Royal Dilemma

Chapter Twenty-Nine

(Caleb's Point of View)

I let out a big breath and put my car into drive.

Charli's friend Piper is Colin's breakfast girl? I really did not see that coming. I wonder if Charli and I would've ended up meeting even if I hadn't gone to that bar last summer. Maybe I would've met her through Colin, I could've met her as me, then none of this whole mess ever would've happened.

It's too late to try and pursue her as me now. She knows my personality and a lot about my family, she'd probably put two and two together. I definitely have to keep my distance in order to not get caught.

What's the harm of eating at the restaurant every now and then, anyway?

We only talked for a few minutes. I don't think I would give myself away in just a few minutes. She won't even really get to know me in that time. I can still see her once in a while.

Colin's in my apartment when I get home, eating my leftover risotto from the night before at the counter.

"I was gonna eat that," I tell him as I slip my shoes off.

"I left some," he says with a full mouth. "Where ya been?"

"Out to lunch." I walk towards where he's sitting and linger at the counter in front of him.

"Thanks for the invite."

"I didn't realize we had to do everything together."

Colin rolls his eyes.

"You don't take me to breakfast with you," I point out.

"That's because I'm busy with the love of my life at breakfast."

Charli's shocked face when I told her Colin frequently talks about Piper pops into my head. What is he doing at breakfast that Piper's friend is surprised he's talking about her? If it's not glaringly obvious that he's into Piper then he's doing something wrong. He's been after her for months, why wouldn't he be talking about her to me?

I don't want to tell Colin about what Charli said, I don't want him to know about any connection between Charli and me at all. He never found out the identity of the girl I was seeing, he never asked either. I don't know if he doesn't care or doesn't want to know.

"About that breakfast girl," I say to him. "What exactly are you saying to her?"

Colin sets his fork down and wipes his mouth with a napkin. "What do you mean?"

"What's your big plan? Are you flirting with her? Working your magic?"

"She's immune to my magic." He stands up and walks his plate to my sink. "She's kind of no-bullshit so I dropped the whole Prince Charming thing a while ago."

"So what are you doing now?"

"I just talk to her normally," he says, sticking the plate in the dishwasher. He stands up straight and turns to me. "I figure if I like her I want her to like me for the real me, right?"

Colin's not stupid or anything but based on past experiences I'm surprised he came to those conclusions all on his own. I would've expected him to keep trying to charm her or to give up altogether. He must really like Piper.

"Can I meet her?"

He lets out a short laugh. "Hell no."

"Why not? I'm not going to embarrass you."

He shakes his head. "No way. You're not meeting her."

"I'm your best friend, I should get to meet her."

"Did I ever meet your girl?" He snaps.

I feel a pang in my chest. That was a bit of a low blow.

Regret passes across his face. "I just don't want to fuck anything up. I've been trying to get on her good side for so long, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere, I don't want to ruin it."

"I wouldn't say anything stupid," I assure him. "I'm not Joey."

Colin sighs and tips his head back. When he rights himself he looks resigned. "Fine, you can come with me sometime."

A grin makes its way onto my face.

He points at me. "If you say one thing I don't like, I'm taking your drawing pencils and snapping them."

"Understood."

Colin shakes his head again and starts walking towards the couch. I follow him and take the seat next to him.

"I'll be on my best behavior," I promise. "I won't mess anything up for you."

"Yeah, yeah." He picks up the TV remote and turns it on. "Have you worked on those graphics at all?"

Colin recently asked me to get started drawing the characters for his video game. It was kind of hard to figure out how to make them move at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

"I have all the characters done, I just need to work on the backgrounds and objects."

He nods. "I think I'm almost done once I change all that out."

"Do I get to see it before you give it to her?"

"Fuck no." He shakes his head. "It is way too embarrassing to ever show someone else."

"I wouldn't laugh."

"Nope. Not happening."

I reach out and flick his cheek and he swats at me.

"If you don't show me I'm telling Joey and Julian about it."

"If you do I'll tell Joey you talked shit about his cat."

I roll my eyes and snatch the remote out of his hand. "Then we're watching my show."

Colin sighs and leans back against the couch.

I mean it when I say I wouldn't do anything intentionally to mess Colin's thing with Piper up. I know he ended my relationship, but I wouldn't retaliate, no matter how angry I am about it. At the end of the day, he's still my best friend. I just want him to be happy.