Page 32 of Wild King
I need to get the hell away from this place. Whatever my brothers and little miss Salem think is going to happen here, it’s not going to be me sitting here for months like some schoolboy sent to the corner for punishment.
Except there’s one problem. I have no car. I guess I could call a taxi or Uber, but there’s something about that idea that makes me feel pathetic.
But maybe I can find someone to help me out in that department.
Matthias insisted on taking my phone since he seems to think I’m going to blow up my life with a stupid social media post, but I made sure to keep my secret second phone for just this purpose. He thinks I’m going to use a phone to bother with social media? It’s like the man doesn’t know me at all.
Looking around, I don’t see Salem, so I slip my phone out of my shorts and call my friend Max. I’ve bailed his ass out too many times to count, so he owes me. I better not hear the word no when I ask him to spring me from this place.
“Kellen King! How the fuck are you?” he answers excitedly. “I guess I don’t need to ask that question, though. Dude, what the fuck was with that interview? That woman came hunting for you from the first damn question.”
I throw my hands up, thrilled someone finally understands what I was dealing with. “Thank you! That’s what I’ve been saying, but nobody around me wants to hear that. So much for journalistic integrity, right? What are you doing say around seven o’clock tonight?”
“What I usually do during the week. Nothing. Why?”
“I need your help. I’m stuck out at my grandmother’s house, and I need a ride to get away.”
He laughs at my sad predicament like I expected he would. “Sure. Why not? Where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“They took your car away? Dude, that’s harsh.”
I take a gulp of beer and set the bottle down on the patio next to me. “Tell me about it. My brother must have been a prisonwarden in a past life. The son of a bitch left me here carless and without anything to do.”
“Matthias? I thought you guys were close. What happened?” Max asks.
“He’s been a complete tool ever since he took over at King Industries. It’s like I don’t even know him anymore.”
“Well, I can pick you up at seven. Is it the house right down the road from your house? The house I used to pick you up at in high school?”
“Same one. I’ll be out near the road. Bring something to drink because I’m going to need it.”
“Got it. See you at seven!”
I stuff my phone back in my shorts and lie back to get some more sun. Matthias and Salem think they’re going to keep me here against my will?
Fuck them.
A little while later, I hear a noise in the front of the house. Let me guess. Matthias is having a moat dug to keep me prisoner.
As much as I know I shouldn’t bother to find out what’s going on, I’m so damn bored that I need something to entertain me. I have time, so watching a crew digging that moat might be interesting for a few minutes.
I make my way around the house and see a man who I swear might be Bigfoot. Just less hairy. He’s got to be nearly seven feet tall, and his arms look like he could crush a car. Who the hell is this guy?
He looks like he’s planning to stay for a while since he has a suitcase with him. Has my brother decided to rent out rooms here like it’s a hotel? The least he could do is send me someone hot. What the hell am I supposed to do with Sasquatch?
“Hey, man, what’s up? What are you doing here?” I ask the behemoth.
Setting his suitcase down, he extends his hand to shake mine. I watch as my fingers disappear in this guy’s palm and thank God he doesn’t seem to be a violent soul.
“Hi! I’m Nathan,” he says in a voice much softer than I expected out of someone his size.
“Hey, Nathan. I think you might be at the wrong place. This is a house, not a hotel or bed and breakfast.”
The guy smiles, and I see even his teeth are huge for a human’s. “No, I’m supposed to be here. I’m looking for someone named Salem. Is she here?”
For a second, I entertain the thought that Salem is dating this guy, but that doesn’t seem right. I can’t picture her with someone like him.