Dirty Wicked Prince (Court Legacy 1)

I wanted him to hear that, to know that. We always would be brothers, and brothers protected each other.

Charlie put his fist up again, tapping mine. “For life, Batman,” he said. “For life.”

Chapter Nine

Dorian - present

I didn’t sleep last night.

I kept seeing Charlie’s face.

It whirled in my memory like a goddamn wound, and I ended up in my sweats. I jogged around the neighborhood until I tired my goddamn legs out, then ended up in the basement gym after that.

Chestnut, our family Labrador, stared at me like I was fucking crazy, but I didn’t stop curling weights until I couldn’t feel my arms. I even lifted like a fucking idiot, spotter be damned. Working out helped me not think so much, and I needed not to fucking think. I sweated through my top until I had to take it off, and by the time I

thoroughly wiped myself out, I had time to sleep for about an hour before my alarm went off.

I hit it without missing a beat.

A quick shower, then I was downstairs, academy uniform on and making smoothies for Mom and me. She liked hers completely green, but I still needed some kind of fruit in mine to make it tolerable. Going vegan my freshman year had been a son of a bitch, but after I researched on all the ways going meat-free could enhance my playing ability, I decided to give it a shot.

Needless to say, my plant-based mother had been thrilled, but I didn’t give a fuck about saving the animals or some shit. I just wanted my body in top form, and eating this way, my body got stronger and faster on the field. I’d been quarterback since junior year and ran circles around my teammates. Lifted more too.

Mom was late.

She used to be up before me, but today, the coffeemaker once again said she’d stayed in her room long past her usual time. Mom made her own hours. She worked for the city, but they didn’t give a shit when she showed up.

She came into the room frazzled.

Her hair was still wet too when she breezed into the kitchen, purse on her arm and looking like she was trying to go a million different ways. She was dictating a laundry list of tasks she obviously had to do for the day into her phone, but even when she was all over the place like this, she still managed to look lovely. I knew because if my dad was here, I’d catch them doing things that made me want to burn my eyes out on any given day.

It was sick catching them sneaking around like a couple of teenagers. Even with their room being on the other side of the house, it wasn’t enough to not hear things. I had to go to the basement if I wanted to drown that shit out.

“Dorian, love, did you happen to make an extra—”

I handed her the smoothie I’d made. “Green like you like it.”

She took a sip, and the euphoria in her brown eyes told me I’d done a good job. It was just about the only thing I got from her, her eyes. My mom had hair nearly raven black, real dark like Chestnut’s fur, but her skin was fair, and she couldn’t hold a tan to save her life. We went to the beach enough, and she burned just stepping out of the car. She draped an arm around me. “You’re a godsend, honey. Thank you.”

“No problem.” It really wasn’t. “You got your car keys and your date book?”

She wrestled around in her bag for a minute. She raised a finger. “Yes, but I don’t have—”

I handed her cell phone to her. The one she’d apparently lost in the five seconds she’d been in the kitchen.

Upon taking it, she eyed me. “Who’s the parent in this situation?”

I shrugged and didn’t fight her when she brought me into a hug.

Nor did I let go.

My mom hugged me all the time. This was not unusual. But what was unusual was how she didn’t seem to want to let go these days. Like there was something there behind it while she attempted to meld herself into me.

I held her back, letting her stay as long as she needed to before letting go.

She kissed my cheek before squeezing it. “Have a good day, my love.”

“You too, Mom.” She gave me another quick kiss, then she was on her way. But I didn’t move until I heard her Mercedes pull out of the garage and she made it out of the driveway. She tended to forget things lately, come back.