Page 58 of Cruel King
My friend jumps in front of me and stops me, holding me by the shoulders. Staring down at my face, he frowns. “Did he make you cry? What did he say?”
Hanging my head, I sigh since crying and feeling bad is a constant in the history of Matthias and me. “Your father called me up to talk to him. Your brother was furious about it, and when I left your father’s room, he grabbed me and demanded to know what we talked about. Since your father told me it was something he wants me to keep to myself, at least for a little while, I refused to tell him.”
I stop as tears well up in my eyes again. “He said I’m just some stupid girl who doesn’t know her place.”
When I lift my head to look at Theo, he’s still frowning. I hate that I’m the one making him look like that. He’s always so happy and fun, and he’s barely home two days before he’s looking as unhappy as that asshole brother of his.
Theo gently sweeps the pads of his thumbs across the tops of my cheekbones to dry my tears. “Don’t listen to him, Ava. He’s the most miserable fuck around. I don’t know what his problem is with you specifically, but who cares? I’ll make sure if he decides to do something to your father or you that he won’t get away with it.”
I take a deep breath in and hold it in my lungs for a long moment before I let it out slowly, willing the negativity dealing with his brother forces on me to leave my body. “Thanks. I’m not super worried about it now, but thank you.”
He cradles my face in his hands and smiles. “Now let me see you give me a smile, or I’ll think I failed completely at this attempt to cheer you up.”
My smile pushes my cheeks up against his palms, and the warmth of his skin makes me feel new again, like I can forget all that terrible business with his brother and focus on being happy that I can do what Mr. King asked me to. I can’t tell Theo or anyone because he said to keep it quiet for now, but when it comes time, I’ll be able to fulfill his last wish from me.
“I’m okay. Thanks for listening to me bitch.”
He waves that away, rolling his eyes. “That’s bitching? I’m sorry to tell you, Ava, but that’s minor league bitching right there. You’re going to have to step it up a bit if you want to be thought of as a real bitch.”
I’m not sure I want that. Well, it might serve me well for when I have to deal with his brother, which unfortunately after what I learned today is going to be far more than I would like.
“Maybe I can take bitch classes. Do any of the local colleges offer that?” I ask with a chuckle.
Letting his hands slide off my cheeks, he laughs, and I’m so thrilled to see him happy again. “I think Bitchery 101 is generally taught in high school, to be honest. I’m thinking you might be too old to learn. I guess we’re all stuck with sweet little Ava Sutton.”
Instantly, my mood darkens. Poking my finger into his chest, I say, “Don’t call me that ever again. That’s your brother’s nickname for me, and as of today, it’s officially off-limits.”
Theo lifts his hands in front of him like he’s surrendering. “Got it. Not more little Ava. You’re not really little, so it doesn’t fit anymore anyway. Matthias is going to need to work on some new material to keep up with the times.”
I look back at the house, glancing up at his bedroom windows and scowling in case he’s looking out. “Matthias can go fuck himself and the horse he rode in on.”
When I start walking away toward my house, Theo laughs and joins me. “Damn. You really are angry at him. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say someone can go fuck himself. And you even ventured into bestiality too.”
Turning my head, I give him a look of complete disgust. “Gross.”
“I wasn’t the one who said he should go fuck a horse, which by the way I think is correctly termed the Catherine the Great treatment.”
Leave it to Theo to say that.
“Really? I swear you must have gotten some education in the world in the past five years.”
That makes him throw his head back in peals of laughter. “Just the usual stuff. To be honest, I’ve known that about Catherine the Great having sex with a horse since I was a teenager. Fifteen-year-old boys love that story.”
“I think I hate all men. You know that?” I say as I imagine a bunch of his friends and him sitting around getting excited by the idea of a woman having sex with a horse.
“Even me?” he asks in a hurt voice as he stops walking.
I turn around to look at him and shake my head. “All except you. And not your father, my father, my brother, Marius, Kellen, or Ronan either. Or the groundskeeper.”
That brings a smile back to his face, and he takes a few giant steps to reach me. “So basically the only man you hate is Matthias.”
“Yeah. Let’s not talk about him anymore, though, because if I see a bear, I’m going to punch it straight in the nose, and then you and I will have to run away fast because he’s going to be pissed.”
Theo nudges his elbow into my arm, pushing me a little off to the side as we head toward my house. “I think we need to give you a lesson in what bears are actually like.”
“Don’t ruin this for me. I’m enjoying the idea of being brave enough to punch a bear. I’d just pretend it has your brother’s face.”
Right before we reach my house, Theo stops me. “Hey, I was wondering if you’d like to go out again tonight. The Spring Festival wraps up today. I thought we could go check it out and see if anything’s changed from the last time we went together.”