Page 23 of Heart of the High King
Chapter 10
Rafferty had tried to forget all the horribleness of his day and insisted that they go find something to eat. There wasn’t much in the small town closest to D’Vaire, and the diner they stopped in had a decent hamburger, but he’d found the fries rather bland. Once they got back into their hotel room, Sullivan demanded he check his phone, and Rafferty’s heart sank when he saw a waiting text.
Hi, it’s Aleksander. Great to meet you today. Would you and your brother like to come over tomorrow? You’re welcome at any time.
After reading the invitation part to his brother, Sullivan smiled. “Wonderful, tell him we’ll go. I’ve one as well from Kendrick saying nearly the same.”
Rafferty sat there, stupidly staring at his screen, unsure of what to say.
“Paunchy, don’t fuck this up. I told you to text him and build a friendship.”
“I’m just trying to figure out how to respond.”
“Try ‘Yes, thank you. We’ll be there at eleven.’ How hard is that?”
“Fine.”
Hello, Your Highness, it’s Rafferty. Thank you for your invitation. Duke Sullivan and I can be there at eleven if that’s acceptable.
“What the hell are we going to do in this hotel for the rest of the night?” Sullivan demanded.
“Turn on the television or something. Read a book.”
“I bet they don’t even have the channels I like,” Sullivan muttered as he got comfortable and found the remote. “And I hate books.”
Rafferty’s phone vibrated as he was removing his shoes. Glancing at the screen, he didn’t know what to think about Aleksander’s immediate response.
None of that royalty business, remember? Eleven is perfect. I hope you can stay longer than you did today. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.
“I know you got another text. You better answer him,” Sullivan warned.
“Give me a minute to think. Why don’t you text Kendrick or find something to do?”
“Your attitude is getting on my nerves.”
Frowning, Rafferty went to the settings on his phone and switched it to silent so Sullivan wouldn’t crawl up his ass when he got something from Aleksander.
I can stay longer. Duke Sullivan didn’t get a chance to talk to Kendrick. Your house is nice.Rafferty barely refrained from smacking himself in the head once he’d fired off the text. Although he’d seen hardly any of the inside of the mansion, “nice” was nowhere near the right word to describe the gorgeous place the High King ruled over.
Thanks, we love it. Wait until you see Dravyn’s garden. He and his mate spend all their time making it flourish.
It was such a foreign concept to Rafferty to think about gay couples happily living their lives that he could only shake his head. If Fate wanted two people to be together, then Rafe believed they should be, but he didn’t get to decide those things at Court Kestle.Are there many gay people at your house?Rafferty’s eyes widened when he saw the idiotic thing he’d sent.Please ignore that, it’s none of my business. I’m so sorry. I have no people skills. People tell me that constantly.
I grew up with a homophobic father. I get that it seems strange to you. You don’t have to apologize. There’s nothing wrong with people who aren’t heterosexual. And to answer your question, we have several gay couples. They’re accepted the same way as our straight ones.
I don’t have a problem with gay people.
Aleksander sent a smiley face emoji, which Rafferty grinned stupidly at.I hope not, your mate’s gay. Lol!
Rafferty had no idea how to deal with the sexuality issue. Although he didn’t want to offend Aleksander, he wasn’t able to pretend that everything was okay with the notion of them together either. It was something that would need to be worked out later, so he set it aside and tried to think of something polite to say.Your hair is nice.
His text was so ridiculous, Rafferty threw his phone onto the bed in disgust and got up to use the restroom. After emptying his bladder, he washed his hands and found his brother with his face buried into his device when he reentered the space they were sharing. Sullivan also had the television on to some comedy Rafferty didn’t find amusing, with the volume up way too high.
“You still talking to the High King?”
“I guess. He’s nice.” Rafferty was positive that word was going to haunt him forever.
“Be nice back.”
