Risking It All (Kingston Brothers #4) - Isabel Lucero Page 0,26

over my face.

“Do we have to talk about it?” I murmur.

“Uh, fuck yes! You conveniently forget to answer my questions when I text you, so yes, we’re talking about it. Are you actually sleeping with all these women? I mean, I know the tabloids can be full of shit, but you have been photographed in clubs, restaurants, hotels with a lot of women.”

“Is our baby brother a womanizer?” Royce laughs. “Or what did that one magazine call him?”

“Philanderer,” Cill answers.

Royce laughs. “Yeah, a philanderer.”

“Jesus,” I breathe. “I’ve been with a tiny percentage of the women they’ve photographed me with. The rest is bullshit.”

“Shit, if I was single, famous, and rich, I’d probably sleep with more than a tiny percentage,” Cill says. “Don’t tell Midge I said that.”

“And you’d probably have STDs with your dick falling off, and sixty-two chicks saying they’re pregnant with your baby,” Royce says.

“I’m just sayin’,” Cill says with a shrug.

I shake my head at them. It’s probably time for me to tell them the truth, but I wonder if I should talk to Elijah first. I think he may already suspect something, and he’s always been the one to give me advice. At the age of eleven, he became a father-figure, so I always seek his approval first.

Cill gets up from the bed and stretches. “Well, it was good hanging out with you today. I gotta get home and work on this painting. It feels so fucking good to have a studio space at my house now,” he adds.

When him and Midge bought a house together, they got one with a huge backyard and erected a large shed back there for him to use as a studio.

Royce gets up. “Yeah, I’m gonna head home, too. We’re gonna see you at Elijah’s tomorrow, right?”

“I’ll be there.”

After we hug goodbye, I drop down to my bed and turn the TV on. It’s only eight o’clock, and it’s a Saturday. I’m not used to being alone and having nothing to do. While I’m enjoying the break, some stuff takes some getting used to.

Plus, I can’t stop thinking about how Ali’s in the same town. I’ve given him space since last weekend. I haven’t seen him at all since I dropped him off at home after our drive.

I bring out my phone and text Lili, asking for Ali’s number. She quickly sends it to me with a happy face emoji.

Me: Hey, wanna get together tonight?

Ali: Who is this?

Me: It’s Merrick.

Ali: Oh my gawwwwd! Merrick Kingston? Yes, he wants to get together tonight. And if he doesn’t, I do.

I look at my phone with a furrow between my brows. What?

Ali: Sorry about that. It’s me now. My friend had my phone. Please ignore him.

Me: Oh. I was really confused for a second.

Ali: Yeah, sorry. I’m out with my friends right now. I’m in Chaparral.

Me: Oh. Okay. Maybe another time?

I don’t hear back from him right away, so I settle in for a quiet night in my hotel room.

19

Alejandro

Present Day

“Stop picking up my phone,” I tell Jordy, sliding it to the other side of me.

“What? You were in the bathroom.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to answer my texts.”

He shrugs. “I thought you were getting a booty call. I was being a good wingman.”

“Being a good wingman means offering yourself up?”

He laughs. “Okay, let’s not distract from the real fucking juicy news. Merrick Kingston is texting you. You! What? Why is this happening? And why haven’t you texted him back yet?”

I sigh, take a big gulp of my beer, then put it down. “If I tell you, you have to swear you’re not gonna tell the guys when they get here. I mean it, Jordy. I know you’re a gossip queen, but I don’t feel like fielding a million questions tonight.”

He purses his lips and runs his fingers through his blond hair. “Mm. Okay, I guess. Now give me the juicy deets.”

“Me and Merrick go way back. We went to school together and were really good friends. I ran into him last weekend, and I’m guessing he got my number from my sister because I didn’t give it to him.”

Jordy makes a face. “If you two were such good friends, why doesn’t he have your number?”

“Well, I moved. I got a new phone and number. He’s been on the road, so we haven’t talked in a long time. It’s not like we run in the same circles.”

He laughs. “No, you most certainly don’t. Anyway, why didn’t you mention this when we were talking