“Sorry.” Looking at Matty, who at the moment seems very interested in his own toes, I say, “Sorry, little man. You’ll know what I meant in a few years, but it’s cool. Just come to your Uncle Marius if you have any questions.”
Next to me, Ronan nearly spits out his eggs. “Come to you? For what? All you’re going to tell him is?—”
Before he can get the rest of his sentence out, Ava quickly stands up with Matty. “Okay, no more talk about my son’s winkie. This is the stuff of parents’ nightmares.”
She hurries out of the room, followed by Eleanor, leaving just Ronan and me at the table. When I know they’re all far enoughaway that they can’t hear me, I look over at him and say one word.
“Winkie?”
The two of us burst into laughter. “Give her a break, Marius. I bet hearing about your kid’s penis is jarring, at the very least.”
“Sure, but winkie? Anyway, I should be thanking you. Ava was telling me about this party they’re having and was more than happy to let me know that her friend is single again.”
He doesn’t say anything for a long moment as he stuffs a forkful of eggs into his mouth, but after he finishes chewing, he stands up and heads over to the refrigerator to get a glass of orange juice. When he returns to the table, he shakes his head like I said something wrong.
“What?”
“Just get it over with already. Sleep with the woman so she can hate you with the heat of a thousand suns like every other girlfriend you’ve ever had. Then Ava will never mention it again.”
“What makes you think every woman I’ve ever slept with hates me?”
I’m tempted to tell him I’ve been with someone for two years and she definitely doesn’t hate me, but that would mean I’d have to deal with the million or so questions all my family members would have. Since I’m never in the mood to answer them, I keep my mouth shut.
Ronan finishes his eggs and sits back against his chair. “You’re always single. I never hear you say anything about any of your exes, which means they all hate you and you hate them.”
I open my mouth to defend myself but stop before I say a word. If the choice is either letting my family think I’m a complete tool when it comes to women or having them know about my relationship, then tool it is.
“Well, you never know, Ronan. Maybe now that you’re heading for the altar, maybe it’s my turn.”
He stands up, taking his plate, fork, and juice glass to the sink and not saying a single word about the idea that I could possibly find love and be happy. I wait for him to come back to the table, but he walks out of the kitchen, leaving me sitting alone.
Looks like I’ve been very convincing with my claims of not being interested in love all these years.
I feel like finding him and telling him that just because a woman doesn’t hold my balls in her purse doesn’t mean I’m against love. I just don’t want the kind of love he thinks is great. I need something a bit more.
On my way up to my room, I overhear Matthias and Ava talking in his office. When she mentions me, my ears perk up.
“Matthias, I’m thinking since Marius doesn’t want anything to do with Eden that maybe you could invite someone from work to join us at the party? You have to know someone nice at King Industries who may like Eden, don’t you?”
My brother doesn’t answer for a few seconds but then says, “There’s Rob. He’s the head of our IT department. Nice guy. Good department head. I’ve had some productive meetings with him, and at the Christmas party we shared some laughs. Remember him? Light brown hair, just under six foot, thin. Any chance she might like a nerdy IT guy?”
An IT guy? Is my brother kidding? He probably wears a pocket protector and is always pushing his thick, black, birth control glasses up the bridge of his nose.
I wait for Ava to nix that idea since she has to know Eden won’t like a geeky IT guy, but to my shock, she thinks it’s a fabulous suggestion. “Okay, yeah! I remember him. He was quiet but nice. Not exactly her type, but maybe it’s time for her to expand her horizons. Now I just need to decide if I’m going tomention it to her or just have him come to the party and maybe they’ll organically get together.”
Ronan walks up behind me as I spy on Matthias and Ava and taps me on the shoulder. “Hearing anything good?”
I nearly jump out of my skin and push him back away from me. “What the fuck? You scared me half to death.”
Of course, that gets my other brother’s attention and Ava’s, so they walk out to join us in the hallway. “What are you two doing out here?” Matthias asks, likely already knowing the answer to that question.
Ronan answers, leaving me standing there wishing I was anywhere but here right now. “I was upstairs, and I saw Marius lurking outside your office door when I came down to leave.”
All three turn to look at me like they’re expecting me to explain myself. Sorry, but they’re going to be disappointed. I have no plans to do anything like that.
When I don’t say a word, Ava says, “Since you probably heard me ask Matthias if he’d invite someone from work for Eden, I can ask you a similar question. Would you like me to ask another of my single friends to come so you aren’t the only single person at the party? I don’t want you to feel left out.”
Ronan elbows me hard in the side and laughs. “You better have her do it. You don’t have her friend Eden to adore you anymore now that Ava’s trying to set her up with someone from King Industries.”
