Page 26 of Royal Surrogate 2

Xavier shoves me toward the bathroom. “She wants you. Even though you’re an idiot.”

I shake my head as I stumble toward the bathroom.

“How is it that you know nothing about women?” he asks as I fumble for my toothbrush, hovering over me as though I don’t know how to groom myself. “My older brother, who’s been with more women than I can count?—”

“Not true,” I say as I clean my teeth, lifting a finger. “Not more than can be counted.”

Xavier rolls his eyes. “Why can’t you communicate with your wife?”

“I can,” I lie. “She can’t communicate with me.”

Xavier’s gaze narrows, but he says nothing, watching me as I finish brushing my teeth.

“Happy now?” I grin at him, showing him all my teeth.

“Happy that your breath won’t kill me, yes.” He rests against the edge of the sink, folding his arms across his chest. “What are you going to do?”

“Me?” I keep the fake grin on my face. “I thought I might go back to bed. I have quite a lot of?—”

Xavier’s hand seems to come out of nowhere, smacking me against my ear.

“Ow.” I rub at the spot he’s just hit. “That didn’t seem necessary.”

“I could punch you on the chin,” he says, tilting his head again. “Perhaps you need a good blow to the head. Something certainly seems to be off in there.”

“Nothing is off in my head,” I say, rubbing at the injured spot again. “I just need to think.”

“You’ve had plenty of time to think,” he says. “Now you need to go to her.”

“She doesn’t want me to go to her.” I shake my head. “If she wanted me with her, she wouldn’t have left.” Not that I blame her for leaving. If I were her, I would have left me, too.

Xavier sighs. “You really are daft, aren’t you?” He shakes his head as though he’s trying to teach the dunce of the class. “Sometimes women want men to follow them.”

“She specifically said that she needed time away from me, Brother. You didn’t hear her. You didn’t see the look on her face.” Just thinking about the pain I caused Renae makes me want to go back in my bed and pull the covers over my head again. I had no idea I could cause anyone that sort of pain. And I have no intention of ever doing anything of the sort again. Seeing how much I hurt her made me realize exactly how much I care for her. Exactly what I feel for her. I can’t bear to cause her that sort of pain again.

“I’m sure I didn’t. And I’m sure it was quite awful.” He frowns at me for a long moment. “But you have to go and fix it now.”

“Me ‘fixing’ it is what got me in this mess.” I shake my head. “I’m going to respect her boundaries this time. I’ll do what she asked. She asked me to give her space. She said she?—”

I’m interrupted with another smack to my head.

“Can you stop doing that?” I ask, rubbing the side of my skull again. “I can hear you just fine.”

“You don’t hear yourself, though. She said she wanted space. You gave it to her. And now…”

I let out a sigh. “And now, what?”

“And now, dear brother. Now you go and fight for her.”

CHAPTER 21

Renae

I can’t remember the last time I saw my dad looking so…happy. Peaceful, even. Not cheerful, exactly—my dad was never cheerful, even before the accident—but content. Hopeful.

His treatment is working. He’ll never be back to the way he was pre-accident, but he already has more mobility than either of us thought would be possible ever again. The medical team says they’re expecting even more improvement over the next few months. And though he won’t admit it, I think he likes it here at this facility.

“Did you see the way she looked at me?” Dad says right after the nurse leaves with the remains of his lunch tray. “I told you she likes me.”

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