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I smile at her. I know we all like to be reassured that other people's feelings matter to make ourselves feel better—hey, I spent months running from Dax just to prove he’d come straight after me.
“King hasn’t had a girl here for as long as I’ve been here. You’re definitely something to him.”
Of course I miss out the fact that doesn’t mean he didn’t sleep with girls, but that would be off topic and hurtful. Not to mention irrelevant because he’s never talked about a girl the way he does Theo.
She’s quiet for a moment when she asks curiously, “How long have you been here?”
I look up at the ceiling and count in my head, then smile at her.
“Nine years, give or take a couple months.”
Her eyes widen and I can see the shock in them. Nine years is a long-ass time. I decide to elaborate some more.
“King was in prison when Dax brought me here.” I think back to those first few days I spent with Dax before being dragged here by Carlo. Okay, so maybe Dax didn’t bring me here, but I wasn’t going to spill out my sob story just yet. “But that is a story for another day… Let’s go back to talking about how good a fuck King Rhivers is. Maybe I ended up with the wrong cousin.” I wink and Theo nudges her elbow into me. But the more I laugh, the more disgusted I feel actually thinking about King having sex, and then with me and I shiver. Gross.
We spend the day watching trash TV and snacking on literally everything and by the time King comes up, the sun has long since set.
King glares at me and I shrug my shoulders as if to say what do you want? He rolls his eyes then goes into the bathroom and a few minutes later, the shower turns on. Me and Theo continue to watch the last episode play out on TV when King strolls back in about ten minutes later.
“Rori, fuck off,” he huffs, his body dry and a pair of black boxers the only thing covering him.
“I just need to finish the end of this episode,” I start. “And put some clothes on. Eww.”
“Shh!” Theo hushes, her eyes glued to the TV. King groans but accepts defeat and saunters over to the bed. He lifts the duvet, and me and Theo shuffle over so he can lie down. He turns on his side, his back to us, and I look at Theo, a smirk on both of our faces.
About twenty minutes later, the episode finishes and King grabs the remote from the bedside table, shutting off the TV.
“Now fuck off, Rori,” he grumbles and I laugh, kicking my legs out of the duvet and saluting them both as I leave the room.
I tiptoe quietly through the hallway, walk into Dax’s and my room, and sink next to him on the bed. His arm instantly curls around my waist and I cuddle back into him, wiggling my body to fit.
“You've been busy today, Birdie,” he says, as a fact not a question, his voice gruff with sleep.
“Oh, yanno, just making friends,” I whisper, a smile on my face.
“Hmm, if King starts going to bed with you there every night, I’m gonna start to get jealous, baby.”
I laugh and turn in his arms, kissing him on the lips softly.
“I’ll always come back to you, though.”
I feel him smile through his kiss.
“Every goddamn time.”
“Ihave an idea,” Rori says mid-way through the conversation. We’re discussing Edison and Casper Ramon who run the Third District. Edison has been in charge for years and Casper, his cousin, helps him run it. They remind me of King and me but a lot less theatrical. They just crack on with business and cause no problems.
Theodora spotted a family portrait on one of the many walls of the mansion, which included Carlo and Emily, King’s parents, Kennedy and Elisa, Theo’s parents, and Edison and Casper. A District leader portrait that has hung there for as long as I can remember.
“Well, considering Carlo is now dead and no offence, but Elisa and Emily are too.” I see both King and Theo wince when their mothers’ names are mentioned. “We should take a new picture. We could have one of the four of us and—”
“No.”
King’s voice echoes off the walls and the silence that follows is awkward, but not for too long because Rori doesn’t sit on anything. She’ll always speak her mind.
“What do you mean,no? The leaders have changed.”
She shrugs like it’s so simple, and in all fairness, it is. She’s right. But King doesn’t agree.
