“Do I look okay?”

I twisted and turned in front of the mirror nervously.

“For the hundredth time, you look amazing,” Felix told me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Seriously, can you fucking stop now? You’re making me nervous.”

“I just want to look good,” I whined. “It’s my first time meeting your parents. I want them to think I’m pretty, and smart, and good for you.”

“If they don’t, they’re more stupid than I remember them,” he told me with a grin, and I smacked him playfully.

He pulled me against him, his grip vice-like and impossible to get out of.

“Pretty girl,” he murmured against my lips, and I smiled when he kissed me.

We were going to a gallery opening that night, and I tried to ignore all the memories that whispered King’s name in my ear. I had met him at one of those, but this time, I was going to be playing a very different role. No more stand-in waitress, tonight I was going to be a guest with a posh invitation on expensive paper, and I was going to meet my boyfriend’s parents, and make an amazing impression.

I was nervous as hell, but I did my best to hide it and pretend it was all okay.

I wore a black dress this time around, a simple one with long sleeves that showed off my legs, but was covered up on top. I asked Felix if he thought I looked like girlfriend material, and he told me I looked like sex-toy material, to which I just rolled my eyes.

I leaned down to put my shoes on, my fingers shaking so much I couldn’t get the little ankle strap to work.

He leaned down next to me, his fingers helping me attach the straps and gliding up my legs once he was done.

“Definitely girlfriend material,” he told me seriously, and I smiled. I hoped his parents would think the same thing.

He’d recently confessed he hadn’t seen them in a whole year. While he didn’t seem to be too fussed when it came to his parents, I could tell he wanted to see his younger sister, Poppy. He spoke about her fondly, and I could tell he really cared about her. I’d asked if she’d be at the opening, and he told me she would. We were going through the mail, and the invitation was from his parents, for some kind of new artist they were trying to support, a woman named Daphne with no surname. I thought that was weird.

I managed to convince Felix to go to the opening with me. He wasn’t crazy about the idea, but I could tell he wanted to see his sister, and I pushed those buttons until I finally got a nod from him.

It didn’t make me any less nervous though, and the thought of meeting his family had me shaking.

We got into a cab in the evening, and Felix looked uncomfortable as hell in his suit. I couldn’t help but giggle as he shrugged his shoulders, as if the blazer would magically disappear if he wiggled enough in it.

“By the way,” he said on the way there, once I’d finally stopped teasing him about his outfit. “Maria’s going to be there.”

“What?” I gave him an excited look. “How do you know? Are you sure?”

“I thought you might be a little nervous,” he replied with a grin. “So I got her on the guest list. She texted me this morning, said she was coming for sure.”

“Oh, thank you,” I breathed, kissing his cheek, because anything else in that cab felt weird, given my history with cars. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see her and your family!”

He looked brooding as he nodded, looking out the car window, and I left him alone with his thoughts. It was obvious he needed some time to think, and I wasn’t going to bother him. I could tell this was a big deal for him, and I already felt bad enough, thinking I was forcing him to do something he didn’t want to.

From what I could understand, there hadn’t really been a dividing fight in his family. He just didn’t want to inherit his father’s hotel empire, and after spending years in school, he rebelled and left. It didn’t seem to me like his parents held a grudge, more like they were just worried about him. I’d tried to talk to him about it, but he seemed very closed off about the subject.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to find out more about him, meet his family and especially his little sister. He spoke of her fondly, and she was just about my age as well.

We pulled up in front of the venue minutes later, and Felix helped me out of the car. My eyes widened.

It was on the same street as the last gallery opening I went to, but it was a famous art quarter in the city, so I tried not to think about it.

We walked inside, my arm hooked through his, and my steps shaky as he led me into the beautifully lit-up building.

There were lights in the ceiling, tiny little pinpricks of light that made the whole room look beautiful and almost fairytale-like. The art was similar and unusual for a place this modern. It seemed like Daphne favored woodland scenes, and I’d heard she put a fairy in all of her paintings if you looked close enough. They were huge canvases, too, not really abstract but different for sure. They were the first thing I noticed when I walked in, and I had to tear myself away from those scenes so I could join Felix again.

“I can see them now,” he grunted in my ear. “Jesus fuck, why did I think this was a good fucking idea?”

“Felix!”

I looked up to see a girl running towards us. She was a brunette, pretty and slight, and she looked beautiful in a navy dress.

And then she was wrapping her arms around Felix’s neck, and if they didn’t look so very much alike, I would’ve been jealous of her obviously intimate motion.

“And you must be Sapphire,” she told me with a big grin once she pulled away.

