Page 51 of Broken King

I shake my head as Marius simply smiles. “No, Theo’s dead. He was killed in a car accident a couple years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

As I silently thank her for that, Marius says, “He lived his life at top speed. We should all follow his example. Squeeze every drop of life there is and lap it up because there may be no tomorrow.”

Already tired of this brother and how easily he can preach a life of no morals or ethics, I look at Sabrina and say, “I’m going to head back to the house. Maybe Marius will want to go for a run with you.”

“That’s what you two were doing?” he asks like the very idea of a run sounds horrible. “No thanks. I already worked out today.”

“Do you work out at a gym somewhere close?” Sabrina asks.

I get the sense she’s just being polite, but he answers, “Right here at the house. I’m not surprised nobody told you about it. Matthias and Ava are always too exhausted to even think about the gym, and this guy here hasn’t been a gym rat in ages. Come with me. I’ll show you where it is.”

He starts to walk back toward the house and grabs Sabrina’s hand to take her too, thankfully, but just as I’m sure I’ll be left alone, she grabs my left hand and begins to tug me along with them. I have no interest in checking out the gym, but as much as I try to pry my hand from her hold, she won’t let me go.

“Come on, Ronan!” she says, as if we’re about to do something fun.

No one seems to remember the reason why I wouldn’t be spending much time in the gym. I only have one hand, so unless I want to be lopsided, lifting isn’t in the cards for me anymore. It seems since neither one of them have to deal with that problem that they don’t recognize it’s an issue.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of not knowing all too well what I’m lacking.

Marius looks back and winks at me. “Come on, baby brother. It’ll be fun.”

What the hell could be fun about showing someone where the gym is here at the house I don’t know. He’s up to something, I’m sure. Marius is always up to something. Most of the time it involves busting someone’s ass, and I’m not interested in that today.

“I think I’d like to just grab a drink,” I say, but neither one of them is listening.

In fact, they seem to be having a grand old time talking about what they like to do at the gym as Sabrina continues to pull me along with them. I don’t want to hurt her feelings because she’s important to Ava and Matthias, but I have no doubt she and Marius would have a better time without me.

Just as we reach the kitchen door, Sabrina stops and turns to me. “You’ve been really nice to me ever since I got here, Ronan. I just wanted to give you that in return. You aren’t angry, are you?”

I shake my head as our first introduction to one another runs through my mind. It wasn’t exactly a friends from the very beginning situation. That’s part of the reason why I don’t want to tell her I have no interest in going to the gym with her and Marius. That day I met Sabrina wasn’t my finest moment.

“Good! It’ll be fun! Come on!” she says as her worry fades away and she tugs on my hand once more.

We walk past Eleanor on our way through the house, and the look she gives me when she sees me holding hands with Sabrina is nothing short of pure shock. I guess since I’ve spent the last two months working very hard on being as standoffish as possible to everyone in this house it’s a little surprising to see me happily spending time with Sabrina.

“Marius wants to show her the gym,” I explain as we pass through the kitchen.

There’s no time for her to respond since we’re halfway down the hallway only a second later, but I bet she’s thinking I’m being a third wheel with Sabrina and Marius. My gut says I am too, though Sabrina does seem very interested in having me come with them.

Then it dawns on me. She’s probably uncomfortable being alone with him. I get it. Marius comes off like a complete horndog. Sabrina is likely thinking he’s going to make a move on her if I’m not around.

Little does she know that won’t stop him. I’ve seen Marius hit on women who were in the middle of embracing other men. If he’s got his mind set on someone, my brother is like a man on a mission. Nothing short of being told to go away stops him.

The two of them talk about his gym routine, thankfully leaving me out of that discussion. When we finally reach the basement, she’s impressed by the home gym Matthias and Ava have set up here.

“Wow! At least I know I won’t ever get out of shape.”

Marius says something about how he doubts she’s going to suddenly get out of shape, and the two of them laugh. I just stand there listening and wondering when he’s going to give me the sign to get lost. If he’s into her, the last thing he wants is me hanging around.

After a few minutes, I say, “I think I’m going to go. You two have fun.”

Surprisingly, that bothers Sabrina, who comes rushing over to stop me. “No, don’t go. We didn’t mean to ignore you. Why don’t you come over and hang out? Marius is just talking about his favorite machine.”

I want to tell her I can’t imagine anything less interesting than that conversation, but since I’m trying to be nicer to everyone here, I swallow that snide remark. “I’ve got some things to do before tomorrow when Kate comes over again. Don’t worry about me. You and Marius will be fine without me.”

Her eyes grow big and she frowns. “Are you sure? I’m fine if you want to leave and go back for another walk. I’ll come with you. It’ll be fun!”

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