His expression reverts back to normal and he drops his hand from his nape. “Remi begged us via the group chat.”
“He did?” Cecily asks. “How much do I have to bribe you to show us that?”
“No need for a bribe.” He fishes out his phone and scrolls to a group chat called Lord Remi’s Sidekicks.
Remington: My favorite—and only, might I add—spawn will be fighting in the semifinals tonight! I’m going to need you all to come and cheer for our youngest little shit. I have tears in my eyes, I swear. When did he become all grown up?
Eli: Stop talking about him as if he’s a kid.
Remington: Fuck off, psycho. You call him baby brother all the time.
Eli: But only I get to do that.
Landon: We can always do it behind your back.
Eli: Not if you wish to live another day. He’s my brother.
Landon: And my baby cousin.
*Creighton left the chat*
Remington: Blah, blah, blah. You scared my spawn away with all your ramblings. He’s my cousin and my spawn, but you don’t see me bragging about that, though I totally should. Anyway, who’s going to be at the fight club?
*Remington added Creighton to the chat*
Brandon: You know violence isn’t my scene.
Landon: Beg first, your lordship.
Eli: Yes, beg. And make it worth our while.
Remington: What kind of fucked-up kink is this? The only time I’ll beg is when both of you are shoved into hell. That’s when I’ll get on my knees and plead with Satan to skin you alive and let me watch.
Landon: I guess that means you’ll go alone.
Eli: We would hate for you to look sad, Remi.
Landon: The fangirls wouldn’t approve.
Eli: You might lose shagging rights.
Remington: Fine, you fuckers. Please come.
Landon: Pun intended?
Remington: Fuck you, Psycho 2.0. Tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you. Okay? Okay.
*Creighton has left the chat*
Cecily laughs and Ava stares blankly at the screen for a while before she chuckles, too.
“I’ll pay you to send me screenshots,” Cecily says.
“You can get them for free.”
“Awe, we don’t deserve Bran.” She grabs him by the arm.
“Bitch, the whole world doesn’t deserve Bran.” Ava wraps an arm around his free shoulder.
He subtly slings it off him. “Thanks for the compliment, but I kind of still want to live another day.”
She rolls her eyes and steps back.
“Does Creighton always leave the chat?” I ask.
Bran smiles. “Yeah, and Remi adds him back in. It’s like a cat and mouse game.”
“Does he talk to you guys?”
“Rarely.”
“OMG.” Ava watches me intently.
“What?”
“You little bitch! All this time, you said you were putting Operation Fake Boyfriend on hiatus because you’re hung up on Creigh, aren’t you?”
“Now that you mention it.” Cecily narrows her eyes on me. “Maybe the reason she doesn’t glue herself to Creigh’s side anymore is because they’re having alone time in private.”
“Also, Creigh did ask me what the best film at the cinema is these days,” Bran supplies to my horror.
“A date?” Ava’s eyes nearly bug out. “Cray Cray on a date? This is huge. We need deets, like all of them, and in order. Did you kiss? Did you fuck?”
My face must look crimson, but I still clear my throat. “I…don’t know what you guys are talking about.”
The three of them close in on me, but before they can grill me for answers, the fight begins.
That definitely gets their attention.
I release a long breath, but it’s caught in my throat when Nikolai all but lunges at Creighton as soon as the referee announces the start.
Most fighters spend the first few seconds carefully circling each other.
Not Nikolai.
He was born to inflict violence. A mafia prince through and through.
The King’s U’s crowd goes wild as he lands the first blow, sending Creighton’s face flying sideways.
A gasp falls from my lips and my whole body stiffens.
REU’s crowd starts chanting Creighton’s last name in unison. Ava and even Cecily join in.
“King, King, King!”
I’m unable to breathe properly, let alone speak.
Creighton sways back, but he doesn’t fall. He swings his fist and it lands straight in Nikolai’s face. Blood trickles from his nose, and he groans, then wipes at it with his wrapped hand.
They go at it for some time, one hitting and the other jumping back before punching harder.
All the shouts, screams, and cries from the crowd mingle together until they become one.
It takes everything in me to stay and watch as they punch and send each other flying. But I do because this is also a part of Creighton.
There must be a reason why he is the way he is. Why he’s so intent on inflicting sexual pain and violence.
And I need to be acquainted with it.
Only then will I be able to understand Creighton.
And I want that more than anything. I can’t just take his lashes of pain and hide from the reason he became like this.
Remington jumps by the side of the ring, calling out and cheering him on. Soon after, Landon joins him, a bored expression covering his face.
Both Cecily and Bran go still at the sight of him. Only Ava continues jumping up and down. “Get him, Cray Cray! We love you!”
“Do you now?”
Ava comes to an abrupt halt, and her mouth remains slightly parted as we all turn toward the gravelly voice.
The newcomer is none other than Eli. I’ve never met him, but I’ve seen him around, and Ava made me follow him on IG so she could stalk him.
He followed me back, so we’re in that awkward situation where we’re mutuals but have never spoken.
Besides, he’s Creighton’s brother and his IG is one of the few places where there are any updates of him. Some of them are within family settings, but most are selfies where Creighton is sleeping in the background and Eli has captions like:
Documenting the Sleeping Beauty chronicles. Day 100.
The cheeky bastard fell asleep while I was talking. The audacity is presumptuous.
I asked him to choose between me and sleep. He covered his head with the sheet. Revoking brotherly rights as we speak.
Eli King looks nothing like his younger brother. They’re both handsome, but while Creigh looks like a beautiful prince, Eli is more like a serial killer prince. His build is leaner, his features sharper, cutting even. And he has black hair and dark gray eyes that could compete with pure metal.
I thought maybe the drastic difference in their looks was a case of someone taking more after one of the parents, and that’s true in Eli’s case. He does look like a carbon copy of their father. Creighton looks nothing like their mother, though, so maybe he resembles someone else from the family.
Ava’s face has gone red in the span of seconds, but she still says, “Shouldn’t you be hiding in the dark to do some satanic rituals?”
“I’m missing an important ingredient.” His expression doesn’t change. “Blood.”
Wow. Okay. Maybe the King brothers are more alike than I initially thought.
“Annika, right?” He offers me a hand and I shake it. “I’m sure Creigh talks about me all the time.”