I smiled awkwardly. She must’ve been a few years older than me, maybe twenty-one, and I thought it would make things so uncomfortable, but she didn’t even mention it. Just hugged me tightly and I let her, because it felt nice.

“So happy to finally meet you,” she gushed. “I can’t believe he’s been keeping you all to himself.”

She glared at her brother and I giggled.

“Nice to meet you too, I’m so happy to be here,” I said with a big smile. “I can’t wait to meet your parents as well.”

“I think you’ll like them,” she winked at me, then turned her attention back to Felix. “I’m not letting you ignore us like that ever again.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, and she smacked him playfully.

“Whatever you had to deal with after Grandpa died has taken long enough,” she went on, surprising me with her honesty and directness. “I think you should be back with your family. That’s what he would have wanted.”

He never got a chance to reply, as a couple in their late fifties approached us, smiling wide.

His mother was a beautiful woman, who aged gracefully and naturally, wearing a simple coral dress. His father wore a suit, and looked like the jolly old uncle everyone loved. I’d seen him on TV and in magazines before, and always thought he looked like a nice man. As we started talking, that proved to be true, and I liked his mom as well. She’d pulled me aside and mentioned she was a former beauty queen, and I could definitely win some pageants if I wanted to, so I should let her know if I was interested. It made me giggle.

Maria showed up a little while later, and joined our little group. It felt so good to have her there, during one of the most important moments in our relationship, and I whispered as much in her ear. She rewarded me by kissing my cheek and we both giggled when we remembered a different kiss a little while ago.

We were the chattiest group in the gallery for sure. And for once in my life, I felt happiness so strong I didn’t even have time to think of anything else.

I did realize the same catering company was serving this event as the last time, and it made me grin thinking about that guy… Elliott I think his name was, shouting at everyone in the back. I kept my eyes trained in case I saw Veronica. I wanted one last laugh.

Then, someone got a microphone and announced the artist had just pulled up in front of the gallery. The whole place stirred, and we welcomed her with a round of applause. Except for Felix, who took the chance to wrap a hand around my waist and bite my neck, to which I giggled and tried to hide it as best as I could. I caught his sister watching, and she winked at me.

I couldn’t see Daphne when they announced her arriving, and a throng of people lined up to speak to her. I only caught glimpses of her, red hair, curvy, sexy body in a black leather dress. She was beautiful from what I could see.

And then the crowd finally parted, and it was our turn to say our congratulations.

But instead of the amazing artist herself, all I could see was the man with her.

My man, my King.

I thought my legs were going to give out on the spot, but I forced myself to stand still. I forced myself not to react the way I wanted to, not that I even knew what that was. Would I have ran, or would I have begged him to take me back?

It was so obvious they were together. The way he looked at her with affection, the way his hand lingered on the small of her back.

I hated her, I hated her so much I thought I’d just start crying on the spot.

I felt Felix tense when he noticed him as well, but it was a moment too late. We were already in line to congratulate the artist next.

“Hi, so lovely to meet you,” she purred. She had a hint of a foreign accent, and I took her hand and gave her a robotic smile as she shook it.

I felt King’s eyes on me, and I felt Felix’s hand on my back, his fingers digging into my skin. I wanted to scream.

“You too,” I murmured back.

“This is my partner, Mr. King,” she went on, and my gut twisted when those words left her mouth. I knew I was going to be sick, but I made myself look at him, just one time, one last time.

He was still too handsome for words, still just as painfully dominant as he was in the beginning. And he stared at me like he knew exactly what was going through my head.

“Nice to meet you,” I whispered, and he took my hand in his, and kissed it. His lips lingered on my skin, but I pulled my arm away when I knew we were being stared at. I felt the rage coming off Felix, I knew he was about to make a scene, and it scared me.

“Hello,” King told me in his velvet, deep voice, and I took a step back.

The look in his eyes, the look that spoke of everything that had happened between us, and held a promise of so much more. He wanted me, he still wanted me, I was sure of that now.

I pulled away from him, from them both. I pulled back into the crowd, my eyes still on his.

“I’m sorry, if you’ll excuse me,” I whispered, and then I turned on my heel and walked away as quickly as I could before I did something monumentally stupid.

Once I got to the ladies’ room, I was practically running.

I got into the cubicle and threw up in the toilet. Twice.

I gripped my stomach as I went outside and washed my mouth. I felt sick. So fucking sick.

Poppy was waiting for me in the room, and she looked concerned.

“I’m so sorry about that,” she told me, and I could tell she was clueless about what happened. “It was so stuffy in there. Felix is waiting for you–”

Before she could finish, he burst through the doors of the bathroom.

“We’re leaving,” he said in a cold voice, and for once, I didn’t argue.