The classical shit is still playing behind Kenzie’s door. I give it a slight knock, and when I don’t hear her acknowledge me, I push the door a little to get her attention. “Kenzie, can I come in?” I call, searching the room. I haven’t even stepped foot into my own space but realized while Chuck had it opened, it was painted my favorite color of orange, a mere coincidence.
The first thing greeting me behind Kenzie’s door is a lavender color on all her walls. Her quilt on the bed is a calming olive green, and a large crystal chandelier sits over it all. The art on the walls is a canvas picture of white orchids, her first mom’s favorite flowers, along with a white desk in the corner. It’s as though I’m walking into Kenz’s room at our old house. This was Kenzie’s room at our home—the one we shared with Mom and Dad.
I cross the hall, leaving Kenzie’s door cracked, and enter my own. It hits me. The room is orange; my favorite color was what Mom and I painted just last year together.
The bed isn’t my bed but is a similar wooden frame to one I had at home. It’s in the corner, as it had been, with a navy-blue pinstripe comforter. Instead of a coat rack, which Mom insisted I needed, I’d picked out what looked like an old locker. In this space is a similar locker I can hide my shit in. Fuck, I hate Isaiah Woods. Why did he have to go all out and be nice?
I cross back to Kenzie’s room, opening the cracked door without a word. “Kenz, you won’t…” I stop mid-stride, three steps in when I notice her. How could I not see her, every part of her, standing in front of me, water dripping down her naked and fucking perky breasts and her round nipples? She’s stunning. Her rounded hips, her slim waist, her ivory skin. I stand, tongue-tied, unable to talk. Her eyes search mine, and I form some sort of connection with this girl in a split second. Unable to formulate what it is, if anything.
“River, fucking, Hanson. Get out of my room.”
Shit, if my dick isn’t excited enough, her swearing at me makes it a steel rod.
I turn to give her privacy, attempting to stutter a reply. “Shit, Kenzie, I’m so sorry. I was just…” I stand opposite her; my head turned the other way. “Did you see what that fucker did? Our rooms?”
“Are you not leaving?” Her question carries a weakness in her tone. I can’t figure it out.
“I’m unable to see you. Just get dressed. We need to talk.”
Her drawers open and slam shut. Fuck, I wish there were some sort of fucking mirror in front of me that I could use to burn her to memory. Man, I’d use it for my spank bank tonight if there were.
“Now you want to talk, Riv? For what? Twelve years we lived together, sharing the same set of parents, and you couldn’t be bothered with me? Made fun of me behind my back? Bullied me to my face? Yeah, well, go get fucked, asshole.” She uses my own catchphrase on me.
More drawers slam, and I’m doing everything in my power to control my dick with a mind of his own.
“Yeah, I’m an asshole, that will never change, but now, we sort of need each other, don’t you think?”
Did I utter these words to her? After all this time.
“Can I turn around, Kenz?” Something about seeing her naked, just for me, has changed my mind about her. Well, and knowing she has a backbone now. Man, I love a feisty woman.
“Nah, you can go jump off a bridge, you motherfucker. And to answer your question, yeah, I noticed my room and took a peek into yours. I knew you weren’t there at the time. Not sure what Isaiah’s play is, but it took a little bit of work and money on his part to do this for us. Now, you got the answer you were looking for; just get the hell away from me.”
“Kenzie?” It’s a question with her name on my lips.
I twist my body around as a few tears fall down her face. I want to know what’s making her cry, though it’s not hard to figure out. Less than a week, and she’s lost her parents and the second mother in her life.
“What, River? What do you want to know, asshole?”
Why is my entire body reacting to Kenzie this way?
“I just, hell, I’m sorry. Okay?”
What am I sorry for? Being an ass to her since my mom married her dad? Or walking in on her naked? Okay, I’m not sorry for that last part at all.
“Great, you’re sorry. Now get the hell away from me.”
I shut the door on my way out of Kenzie’s room. What the hell just happened? But something shifted. I’m not used to these emotions. A deep passion and need to protect her, which has never lived inside of me, is precisely what I feel for my adoptive sister.
Chapter 5
Isaiah
My alert from Charles has my attention, notifying me that the children will be in the dining room in five minutes. I’ve finished up an overview of the new hotel I’ve purchased in the San Francisco area. I love the city, and it’s why I bought it. It gives me a reason to travel down and stay for weeks on end.
Then I realize the responsibility I’ve taken on with two children in the house. Charles and Mrs. Phillips could attend to their physical needs, but River has so much anger buried deep within him, mainly due to my own actions. And then there’s Kenzie. Beautiful Kenzie. So much like Tanya, but also different. It’s hard to contain my thoughts and feelings, understanding how her mother had claimed my heart so long ago. And Kenzie has claimed it all on her own. I’m not sure when, but it’s one of the reasons I’m a bastard.
It’s sick, on some deep level. But then again, Kenzie is her own person, too. Her brilliant mind. When Charles informed me of Kenzie’s intention with the room I set aside for her personal space, I should’ve predicted she’d want a library. It reminded me of the many times she’d sit beside me on the couch, and we’d watch Beauty and the Beast until she passed out. River was a little shit then. Of course, some things never change.
I’d go over for the evening to watch the kids, which I’d done a lot after Shannon and Robert were married. I loved spending time with Kenzie. It lessened the sadness I still felt at the loss of the only woman I’d ever loved.
Kenzie would sit near me, and River would do everything in his power to annoy us. Again, nothing new. He’d play on the drum set I’d stupidly bought for him one Christmas. He’d turn on the garbage disposal, or draw on the wall, or spill orange juice all over the place.
But, somehow, Kenz and I would finish her beloved movie. The girl reminded me so much of Belle; curious, intelligent, and ballsy. The only person she never stood up to was that little shit, her brother.
But soon, that little shit, as I called him, wormed his way into my heart, too, as though there’s not someone my own age to fall for.
I will not go down the past of River Hanson and myself. But for Robert, I’ll take care of his son and daughter. I’ll be an asshole during the whole ordeal because I can’t let either of them understand how their mere presence in my life unnerves me.
Tonight, I’ll set clear boundaries. Yeah, it’ll be that simple. After all, I’m the adult, and they’re the children. If it were only that easy.
Kenzie won’t be the issue. She’s a bit smart-lipped, but I know who the mouth is, who will challenge me at every turn. I welcome the fight in him.