Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
K ellen
All day, I’ve avoided Salem. I don’t know why. Well, that’s not entirely true. Part of me doesn’t want to talk to her because I’m pretty sure we’re going to have another argument. But another part of me just doesn’t want to talk to anyone today.
I’ve spent most of the past four hours sitting here in my bedroom thinking about my mother and how hard it was when she died. Everyone always said Ronan had it hardest because he was so young when we lost her, but I was only two years older. Just because I didn’t break down into a puddle of tears when she died didn’t mean it didn’t hit me hard.
How proud she’d be of me now. An underling at the family business. Accused of sexually harassing a co-worker. Forced to take a leave of absence from my job because of that mess.
Oh, yeah. She’d be thrilled.
I try to remember my mother’s face, but it’s been so long since I saw her that it’s nearly impossible. I can make out shadows of what I recall she looked like, but that’s it. I remember her eyes most. Big and brown, just like mine. She could look at a person and say a thousand words without uttering a sound just by staring into their eyes.
As I think about her and try to reconstruct all the good times we had together, I can only remember one time when she and I were alone. That wasn’t her fault, though. Having five kids meant none of us really ever got to be alone with her. That gift was one Matthias only got to enjoy, and that only lasted a couple years until Theo came along.
In my mind, I see her standing by one of the big floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room at the old house. She’s wearing a sundress, maybe pink since it was her favorite color, and she’s waving me over to her. She holds a small box in her hand and smiles at me when I stop in front of her.
I remember that day. She was already sick, but none of us knew it. Even my father didn’t know. My mother knew, though. She knew she wouldn’t be around for long.
Taking a deep breath, I let the memory unfold. She opens the box and inside a watch sits in a cushion of deep blue velvet.
“I found this when I was cleaning out my closet this morning, Kellen. It was your grandfather’s. When you grow up and take over the world, I want you to have this.”
She places the box in my hand, and I look down at the gold watch with diamonds around the face. “Can I wear it before I grow up?” I ask, eager to show it off to my brothers.
My mother shakes her head. “Not yet, honey. But promise you will when you are older and a titan of industry.”
That’s what she always said I’d be. A titan of industry.
I’ve never worn that watch a single day in my life. It still sits in that blue velvet inside that black box. I forgot about it for a long time, and then when I did see it right after I graduated from college, I couldn’t bring myself to put it on.
My mind flashes forward to the day she died. I was so angry at her. It wasn’t right or rational, but I was. The one member of my family that always noticed me was gone.
My father never paid as much attention to the three of us in the middle like he did with Matthias and Ronan. As the oldest, Matthias held all my father’s hopes for King Industries, despite the fact that all I ever wanted was to take after Maximillan King and Matthias would have killed to be released from all those expectations my father had for him. And Ronan was the baby, and for whatever reason, that meant something.
But Theo, Marius, and I were merely his sons. Sure he loved us, but we weren’t the ones he focused on. That meant we got away with a lot more than Matthias and Ronan, but that never made up for how much I missed my mother.
I wish she was here now. So much of what happened after she died would have been different if she was still around.
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 at the 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.
“So riddle me this, Mr. I Talk To Women. Don’t they think it’s going somewhere other than just fucking with all that chatting them up?”
For a moment, Ronan seems to think about my question as I smugly wait for him to answer. He’s no different than I am. He just makes it seem like he is, which I personally think is worse than just being the kind of guy I am.
My brother lets out a heavy sigh. “Let me see if I can explain this to you. Yes, I want to sleep with the women I talk to. I never said I was promising anyone forever. I just think getting to know someone before you end up in bed with them is better. Maybe if you had talked to Salem before sleeping with her, you wouldn’t have had to duck out like some criminal fleeing the scene of a crime and instead you could have been honest with her.”
So much for my being smug. Now I’m being schooled on how to get women by my younger brother.
“You do know I’m right about Salem, though. Don’t you? She doesn’t have to stay here to do her job. She wanted to be around you.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe she did want to be out here with me. Doesn’t change the fact that I fucked up.”
My brother looks at me strangely for a long moment. “Is that regret I hear in your voice?”
I roll my eyes at his attempt to psychoanalyze me. “No. Yeah. Maybe. What’s it matter? Some things can’t be undone.”
“Don’t bet on it.”
As much as I wish he was right, nothing about all the time Salem and I have been living together here in this house has shown me she’s willing to give me another chance. True, I keep messing up, but why would she want to try anything with me?
I’m the guy the world hates who also happens to be the guy who ghosted her and left her standing alone in a hotel suite. Not exactly a winning hand to play there.
Needing to change the subject, I stand up and begin walking toward the door. “Join me outside for a drink? It’s my midday beer time,” I joke.
Ronan follows me, but the look he gives me says he thinks I’m turning into an alcoholic. I’d explain there’s nothing much else to do here, but I doubt he’d understand.
As we walk down the steps to the main floor, he says, “Isn’t that the room we used to sleep in when we were kids and would visit grandma and grandpa?”
