn’t enough?
They both avoided talking about that night, she figured if she didn’t talk about it she could forget, forget him—but it wasn’t working. She feared she would never be able to get him out of her head, her heart. Drake plagued her thoughts, her dreams in ways the best friend of her husband shouldn’t. She could barely look Liam in the eye anymore, her heart filled with shame at the love her heart was filled with for Drake too. How could she possibly love two men at the same time? How was she supposed to forget Drake and the way he looked at her, him, them? The lust and hunger Drake had in his eyes when he looked at her and Liam was intoxicating in ways it shouldn’t be. She just wanted to move on, put Drake in the past where he belonged and be happy with the man who she loved more than anything in the world. Drew wanted to move on with Liam, be happy with the man she fought so long and hard to be with, but she feared she could never be happy with just him.
Drake felt like he might actually lose his mind. He had been doing fine, or that’s what he was telling himself. He had come to terms with the fact that the only two people who he would ever love loved each other, not him and were getting married. He had been dealing with the pain, could handle seeing them together without feeling a twinge of pain in his heart. Then they came up to him, told them they both wanted him for one night, he knew he should have said no. He knew it was a horrible idea, would only dredge back up all the feelings he had worked so hard to bury.
Drake should have said no, but he couldn’t. He thought he could handle it, that one night would be enough, that he could get them both out of his system at once. He was never more wrong about anything in his life. He was even more wrong than when he said court would change Drew. Drew was a force to be reckoned with and no one should ever try to get in her way. He learned very quickly not to ever doubt her. He made that mistake more than once, first when she thought she’d become a stuck up noble and then when he thought she wouldn’t break through his walls and make him fall for her. The only thing he ever got right was that he wasn’t good enough for her. Hell, he wasn’t good enough for either of them, why else would they both be able to leave him behind so easily?
Drake knew he’d never find anyone who would make him feel the way they did. He was stuck, he was the best friend, the one you can easily leave behind, he wasn’t the first pick and never would be. He just wanted to get them out of his mind, his memory, his every thought. He needed to forget that he ever had feelings for either of them. He hated that he craved them, that giving them up was like losing a limb. He just wanted things to be easy. He wanted to not need their touch, their taste. All he wanted was to go back to when it was easy to forget them both the way they both forgot him so easily. He wanted the need, the cravings, the pain to stop—he just didn’t know if he could ever make that happen.
Liam was completely lost, he thought he could let him go—he had to let him go. He hated that he had to choose, he loved them both more than anything and he only wished he could be with them both. He knew it wasn’t an option, neither would want to live that life. It didn’t matter if it was legal, it was different for the king, it had to be. He didn’t know if he even had it in him to share. The fling had brought a jealousy out in him he didn’t expect. He thought sharing would be easier than laying in bed all alone with images of them together running through his head. He’d been a fool, a stupid fool, just like when he chose to say Madeline’s name instead of Drew’s. Liam knew he couldn’t keep making mistakes when it came to Drew or he might actually lose her for good. God, what had possessed him to ask Drew if Drake could make her feel as good as he could? He still couldn’t get her answer out of his head, but he was starting to think that maybe it wasn’t the admission he had originally thought it to be. Maybe, just maybe she wasn’t speaking to him, maybe she hadn’t heard him. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part.
No matter what the answer was, he regretted ever allowing the question to leave his lips. Liam allowed his jealousy to get to him to the point that he could have chased Drew away at the last second. He had been beside himself knowing that their last moment of intimacy would be forever tainted with his jealousy. Liam had been terrified when they had realized that she was missing along with Olivia. Drake equally frantic, though he tried to hide it. Maybe Liam should have been upset, but in that moment all he could think about was losing her and never seeing all that he knew she could do by his side as his wife, his queen. All he could think of in that moment was the fear that all they’d have was a few hours married all because of a traitor in their midsts.
Liam had been thankful that their friends and Drake had been so willing to help fight for her so quickly. He knew Drake’s reasonings but in that moment all that moment he needed her safe and it didn’t matter that another man was so obviously in love with her. He hated leaving Bastien and the guard behind, especially with Olivia taken too, but he couldn’t risk either woman. The relief on Drake’s face when they got her back safe and sound reflected his own. He could tell how badly Drake wanted to hug her, kiss her just as he was, and maybe that should have made him jealous but it didn’t, not the way he had been at the fling. The nights leading up to the wedding he had laid awake analyzing where his jealousy was truly coming from, he still didn’t have it figured out even weeks later. All he knew was he had come so close to losing her and he’d do anything it took to keep her in his life.
Liam was so lost in his thoughts he barely registered the knock on his study door, offering a soft “come in.” as he tried to pull himself from his thoughts.
Liam looked up to see Bastien enter, a worried expression on his face. Liam steeled himself for the worst, unsure of what could have the head of the Royal Guard so concerned.
“Your Majesty, we need to talk.” Bastien stated.
Liam nodded for him to have a seat unaware of the changes to come.
