Royally Entangled

by Catherine Banks

  “I’m Foxfire. Everyone calls me Fox though.”

  I shook his hand and smiled back, my shoulder dropped forward, and my breath released in a content sight. “I’m Jolie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Jolie. You must be new to town.”

  “How’d you know?”

  “I visit this park often, and this is the first time I’ve seen you. I would remember if someone as beautiful as you had come through here before.”

  My smile widened. “Flirt.”

  He chuckled, stood up, brushed his butt off, and then held his hand out to help me stand. I accepted, letting him pull me into a standing position before I wiped off my butt to get rid of the grass and dirt.

  “I’m sorry I interrupted your meditation session,” he told me.

  I laughed. “It wasn’t much of a session, as you could tell.”

  “Troubles at home?” he asked, the edge of his smile slipped slightly.

  I shook my head. “No. Just started a new job here, and I’ve only been here a few days, so it’s been a bit crazy.”

  He waved toward the park’s main path. “Care to go for a walk?”

  His eyebrow ticked up a little when he asked, and my heart fluttered.

  “I’d love to,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as breathless as I felt.

  We continued down the path, side by side, the wind whispering through the canopy of trees. There wasn’t another soul in sight, and for that, I was glad.

  “Do you work, Fox?” I asked, once I’d worked up the nerve. I could flirt with Rhys like a pro, but something about Fox made me feel childish and inexperienced.

  He nodded. “I’m on my lunchbreak right now.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Does that mean that I might get a chance to see you again during the week?” he asked.

  His eyebrow did that thing again, this time paired with a smirk that made me feel weak in the knees.

  “Only if you’re very nice,” I said, not letting on to my infatuation as I flipped my hair over my shoulder.

  “I’m always nice,” he replied, and with that, he produced a silver rose out of thin air into his palm. He held it out to me, and I gratefully accepted it.

  “Wow,” I whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Not nearly as beautiful as you.”

  So, he was a sweet talker, too! I couldn’t contain my smile as I pressed my nose to the flower to smell. It had a muted scent, but it was calming and reassuring, just like his presence.

  “Thank you,” I said from behind the rose before offering my smile to him directly.

  We walked in silence for another five minutes, enjoying the flowers and trees, a small reprieve from the city life that surrounded the park. It smelled clean and fresh here, reminding me of my small hometown and the fields that had surrounded my house.

  We didn’t get nearly enough time together before he told me he had to get back to work.

  He dipped his head forward slightly, then looked up, and asked, “Would you meet me here tomorrow?”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, immediately warm and open to the idea. “I’d like that.”

  He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to me. “If you’ll please…”

  I entered my phone number and name into his contacts and sent myself a message with his name, so that I wouldn’t be surprised if he texted me later.

  “All set,” I said, handing his phone back with a smile.

  He kissed my cheek and waved as he walked away. I twirled the rose as I went back to work and inhaled the slightly sweet smell that it gave off. I might as well have been walking on air as I strode back into the building.

  “Who gave you that?” Justina asked.

  “None of your business,” I whispered, not letting the fact that I had added a third guy already to my phone book bother me. Or the fact that she would definitely have something to say about it.

  She rolled her eyes and went back to working.

  I sent a message to Rhys, not wanting him to think I had forgotten about him.

  Me: Works been crazy. Dinner on Saturday?

  Rhys: I was worried that you had forgotten about me.

  Me: No way that I could forget about you.

  Rhys: Dinner sounds great. 7?

  Me: Okay. You pick the place, and message me the address, and I’ll meet you there.

  Rhys: Can’t wait.

  I would spend the day with Deryn, and then go out with Rhys for dinner. I was a single woman and I didn’t have any attachments to these men. So, there was no reason that I couldn’t date a few of them.

  After work, I went out to a nearby bar and sipped on a vodka lemonade while I people watched. It was one of the best ways to figure out what the town was really like, and what went on. There were various races in the bar. Among them were werewolves, elves, dragons, and even some mages. There were way more humans though, our race taking up at least seventy percent of the population of the bar.

  “Hello, is this seat taken?” an incredibly deep male voice asked.

  I turned and smiled wide. He was hot, incredibly hot. What luck I seemed to be having!

  “No, it’s not taken.”

  He sat down and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Nico.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said with a smile, but didn’t shake his hand, picking my drink up to give me an excuse.

  With a flick of his wrist, he produced a playing card. “Would you like to see a trick?”

  I turned to face him fully and nodded with a wide smile. “Yes, please.”

  He snapped his fingers and a red rose appeared, a smile spread, and he set it down on the bar top in front of me. Then, he showed me his hands, front and back. The next instant, he held a full deck of cards and was shuffling them.

  I clapped and he chuckled. “I haven’t done the trick yet.”

  “I’m still impressed,” I told him.

  He showed me the cards, front and back – they looked like normal cards. “Watch closely,” he whispered. He shuffled the cards again and then, they changed, the symbols turning blue and purple instead of red and black.

  “Wow,” I said and clapped again.

  He continued shuffling and they returned to black and red. He bowed his head and smiled.

