Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls, #3)

by Laura Pavlov

Never be afraid to hold tight to your dreams. Big or small, they are yours and yours alone. Find yourself a dandelion and make a wish… And never stop believing. “Where some see a weed, others see a wish.”

Because Saylor Woodson didn’t need to be okay on my behalf. I’d walk through fire to make sure she was safe.

Maybe protecting my best friend’s little sister was just what I needed. She needed me, and maybe, in a weird way, I needed her, too.

Yeah, how about you pack your shit and go on over to the Outback and order yourself some shrimp on the barbie, you fake Australian motherfucker.

Saylor Woodson was my girl. Not in a sexual or inappropriate way, but in an I’d-walk-through-fire-and-kill-for-you kind of way.

I got back to work, because making her dreams come true was just as good as making my own dreams come true. Maybe even better.

Let the people I love the most have everything their hearts desire. It’s what I always wished for.

“Don’t be afraid of the dick, Dandelion. It’s my favorite piece of equipment.”

“Give or take,” River said. “We each chose different fonts and styles. And of course, King went and threw a flower on his.”

Fucking River. The guy never has much to say but manages to say exactly what he shouldn’t.

“I saw that on your shoulder before you pulled your shirt back on. It’s a yellow flow...

“It’s a weed,” Nash said over h...

I rolled my eyes and reached for my beer. “Says the guy who knows no...

“It’s a dandelion,” Cutler said proudly. “Uncle K...

Keeping something under wraps in this group was next to impossible. When I got the fucking tattoo, Saylor didn’t live here, and no one was the wiser. It was my thing. Just for me. Maybe a little for her. I looked up, and my gaze locked with hers briefly just as Ruby led Cutler from the table and turned the sprinklers on for him. He was running around ...

“Not anymore. I’ve been reading the Landmark Mountain series by Willow Aster, and these dudes have game. You guys could learn a thing or two from the Landmark brothers.”

Oooohhh I love the irl bestie plug🤣😭

“You are one naïve, bitter bastard.” I laughed. “How does a plastic surgeon sell a procedure he hasn’t had done to himself? How does a pharmaceutical rep sell drugs they don’t need to take? How does a lactose-intolerant ice cream maker sell ice cream he can’t eat? It’s about believing in it, not experiencing it.”

“So if I don’t kiss you, I don’t get to walk you home?” he teased, and I slapped him on the arm.

“No. It’s not that. But I already told you... I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Well, you’re stuck with me. So, d...

I huffed and didn’t respond. We walked in silence the rest of the way. When we made our way up the steps to my front door, I paused and turned around....

“Are you mad at me, Dandelion?” he asked, and he looked so tormented it took everything I had not to hug him. This was a pattern for me. Always trying to make everyone else feel better. Always putting ...

“I’m not mad. Not at all. I’m just…” I shook my head...

“Come on. Tell me what you’re thinking. We’ve never held back from one another. W...

“Okay. I have a father who didn’t fight for me. A father who let me go live with friends instead of stepping up and helping me and Hayes when we were taken from our home. A father with a lot of money who just chose not to help us. Help me. And I tend to be drawn to that. You know, finding people that don’t put me first. Grahame, my college boyfriend, is a perfect example. He loved me, but not enough to make me a priority. He always put football first. His family. His friends. And I finally had enough, but it took me a long time to realize that it’s a pattern for me. Me trying to be enough, you know? So here I am again, about to kiss a man I’ve known forever, a man I’m fairly certain is attracted to me, too, and—I’m still not enough.” I swiped at the tear that broke fre...

“Saylor,” he said, his voice strained as he moved closer. “That i...

“All right. I was honest with you. How about you grant me...

“You want the truth? I’ll give it to you. I’m so fucking attracted to you it’s painful. I haven’t been with a woman in months, and nobody knows that. I think about you all the time. But I’ve never been in a relationship. I don’t know if I’m capable. But that is on me, not on you. You are enough, I can assure you that. You are so much more than enough. I get off to thoughts of you every fucking day. Don’t you ever say that you aren’t enough because there is no one that compares to you.”

My breath hitched in my throat, and my eyes widened. “But…”

I loved the way she looked at me. Like I set the sun and hung the moon all at the same time. No one had ever looked at me the way Saylor Woodson did.

My eyes closed as guilt took over. I was being selfish. I wanted this piece of Kingston I’d probably always wanted since the first time he held my hand as I fell asleep. I want his heart. All of it. But it was something he couldn’t give to me.

Fuck yeah. I just want to make it official. Ruby said she’ll go to Vegas with me after Romeo and Demi’s wedding. She doesn’t want to take their rain cloud or some shit.

Steal their thunder, you dickoyster.

“You know what we were talking about in the car?”

“Yes.” She reached out with one hand and stroked the hair away from my face as I moved to stand between her legs.

“I sometimes wonder if maybe I’ve always been single because the only girl I really ever wanted w...

I knew I was playing with fire, but I was willing to get burned for this man. That’s how strongly I felt about him.

It’s scary as hell to feel this deeply about another person. Fuck. White vans, bees, and clowns had nothing on this shit. This was terrifying. Because if I messed this up, I knew I’d never recover. There was no doubt she was it for me.

I wasn’t sure what I was doing. My best friend was off fighting a beast of a fire, and here I was playing with fire. Knowing that when you play with fire, someone always gets burned.

Don’t be so sensitive, you dicksausage.

hope Midge puts the wrong cheese on your sandwich and you shit your pants, you lactose-intolerant dickgoober.

“Trust me, being vulnerable is never easy. But loving someone… it’s worth it, King.”

He led me to the back of the shop, and I came to a stop in front of a tall bookcase standing in front of me. I’d never seen anything more beautiful. It was painted in a very light sage green color and with a hand-painted dandelion with a darker green stem and white fluffball on one side, and some words scrolled around it in beautiful script. I moved closer and ran my fingers over the words as I read them. “Some see a weed. Others see a wish.”

He took me around to the back of the bookshelf, and there was a handwritten note with a sharpie. Dandelion, I finally know what I want to wish for… Love, King

The date was written below, and he smiled at me before speaking. “When I close my eyes, I see you. Every fucking time. Whether there is a dandelion in my hand or I’m sitting in my car or I’m on a jobsite. I. See. You. It’s always been you. When I tattooed this flower on my body beside Ride or Die, it was because I knew then what I was too afraid to say aloud.”

“What?” My voice shook as tears streamed...

“That I love you. I’ve always loved you. These last few months—this is what I’ve been wishing for. She’s ...

“It could be a murderer. It’s one o’clock in the morning,” Demi whisper-shouted as she ran to the kitchen. “I’m getting a knife.”

We were all on our feet and huddled together as we looked down to see a butter knife in Demi’s hand.

Ohhhh my sweet, sweet innocent Demi girl🤣😭

“Are you going to stab him or offer him some toast?” Ruby said over her laughter and peeked through the little hole in the door. “It’s freaking Romeo and Hayes.”