Chapter 11 #2
As we ascend the stairs, I make the effort to look at the many photos on the wall.
Most of them are four young boys, who I’d assume are the Kane brothers.
One photo of a young Roman, in particular, catches my eye.
He stands tall behind three much younger versions of Leo, Alex, and Theo.
Judging by their apparent ages, I’d guess this was just before their parents passed.
They’re all making a silly face with the exception of Roman. His smile is radiant as it resembles the ones I’ve seen from his brothers today. I can’t help but notice the photo looks cut off on the edges, with what appears to be a woman’s hand on Romans' chest, yet no woman is in the photo.
I continue up the stairs, hoping Roman’s grumpy mood will fade as the days go by, morphing into something like what I saw in the family photo. A smiling Roman seems like an easier one to convince to help me get a job than the grumpy one I’ve had to introduce myself to.
Upstairs is a small hallway with six doors and what looks to be another staircase leading down toward the back of the house.
“How many bedrooms does this place have? It’s gorgeous, by the way,” I say.
Theo chimes in once we reach the top of the stairs, pointing at each door, “Five bedrooms total. At the end of the hallway is the main bedroom, Roman’s.
Then you have Alex and Leo’s rooms to the left.
Their rooms have a connecting bathroom. And over here on the right, my room, then the guest room, and the shared bathroom is the last door at the end of the hall. ”
All I can think is thank God we don’t have to share a bathroom with all of these men during our stay.
We head in the direction of the guest bedroom.
It’s surprisingly light and airy, with cream bedding, a large window on the far wall behind the bedframe, and a small beige chair with a footrest next to the bed.
Beth throws herself down onto the plush comforter and begins searching through one of her smaller bags.
Reaching for my suitcase from Theo’s hand, Roman stops me. “Beth, this is where you’ll be staying. Sienna, I’m sure Theo would be more than happy to show you to his room.” He gives Theo one hard pat on his shoulder.
“Oh, I don’t mind staying with Beth. Honestly, this room looks so cozy.” I reach for my bag again, but Roman stops me for a second time.
“Nonsense,” Roman says, “the lake house can be quite romantic if you want it to be. Surely, you’d want to stay with your boyfriend.” He puts a little extra emphasis on boyfriend, meeting me with a tone that’s less than tasteful.
When Theo and I stay silent, Roman continues, “Unless there’s a particular reason you two wouldn’t want to share a room?” He looks between Theo and me. The rising panic inside me stalls slightly when Theo steps toward me.
“No, no reason. Sienna was just looking out for Beth. She’s a sweetheart like that.” I try to hide my wince at the stereotypical nickname he just used on me that we both agreed he would keep out of his vocabulary.
Roman looks at me to corroborate Theo’s story. “Mm-hmm. Just wanted to make sure Beth is comfortable in a room by herself.”
“She looks fine to me,” Roman says, motioning his chin toward Beth. One look and I see Beth on the bed, already curled up in the pillows with her latest book in hand.
“Beth,” Roman says to her, “you’re good if Sienna sleeps with Theo, right?”
Beth waves her hand in a gesture telling us to get out of her newly claimed room. “Yeah, yeah, fuck whoever you want. Come and get me when dinner’s ready.”
My face heats at Beth’s comment. To be fair, Roman did set her up for that one, and judging by the smirk on Roman’s face, he’s more than pleased with her response.
“She reads like Alex does,” Roman says to Theo in a hushed tone almost too quiet for me to catch. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Leo will call us when dinner’s ready.” Just like that, he takes off.
Theo guides me toward his room, just through the next door over from where Beth is staying. I linger in the doorway as I take it in. I can tell he’s grown up in this room over the years.
The bed, no larger than a queen, is dressed with a plain dark-blue comforter and two matching pillows. A bay window to the left of the bed has a built-in bench decorated with blue-and-white-striped pillows. The room smells faintly of him, and I resist the urge to take a deep inhale.
I take a tentative step into the room as Theo sets our bags down on the bed.
My attention focuses on the small desk to the right of the bed.
It’s cluttered with pens, pencils, and a toy airplane a cousin of mine used to have when we were kids.
The sun reflects off a basketball trophy displayed on a nearby shelf, and I step closer, embarrassingly eager to read the year written on it.
“I used to play, but wasn’t good enough for any college scholarships or anything,” Theo says from the other side of the bed.
“That’s surprising, given your height.” I chuckle.
“You’d be surprised,” he shrugs, “I wouldn’t have wanted to go pro anyway.”
“No?” I ask.
“No, there’s not enough time to just chill out. I could never stick to that rigorous of a training schedule. I barely make it to half the training sessions Alex tries to put me through.”
My mind flashes back to what’s hidden beneath his shirt at that comment, and I look away from Theo, scared he can read my thoughts.
“I can always sleep on the floor if that would make you more comfortable,” he says, looking at me tentatively.
My chest tightens when the realization hits me like a freight train. There’s only one bed, and I’m going to have to share it with Theo. So much for not breaking any rules.