Page 54 of Royal Fling
“Fine, fine.” I raised my hands in the air in surrender. “I was just asking a question. Don’t shoot.”
“What are you doing up this late?”
I swallowed and crossed my hands when I answered him.
“I was out, too. With Beth.”
Reminder to self: tell Beth we were out together tonight.
“Sure,” he replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
He didn’t elaborate. Just shook his head and put his own glass in the sink.
“Nothing. Are you going to bed?” he asked.
I didn’t get a chance to respond. The front door opened again, and we heard the beeping of the alarm system.
I froze and watched Dad.
“Wait, only you and I have the keys. Who the fuck is this?” I whispered.
“Language, Luke,” he whispered back.
“We’re about to get murdered and you care about my language?”
“Murdered? I don’t think thieves would have the keysandthe alarm code.”
“Touché.”
We walked to the end of the kitchen and looked out into the hallway.
Leo and Dawson were standing there, suitcases in hand.
“Hey,” Leo said. “Did we wake you?”
“No, we were awake. What are you guys doing here?” I asked.
“Surprise,” Leo said in a flat tone and walked in to embrace me and Dad, Dawson following behind him.
“I thought you just bought a house. Aren’t you busy with that?”
“It’s part of the reason we’re here,” Leo said.
“But we also have a few interviews and meetings, so we thought we’d surprise you guys,” Dawson added.
“Well, consider us surprised, son,” Dad told Dawson, and we all went back into the kitchen.
Leo headed straight for the fridge, and I fully expected him to finish the juice I’d only just opened, but instead, he exclaimed, “Oh, cheese!” and took out a box of premium cheeses and put it on the kitchen island.
Dawson found my crackers, and soon we had a whole spread in front of us.
“Would anyone like a drink?” Dad asked, already in front of the liquor cabinet.
“Sure, I can do with a Scotch,” Dawson said, and I raised my hand, too. Dad looked at Leo whose mouth was full of cheese and crackers.
“Recovering alcoholic. Remember?” he said, spraying food in front of him.
