Page 25 of The P*ssy Next Door

Isak waved from his spot on the couch, his eyes glued to the video game on the screen. He was only a freshman rookie barely getting game time for the Dragons and already had more followers than the rest of us combined, except for maybe Everett who was sort of FlipFlop famous. “Hey, Willa.”

I introduced Penelope next, and I noticed how close she was sitting to Everett, their shoulders brushing. That was new. I made a mental note to grill the love guru on his own love life later. “And this is Penelope. She brings in the big numbers to our live streams when she's in town.”

Willa gave her a smile and a wave. “Hi, Penelope. Nice to have another girl at this testosterone fest. Have you known these yahoos long?”

Flynn straightened up as if that raised his hackles. “Hey, who you calling yahoo?”

Willa wrinkled her nose and glared right back at him. “You.”

“Right you are,” Gryff interjected. “Carry on.”

Pen laughed and threw some popcorn at the twins. She really was just one of the guys around us. “Just a few months. My boss is engaged to Declan.”

Willa glanced over at me like I'd committed a gossip sin. “Your brother got engaged?”

“Two of them actually.” The Kingmans were having a busy year when it came to the falling in love department. “Chris is finally fucking engaged to Trixie, and Declan is engaged to—” Flynn and Gryff played a drumroll on their consoles with their fingers. It was going to be fun to see Willa's reaction to this news. “—Kelsey Best.”

“What?” Her head jerked back, and she looked at me like I was either on crack or a god. “Kelsey Best. As in the best songs of all time “Book Boyfriend” and “Cozy Kind of Love”, and The Choicest Voice season three winner? That Kelsey Best?”

I shrugged. That was Kelsey, but while she was more famous than almost anyone else in the world, she was just a cool chick that was genuinely nice and almost family. “That's her.”

“I maybe just peed my pants a little bit. What the hell, Kingman?” She gave me a playful punch on the shoulder. “You've been holding out on me.”

I grabbed her fist and rubbed my thumb over her taut knuckles. “Everyone in the whole world seems to know, so you must have been living under a rock or something.”

“Wait, you work for Kelsey?” Willa asked, her eyes wide as she jerked away from me, shoved Everett aside, and sat on the couch next to Pen.

“I'm her assistant.” Pen grinned, nodding, and then did her now infamous intro to all her videos on social media, with the cute head tilt and the heart fingers. “Hey, Besties.”

“These two are practically family at this point,” Everett added, smirking at Willa's shocked expression.

Hmm. Family didn't look at family like that, Mr. Love Guru.

“Okay, I know I was out of the what's going on in America loop for the past three years, but damn.” Willa shook her head, laughing. “I have clearly missed a lot.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Gryff teased. “Stick around, and we'll catch you up on all the Kingman family drama. Can you say sex scandal?”

Willa was going to get permanent wrinkles in her forehead from how often her eyebrows were raised in surprise tonight.

The way she interacted with my brothers and Pen had a warm feeling spreading through my chest, filling in a place I hadn't realized felt empty until now. She fit in so effortlessly, trading quips with the boys and swapping travel stories with Penelope. This is what I'd been missing ever since I moved into this new house and started a big career.

Home.

Family.

Love.

Willa.

Shit.

She told me not to get too attached. Too fucking late.

“Who’s ready for some football?” I pretended I hadn't just thought any of that and started the prep for our live stream. Nothing like some good, old-fashioned competition to keep me on track.

Showtime was coming up and I pulled out extra controllers for Everett, Willa, and Pen. Pen waved it off and went and retrieved a couple of headsets, handing one to Willa too. “I like to play and whip the boys’ butts on occasion, but it's more fun to talk shit. It'll be a riot if you'll join in.”

Oh boy. This was going to be a wild live stream tonight. Good thing I'd upgraded my internet again.