Page 28 of Broken King

Not exactly my best conversation starter, but I’m a little out of practice.

She stops and looks at me like I’ve grown another head next to mine but doesn’t say anything. Terrific. One day, she’s all about giving me her opinion, and the next she’s acting like someone’s cut out her tongue.

“So what is your job here exactly?” I ask, not really knowing why I said that but trying to get a conversation going.

Sabrina takes a moment to respond, but finally says, “I’m here to help Ava with the boys. That’s all. By the way, I’m sorry for yesterday. She talked to me, and I get it now. No bothering the guy who never leaves his room.”

Right after she says that, she looks down the hallway toward my bedroom and then back at me. “Except for today, it seems.”

“I’m looking for a razor, but I can’t find one. Any chance you’ve seen one in your travels around here?”

She narrows her eyes as if to let me know she thinks I’m an idiot. “I work with babies. There’s not really much of a call for razors with them.”

Super.

I don’t bother continuing talking to her since there’s no point, so I walk back to my room and shut the door behind me. So much for shaving today. Or any other day, for that matter, it seems.

Then again, I could ask Ava to help me, but that will only encourage her to think she should bring Kate around more. I want to see her, but why bother? Even with a decent shave, I’ll still be the guy I am with this mess of a beard.

On that happy thought, I climb into bed and wish I had room darkening curtains so I wouldn’t have to struggle to fall asleep.

I skippedbreakfast today to see if Eleanor would bring it up to me, but she seems to be made of stronger stuff than I gave her credit for. I guess I could explain to everyone when I said I didn’t want to be bothered by people that I wasn’t saying I didn’t want to eat.

It’s nearly one, which I’m thinking means I’m on my own for lunch, so I walk out of my room and nearly run into the babysitter. Why she’s standing in front of my door I have no idea, but she’s lucky I didn’t flatten her.

Before I can ask just what the hell she thinks she’s doing, she holds up her hand to show me a blue disposable razor like the kind I started on when I first learned to shave. I haven’t used one of those since I was fifteen, but beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.

“You said you needed a razor, so ta-da!” she announces proudly with a huge smile.

When I reach for it, she snatches it away. Is she playing some game? If so, I’m not in the mood.

“One rule. You don’t give me a hard time ever again when I appear in the same place you do. Deal?”

“You didn’t just appear in the same place I was. You walked into my room uninvited.”

That gets me a disinterested shrug. “Same difference. So do you agree to my deal?”

“Fine. Give me the razor.”

Shaking her head, she smiles again. “Nope. That’s not the way people get what they want. What’s the magic word?”

“Give it to me or else?” I say, already tired of whatever this thing is she’s doing.

A look of disgust comes over her, and she juts out her right hip completing the vibe. “Why don’t you try please? Weren’t you ever taught manners? Sheesh.”

“Please give me the razor,” I say through gritted teeth.

That satisfies her, and she hands it to me with a huge grin. “Very nice. I hope you aren’t planning to shave your head. You have nice hair, so it would be a shame to see it go. Plus, you might have one of those lumpy skulls that never look good bald.”

Seriously, who the hell is this person, and what gives her the idea she should talk to me or anyone like this?

“What’s it matter what I’m shaving?” I say before walking back into my room, happy to be away from her.

I honestly think Ava must have advertised for the most annoying person to help her with my nephews. No matter. She did bring me a razor, so maybe she’s not all bad.

Just aggravating. And rude.

Since there are no razors in my bathroom, there’s no shaving cream either, so I’m stuck with soap. Not exactly the best way to shave off all this hair, but it’ll have to do.

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