I nod, smiling as I remember the two of us as little boys sleeping in that bed together. “Yup. How’s that for a trip down memory lane? The big difference is none of our big brothers are coming to sneak me out at night.”
Even as I say that, I know one of them would if he was still here.
We laugh about the time Marius fell down the ladder and nearly broke his arm when they came to get us after our grandparents fell asleep for the night one Saturday. Like me, Ronan remembers those as good times.
It was the five of us against the world. How did it all change?
After grabbing a couple beers, we head outside to the patio and sit on the two chaise lounge chairs I think might be throwbacks to when our grandparents were our age. As we talk about what he’s been up to since I last saw him that night at Matthias and Ava’s, Salem walks around the house and stops dead like she’s surprised to see the two of us.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were with someone,” she says quietly as she turns around to walk back to the front of the house.
“It’s okay. It’s just my brother. Remember him? He’s the youngest King,” I say, hoping she’ll stay and hang out.
My brother stands up and walks over to her to shake her hand. “Ronan. My brother has the manners of a tree stump. How are you enjoying your time here?”
“Hi, Ronan. It’s good to see you again. It’s been okay. I’ve been working most of the time, but we got pizza from that place your brother liked. Sam’s? Sally’s?” she says, looking over at me.
“Sal’s,” I say.
Ronan nods. “Oh, yeah. Sal’s is the best. Did Kellen tell you how I used to spit out my pizza because I always took a bite before it cooled off? I swear he’s told that story to every person he’s ever had pizza with.”
The two of them slowly make their way over to the patio, and Salem sits down in the chaise lounge Ronan had just been sitting on. “He did! I don’t think I got the joke at the time, but now seeing you, I can imagine it was quite funny when that happened.”
Shaking my head, I sigh in frustration. “I tell it, and she acts like I just announced her favorite food is poison. You barely mention it, and she’s all smiles.”
Salem looks at me and shrugs. “He just tells it better. I think it’s that I can picture him as a little boy spitting out the hot cheese.”
Great. Now my younger brother is making more headway with the woman of my dreams than I am. What’s next? Is he going to steal her away from me? He must be taking lessons from Matthias.
The two of them continue chatting while I sit quietly sulking. I hear Ronan say something about going somewhere, so I shake off my misery long enough to ask about it.
“Where are you going? I’m living vicariously through you, so it better be somewhere good.”
He smiles but doesn’t say anything. I know my brother better than anyone else in the world. This is something good. Ronan always acts like this when it’s a big deal.
I lean over and nudge his arm. “Tell me. Remember, I have nothing going on, so I need to hear some good news.”
“How does a tryout with a minor league baseball team sound?” he says, happier than I’ve seen him in a long time.
“Get out of here!” I say as I stand up to shake his hand. “How? I thought since you didn’t get a chance when you were in college that you wouldn’t get another.”
“A scout saw me playing with an indie league and invited me to a tryout. I go to Florida next week after the All Star break.”
“Holy shit! That’s terrific! Congratulations, Ronan.”
He’s beaming a smile like he’s back in little league and he’s just hit a homerun over the fence. “Thanks. I’m nervous as all hell, but this is what I’ve always dreamed of doing.”
Salem stares at him like she’s shocked. “Congratulations! I had no idea you were a ball player.”
I pat my brother on the back and take the opportunity to brag about him. “Since he was a little boy. Our older brothers taught him to play, and ever since, he’s been a star.”
Ronan winces and shakes his head. “Kellen exaggerates. I don’t think anyone would call me a star.”
“You would have gotten a full ride to college on a baseball scholarship if you hadn’t taken a semester off. I’m glad someone’s finally noticed your greatness. I thought they would in college, but this works too.”
“I hope it works out for you, Ronan,” Salem says as she stands to leave.
“You don’t have to go so soon, do you?” he asks and gives me a side eye.
“I do. I have a ton of work to do, and I want to catch some people before they head out for the Fourth of July holiday. Your news made my day, though, so thank you. I hope I get to hear you’re on a major league team someday soon.”
She leaves, and I do nothing to stop her. I don’t even know what to say to make her want to spend time with me now.
Meanwhile, my younger brother seems to be making points with her all over the place.
Once she’s out of earshot, Ronan turns toward me and chucks me on the shoulder. “What the hell are you doing? She was here, and you just let her go. No wonder you’re not making any progress with her. Jesus, Kellen. This should be like shooting fish in a barrel for you.”
I sit down on the chaise lounge and gulp down a mouthful of beer. “Normal Kellen, yes. I don’t know what the hell this version of me is doing. Well, other than sitting around day drinking.”
He shakes his head and fold his arms across his chest. “She’s a captive audience. Why not try to talk to her and get to know what she likes? Believe it or not, women actually like that.”
I don’t tell him, but I’m not exactly an expert in that kind of thing. Getting women into bed is easy. I never have a problem with that. I’ve never tried to do anything else. Now that I’ve found a woman I would like to try to be with for more than one night, I’m like a fish out of water.
So this is what happens to players when they get feelings. I need to find the person who decided this was a good thing and slap them upside the head.