Savage Little Lies (Court Legacy 2)

His shrug was passive. “She’s over it, but she hasn’t forgotten about it.” He frowned. “Actually, my ass got handled for it. I don’t think you ever came up. They were more pissed at me for doing something to you that made you do it in the first place.”

Okay, so I really liked his parents. I grinned. “Well, that makes me feel better.”

“I’m sure it does.”

He said the words as he got assaulted from the front, a large brown Labrador racing into the entryway. The dog was all over him, and he immediately dropped to the floor with it.

“This is Chestnut,” he said, the dog leaping at him. “She’s my mom’s dog, but since I came home early, I brought her back. Didn’t I, girl?”

Um, so he was being super cute with this dog, and I’d never seen him so, well, normal. He was grinning and laughing with her, and I felt like had I not been standing here, the two would be on the floor rolling around together.

“This is Sloane,” he said to her, holding her by the collar. He eyed me. “You okay with dogs?”

It was nice that he asked, and since I was, he let her go. She, of course, attacked me, and though I fell on my back, I laughed too. She was really friendly.

Dorian continued to smile as he watched us, letting us play for a bit before he patted Chestnut away. He helped me up and asked me if I wanted his butler to make something for us.

“Ronald’s an excellent cook,” he said, and I had to roll my eyes. Of course, this boy had a butler. I declined the offer since I wasn’t hungry at the moment. I actually wanted to see the rest of this balling-ass house, but Dorian said we had to tour the garden first.

“It’s my favorite place,” he stated, opening the door to something out of a film. It was like another world out there, huge hedges and cobblestone walks. Dorian smiled. “It was my grandmother’s before she passed.”

This house had obviously been with his family for a little while, and Chestnut came with us as we headed outside. Dorian tossed a ball into the sea of flowers and tall trees, and Chestnut raced after it every time.

“Charlie and I used to play explorers out here,” he said at one point, Chestnut coming back to him. He threw the ball again, and the pair of us took a seat on a concrete bench. A large koi pond surrounded it, and I watched the fish weave about it with their long tails. Dorian put his hands together. “Seems like so long ago.”

It seemed easier for him to talk about his uncle here, but only in the natural sense. He tossed the ball to Chestnut between sentences as if to distract himself.

“We all played, the guys, Charlie, and me.” He drew the ball back, following through with a long toss. “Had a blast back then.”

“Sounds like it.” I didn’t know what to really say.

And he was doing it again.

He was letting me in, and when Chestnut came back this time, he didn’t toss the ball.

“I’m really trying, Noa.” His fingers ghosted along my leg, his smile slow. “I don’t know how to do this, and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

He didn’t elaborate, but I wasn’t sure he needed to, and he was wrong. He was good at this, trying.

At least way better than me.

“I want to talk to you. I want to…” He touched my fingers. “It’s just hard, you know? I wish I was better at this.”

Seeing him struggle tightened something in my chest. “We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about.”

“But I do want to.” His lips pulled tight. “It’s important, and Wolf’s right. I…”

“Master Prinze, I took the liberty of making you and your guest buffalo wings. Yours are vegan, of course. I made two options.”

Dorian angled around, his butler Ronald standing at the hedges leading into the garden. I hadn’t met him yet, but I assumed this was him. Dude wore a suit, white gloves, and everything.

The man put his hands together. “Would you like me to lay them out anywhere specific for you? If not, I can leave them in the kitchen.”

Dorian smiled. “I’ll take care of it, Ronald. Thank you.”

This world he lived in was so different from mine. This was old hat for him.

We were so different.