Page 67 of Wild King
“Hey, guys. Was there a house meeting I forgot about?” I mumble as I pass them on my way to the refrigerator, my attempt at a joke.
As usual, it lands like a lead balloon. Both Salem and Nathan look at me like they don’t know what to make of me or my lame humor.
“The two of us already ate,” Salem says. “We weren’t sure if you were interested, but we have some leftover Chinese.”
I shake my head as my stomach turns at the thought of Chinese food right now. “No, thanks. I think I’ll just snarf down some of Eleanor’s lasagna that’s still left.”
Behind me, the two of them mumble something before Salem says, “Your favorite cookies are still here. We ate some, but there are still a lot left. Do you want them?”
Grabbing the lasagna, I close the refrigerator door and go in search of a plate. When I find one in the cabinet, I dump out the entire contents of the tray onto it and stick it in the microwave to heat up. I could eat it cold since it’s great at any temperature, butsomething tells me filling my stomach with cold pasta tonight isn’t my best plan.
“Well, I think I’m going to head to my room. Have a good night, you two,” Nathan announces before walking out, leaving me with Salem.
I suspect she’s probably going to find some excuse to leave too since we haven’t talked for over a week. The word monster coming out of her mouth to describe me still echoes in my head.
Seems I deserved that. Probably deserved a lot more too, if I’m being honest with myself.
She doesn’t say anything as I eat my lasagna and down it with a glass of iced tea. I want to say something to her, but I don’t know where to start.
Thankfully, she finally starts talking, saving me from trying to find something clever to say. I’m all tapped out on that tonight.
“I wanted to tell you before, but you seemed to be focused on something else. I think I had a breakthrough today.”
Finally, a piece of good news in the sea of awful I’ve been trapped in. “Oh, yeah? A breakthrough sounds positive.”
She gives me a big smile and nods. “It is! I’m probably not technically the person who did it, but one of the major media outlets finally ran a story on your situation that wasn’t just a hit job. They actually did some real journalism and found out things about Gina we’ve known for weeks. Then the talking heads discussed the whole situation, and I have to say it wasn’t entirely all bad for you. I think people are starting to tire of the whole story, but even more, I think the public is questioning whether what happened was actually harassment at all.”
I smile, happy to hear some good news today. “Don’t underestimate yourself, Salem. I’m sure all the work you’ve been doing made that happen.”
My compliment comes out sounding flat. I don’t mean it like that. I’m just so damn tired of thinking about everything I’ve done wrong in the past few months.
Hating yourself is fucking exhausting.
She tilts her head and looks at me as I finish my dinner. “Are you okay, Kellen? You don’t sound like yourself.”
“Let’s hope not. The person I’ve been has been a real dick.”
Salem doesn’t say anything, but her gentle smile tells me she knows more than she’s letting on. Of all the people in the world, she definitely understands firsthand what kind of shit I’ve been, and that’s not even including having to deal with me all these weeks here stuck in this house trying to convince the world I’m a good guy while I’ve been doing my best to be the exact opposite to everyone I care about.
“Your brother stopped in to say hi to me when he was here earlier today. He seems like a good guy. He’s very different than you, Ronan, and Matthias. You’re downright gregarious most of the time. Ronan is sweeter, I think, but that might be because I’ve only met him twice. And Matthias is, how does Ava term it?”
I smile at her comment about Ronan being sweet. If she only knew the real version of my younger brother.
“Intense,” I say, finishing her sentence. “Matthias has always been that way. Maybe it’s oldest child syndrome or something like that.”
“Yes, that’s it. Intense. But Marius is almost aloof and stoic. It’s like he’s the polar opposite of you and your other brothers.”
Nodding, I can’t deny the middle King can be distant. Marius has been known to be downright cool, but once you get to know him, you know that’s just how he is until he really gets comfortable with someone.
“That’s only because he isn’t familiar with you. Wait until he gets to know you. Marius can be the raunchiest of us all when hegets going. Give him a few scotches, and that brother will make you blush with what comes out of his mouth.”
For a long moment, Salem doesn’t say anything. When she does, it’s my first sign of hope for us in a terrible week.
“I’d like to get to know him better.”
I study her expression and see she looks hopeful too.
Maybe we aren’t completely out of chances yet.