Page 52 of Wild King
A knock at my bedroom door rouses me from my thoughts, so I yell, “Come in!” Maybe it’s Salem and we can try to have a conversation without it going to shit by the second sentence I utter.
My door slowly opens, and it’s not Salem.
“Tell me they don’t make you stay in here twenty-four seven,” Ronan says with a chuckle as he steps into my room. “If I knew it was like this, I would have brought you a cake with a file inside.”
I sit up and laugh at his lame joke. My younger brother has the worst sense of humor. It’s actually stunning how unfunny he is.
“No, I’m free to roam about the house and the yard. What are you doing here?”
He walks over to the only chair in the room and sits down hard. “No reason. Can’t a guy visit his brother?”
I study his expression to detect the truth of his visit, but I can’t figure it out. “Yeah. I just thought maybe after that night atthe house that we were on the outs. You haven’t texted or called me ever since.”
Ronan shrugs. “I’ve been busy. You know how it is. You plan to message someone, and the next thing you know, it’s a week later.”
Looking around my room, I say, “I used to be like that. Now if someone texted me, I swear to God I’d be texting them back a minute later. I’m officially lame.”
He folds his arms behind his head like he’s stretching after a workout and laughs. “You’ve always been lame. Now it’s just more obvious.”
Leave it to my younger brother to remind me what having brothers is like. And here I thought Matthias was the only pain in the ass.
“Did you see that giant our wonderful brother sent to live here to make sure I don’t make an attempt at escaping?”
“Yeah. I heard you tried to make a jailbreak, but that guy practically stopped the car with his foot.”
Fucking Matthias has been busy telling stories about my time here. Nice.
“I saw your other housemate too. How bad has that been?”
At least my older brother hasn’t been hearing chapter and verse about what’s been happening with Salem and me. That doesn’t surprise me, though. She’s a class act. I don’t imagine she spends her time running to Matthias to give him a report every time she and I talk.
“Salem’s okay. I try not to bother her much since she’s the person who’s going to help me not be villain of the year.”
A shit eating grin spreads across my brother’s face, and before he says a word, I know what he’s thinking. Ronan and I have been best friends from the day he came into this world, so I know exactly what’s on his mind.
“If you’re wondering if I’ve slept with her here, the answer is no. That was what you were thinking, right?”
He shakes his head and chuckles. “You know me too well. So no getting busy with her? Why not?”
“You were there for the part where I told you and Marius that I bailed on her down in the islands, remember?”
“I was, but I also know something about women, and there’s no way she needs to stay here with you all these weeks, dude. Hell, she could have told Matthias she needed him to figure out how to keep you out of the public eye, and he would have sent that guy to handle things. She’s here because she likes you. I’m disappointed you didn’t figure that out on your own.”
Having my younger brother tell me about women is the final act of humiliation the universe can send me. At least I hope it is.
“First of all, how do you know anything about women? I have more fingers than you have women you’ve slept with.”
I don’t bother with second of all because he’s right. I didn’t even think of the possibility that Salem wanted to be here with me.
My insult to my younger brother’s sexual prowess misses the mark entirely. “I don’t have to be like you to understand women, Kellen. You just sleep with them. I actually talk to them and spend time with them. Big difference.”
Ladies and gentlemen, Ronan King, the nicest version of the King brothers. Leave it to him to think the friend zone is a good place to live.
“Just stop. You talk to them. So what? Why do you act like you aren’t looking for the same thing I am? When the hell did it become a crime to want to have sex?”
He shakes his head and sighs. “Nobody said it’s a crime. I’m just saying I talk to them. Then I sleep with them. We both get to the same end point. I just do it with a little more finesse.”
Finesse. Whatever. He talks to women, so nobody thinks he’s the bad guy. I’m upfront with what I want, and I’m a villain.