“You’re supposed to protect the king as well,” I say. “There’s no difference.”
“Yes, there is,” he argues with me. “I’m in love with you. You’re going to be my wife. There is a layer of protection I don’t have with King Theo.”
“So then why trust him more?”
“I don’t,” Keller yells. “Jesus fuck.” He pulls at his hair. “This is fucking ridiculous. Just because I don’t want to crush you, you think I don’t trust you?”
“It’s not just that,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me about your parents?”
“I told you,” he says in frustration. “I didn’t want to get into it with the wedding planner right there. I would talk to you about it later tonight, but typical Lilly, you can’t just drop shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“Why don’t we sit down and talk?” Elias interrupts, clearly trying to defuse the bomb he set off.
“No,” Keller shoots back. “She wants to catch me, then we’re going to let her catch me.”
“I’m not going to catch you when you say it like that, with spite,” I reply, unsure why. My head is a jumbled mess, and self-preservation is at the forefront.
“Oh no, you’re going to catch me. You want to see how much I trust you, then stand behind me.”
“Not to prove a point, Keller,” I snap. “I want you to want me to catch you.”
“Fine, I want you to catch me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You know, if we just take a seat, we can discuss this in more detail.” Elias gestures toward the couches.
“So now you don’t trust me?” Keller asks.
“Oh no, I trust you. Don’t try to turn this on me. Do you want to see just how much I trust you?” Without warning, I spin around and toss my body backward. Because he’s the man that he is, he catches me before I even get close to the floor. “See?” I throw my hands up in the air as he rights me to a stand. I do it again. I flop backward.
He catches me.
Props me up.
I twirl and fall backward again, Keller right there to prop me back up.
“Stop it,” he seethes.
“Just proving a point,” I say.
“It’s proven.”
“Great.”
“Now catch me,” he says. “Get behind me and catch me.”
“Do you want me to catch you?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says through clenched teeth.
“Why do I feel like you’re just saying that?”
“Just catch me,” he yells right before he turns and leans back.
It all happens in slow motion.
