Royal grins at my irritation. “Was Austen right, buddy? Is the legendary Brendan Kinkaid now down for the D?”
“How would she know? And who even says that? It’s dick, not D. Use your damn words.”
But he’s too busy studying my guilty expression to worry about words. He lets out a loud whoop, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me off my feet like a rag doll. It feels like a bear attack. Or how I imagine a bear attack would feel if it was in an unusually affectionate mood.
“Put me down, lunatic. What’s gotten into you?”
Not that he hasn’t done this before, but it’s usually reserved for when his team wins the Superbowl or he gets lucky in Iceland.
Royal sets me down, the bright smile taking up miles of his face. “Just being supportive, brother. Am I the first person you’ve come out to? I mean, other than Miller. I’m honored.”
I take a step back, glancing toward the empty house and the next-door neighbors’ windows. “Keep it down, I’m not coming out.”
“No D?” Does Royal look disappointed?
I sigh. “Fine, yes, but I’m only into one and he doesn’t know about it yet.”
He might suspect something after last night. No wait. He’s erased it on his stupid slate.
At least he seemed to be trying like hell to pretend it never happened.
“We haven’t been alone long enough for us to talk, but I’m working up to it.” Confessing is easier than I thought it was going to be. It feels good to say it out loud. It feels right.
It feels—“What are you doing?”
Royal has his phone out, his wide thumbs flying across the screen.
“Texting my brother for you. Luckily, he and Carter were invited to a Finn thing this weekend. I hope he doesn’t drive them too crazy with his new book idea. He keeps saying he wants to do a study on their family, all very scientific, of course. His husband doesn’t think they’ll appreciate it.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Royal winks at me. “His study? It seems an unusually high percentage of the men in that family like the D. I know, I know, use my words. They like dick. Penis. Anal. Cock and balls. Happy now?”
“Overjoyed.”
“Anyway, between my brother and that crowd, someone should have some good advice on how to woo a guy in two weeks.”
I’m not sure whether my heart is racing out of insult or panic. “So when I said keep it down, what you actually heard was ‘start a newsletter and tell everyone’? And since when do I need help?”
He slips his phone in his back pocket and shakes his head sadly. “You don’t know.”
“Know what, smartass?”
“How to romance. You’ve never actually done it. For years you’ve glided by on that rich-boy-wants-to-be-bad, kinky-Peter Pan charm of yours. But that only attracts the kind of woman who wants one night of dirty sex before she settles down with the boy next door.”
“Wow, man. I think that drew blood. But don’t sugarcoat it to spare my feelings.” I turn and sit down heavily on the wooden steps that still need to be attached.
Royal drops his chin to his chest and sighs. “Look, I know you’re a great guy. But that’s not what you show to the women trying to get in your cockpit. Things have been pretty easy for you in the getting laid department, but in all the years we’ve known each other, you never hinted at wanting more.”
I could say neither has he, but that wouldn’t be true. Royal has always had as much, if not more, success with women than I have, but he never hid that he was open to falling in love. Even actively searching for it. He’s just one of those guys who screams future soccer dad. He was built to have a family.
I was born to be a commodity, and I guess I’ve always acted accordingly.
“Do you think this is a bad idea?” That I’m not good enough for Miller because of my past?
Royal frowns. “Hell no, it’s a great idea. It kind of makes sense, now that I think about it. He’s the only one you’ve ever talked about on a regular basis. But the fact is, you have a track record that wouldn’t look so hot on paper, and Miller is the opposite of what you used to call your type. He isn’t female, he isn’t easy, and unless I’m mistaken, you’d actually like to keep him.”
When I nod, he says, “Good. So I did the right thing with the SOS text, because you’ll need all the help you can get.”
He doesn’t know the half of it. “Miller’s never…”
The loose stairs jostle and I’m forced to slide over to the edge as Royal sits down beside me. “Never? As in…never? Didn’t he have a boyfriend the last time you were in town?”