  My liquid courage was in full effect at the moment, plus the fact that I’d managed to get dates with some other pretty hot males this week. I hoped three would be enough, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if I couldn’t add him as the fourth to my phonebook.

  “Would you like me to show you a trick?” I asked him.

  “You, show me a trick?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  He waved his hand at the bar top. “Please.”

  I wrote my name and phone number on a napkin, folded it in half, took the glass of water that was next to me, put the folded napkin into it, slid a coaster on top of it, flipped it over so that it was upside down, and then pulled the coaster out. This left my number in the folded napkin inside of the water with no easy way for him to get it.

  I stood up and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for the show. Hopefully, I hear from you soon.” Quickly, before he could say anything to me, I turned and left.

  His laugh was deep, and rumbled all the way across the noisy bar as I left.

  I was chuckling to myself as I typed a message into the group chat with my clan, telling them about the joke I had just played on Nico. They all agreed that it was great, and if he figured out a way to get my number, he would definitely call me and I should give him at least one date. I slid my card through the reader to open the apartment building door and replied to another message on my phone, looking down as I walked inside, towards the elevator.

  “Jolie!” four male voices called out at the same time.

  I jerked my head up and felt a knot form in my throat. Rhys, Deryn, Fox, and Nico stood together in front of the elevator, waiting for the doors to open.

  Oh no. They all know each other!
<
br />   “Wait,” Rhys said to the others. “How do you know her?”

  “How do you know her?” Fox asked.

  “What is happening?” Deryn asked.

  I kept my head down and was about to head to the stairs, but the elevator arrived. They walked in first, lining up along the back of the elevator and looked at me expectantly, Rhys holding the door open for me. I stepped inside, pushed my floor, and felt as small as a mouse with all of them towering over me. Their stares were heavy, pressing upon me as the elevator moved up.

  What was I going to do?

  “You live here?” Rhys asked.

  I nodded. “Just moved in. Which one of you live here?” I hadn’t turned around, worried to see what the expressions on their faces might be.

  “All of us,” Nico replied with a soft laugh. “We all wondered who the new resident was. I had no idea it would be you.”

  “So, it seems you’ve met the four of us already,” Deryn said. “Sort of funny, right?”

  I spun around, worried they were mad and needing to defend myself.

  “I didn’t know you guys knew each other. I met you all randomly and…”

  “It’s okay,” Fox said and smiled reassuringly at me.

  I wasn’t so sure. My floor came up and I rushed out, getting into my apartment and locking my door with a groan. What the hell was I going to do? They all lived here. They all knew each other.

  My phone beeped and I wasn’t shocked to see it was one of them.

  Deryn: We still hanging out tomorrow?

  He still wanted to hang out? Had they talked? Maybe he didn’t know that I’d slept with Rhys.

  Me: Yeah, if you’re still up for it.

  Deryn: Definitely!

  Chapter 3

  I stood outside of Deryn’s apartment and fidgeted with my hair. I had told him I would come over, but now I was nervous. What if they confronted me instead of wanting to hang out?

  Taking a breath for courage, I knocked on the door. Might as well get it over with.

  Deryn opened the door and smiled. “Jolie! Come on in.”

  “Thanks,” I replied with what I hoped was a nice smile.

  His apartment was pretty large, at least two bedrooms, and had a huge living room where Fox was sitting, playing a video game.

  He turned and smiled at me. “Hey, Jolie.”

  “Hi, Fox,” I said with a little wave, shocked that he was here. Wasn’t I supposed to hang out with Deryn?

  Fox was playing the newest first-person shooter, a game I had been considering getting, but wasn’t certain it was good enough to draw me away from Ghost 2.

  “How do you like it?” I asked him and leaned on the back of the couch, while I watched him play. Deryn’s TV was huge, at least eighty inches. I was totally jealous and possibly drooling a little at how amazing the graphics looked.

  Our building had incredibly fast internet speeds as well, so the frames per second were maxed and there was no lag.

  “I love it so far. I’m just doing the campaign,” he replied, shooting one guy and blowing up another guy with a sticky grenade.

  “Haven’t given PVP a chance yet?” I asked with a smirk. A lot of the gamers I knew avoided the player versus player aspect of the game for as long as they could, because they became rage monsters. I was also one of the rage monsters when playing PVP, but it took a lot to make me rage.

  “He rages worse than anyone else,” Deryn told me. “We had to ban him from playing one game because he wouldn’t stop breaking controllers.”

  “I replaced each of the ones I broke,” Fox countered.

  “Do you guys live together?” I asked curiously.

  Deryn shook his head. “No, Fox lives across the hall. He comes over to try the new games that I get, though.”

  “Sweet,” I said and looked at the entertainment center where my eyes widened. “You have every single console,” I whispered and headed towards it. It was calling to me. All of the old consoles that I had played with as I grew up, and some I hadn’t been able to get.

  “Yep,” Deryn said with a satisfied smirk. “Even the oddball ones that didn’t really have a purpose like the Mini Sub One.”

  “Do you have games for all of these?” I whispered as I almost began to worship his collection.

  “What do you want to play?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Road Bashers 3?” I asked. It had been a childhood favorite of mine, but it was rare and incredibly expensive now.

  “Mind if I stay and play?” Fox asked.

  “Not at all,” Deryn replied and then looked at me. “Okay with you?”

  I smiled and nodded. “It’s a party game, after all.”

  Deryn set up the game and I took a seat on the couch in the middle. Deryn and Fox sat on either side of me and we all grabbed a controller and prepared to play. The music came on, and I immediately got the chills.

  “Oh man,” I whispered excitedly. “It’s been so long since I’ve played this.”

  We spent three hours playing Road Bashers 3, teasing and messing with each other like the three of us were old friends. They were so easy to be around. It was strange for me to feel so safe and comfortable with them when I barely knew them, but here we were. When we finally decided to turn it off, Fox kissed my cheek and then waved as he left the apartment, yawning.

  “That was fun,” I told Deryn. I would have kept playing except that I had my date with Rhys and I didn’t want to be late for it.

  He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t had that much fun playing a game in a long time.”

  “I should get home,” I whispered and headed towards the door. He trailed behind me, then leaned against the wall next to the door. “I really did have a lot of fun tonight,” I told him.

  He brushed my hair behind my ear and whispered, “I’m glad.” His lips were warm and soft as he slid them across mine. It was a sweet kiss, and yet, it made my hormones rage. “We should play again soon,” he whispered.

  I nodded and kissed his cheek once before leaving his apartment and running right into Rhys.

  “Oh,” I gasped.

  He smiled. “Hello.” He looked up at the apartment number and his smile disappeared as he asked, “Were you on a date with Deryn?”

  “I played some games with him and Fox,” I explained. “I had planned on going back to my place to finish getting ready.” After glancing at my phone and confirming that there was still half an hour before our date, I asked, “Unless you’re ready now?”

  “Go ahead and freshen up. I need to talk to Deryn really quick,” he told me with a smile.

  I kissed his cheek and then went to the stairs to walk down to my floor. I threw open the door and almost screamed when Nico was there. I put my hand to my chest and dropped my head. “Mage’s Mana!” I exclaimed.

  “What?” Nico asked with a chuckle.

  “You startled me,” I explained and exhaled loudly. “Sorry.”

  He pushed open the door for me and stepped to the side. “No, my fault.” I stepped past him and he whispered, “Your trick was great, but one thing you didn’t know…” He snapped his fingers and the napkin I had written my number on appeared in his hand, dry and smudge free. “…I’m a mage.”

  My eyes widened as I stared at him in disbelief. A mage. Wow. I had no idea.

  “Good to know,” I whispered and smiled before skipping down the stairs to my floor.

  It only took me a couple of minutes to get my hair brushed and touch up my makeup. I did a twirl in front of my floor-length mirror and then went to the living room. As soon as I sat down on the couch, someone knocked on the door.

  Rhys smiled at me when I opened it. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, stepping into the hall, and turned, closing and locking my door.

  He pushed the elevator button and looked at me with a tilted head. “You’re an enigma.”

  “What? How?” I asked.

  “You’re gorgeous, but single. Normally that’s b
ecause the girl is crazy. However, you don’t seem crazy.”

  “You’ve only spent one night with me,” I reminded him. “I could quite possibly be hiding my crazy.”

  He smirked. “That is possible, but you’re forgetting that you’ve also spent time with all of my friends.”

  My cheeks warmed and he noticed.

  “All of them were raving about you,” he informed me. “Deryn couldn’t stop talking about how much fun he had with you today. This is the first time that I’ve heard him talk about a girl. It’s definitely the first time I’ve heard him talk about a girl he hasn’t slept with.”

  “How do you know if I’ve slept with him or not?” I asked defensively.

  “We’re best friends,” he replied. “We tell each other everything.”

  “So, they know that we…”

  “Yes, but not the circumstances or details.”

  “And what did they have to say when they learned I’ve dated all of you, but you and I have slept together?” I asked nervously.

  “There were a couple high fives, and we all agreed that you’re pretty awesome,” he said and hit the stop button on the elevator, making it freeze between floors.

  I glanced at it nervously and fought the urge to rush forward and hit the button. He walked towards me slowly, stopping a foot or so away from me.

  “Why was I the only one you slept with?” he asked.

  The others weren’t really in situations that allowed for it.

  “I just, didn’t…” I replied softly.

  “But you want to,” he stated.

  “I’m single,” I reminded him. “And I had no idea that any of you knew each other, or that you all lived here. I met four sexy males at different times and they all wanted to spend time with me. I don’t think it’s wrong that I went out with you all. I don’t think it’s wrong that I had sex with you. I don’t think it would be wrong for me to sleep with one, or all, of the others either. None of us are attached or taken. Am I wrong?”

  “No, you are not wrong,” he agreed. He reached out slowly and then pulled me forward against him. “I’m not selfish enough or possessive enough to try to make you choose. I wish I was the only one, but you have done nothing wrong and are still doing nothing wrong.”