Page 69 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Fay, who’d called them all to the TV room after Esmeralda left in a rush, was snickering into his fist, while next to him Uncle Arsh was grinning from ear to ear. Adam was blushing and smirking down at the floor. Our father, King Rami, was sitting on one of the other sofas with our grandmother, Gigi, now that the cushions on the floor had been returned.

Father tried to hide his smile by stroking his trimmed beard sprinkled with white. “Leila, honey,” he said, his hazel eyes dancing with amusement. “You might want to rephrase your question.”

Gigi grunted next to him and quirked a thin brow at me. “Oh, I don’t believe she needs to, Rami. Leila got it spot on. Your son has been rolling in the sheets with Princess Esmeralda.”

Shit, shit, shit. There was no point denying it when my face gave away the truth of those words instantly, burning hot with embarrassment. I could feel the skin melting off my bones.

“Look at his face,” Fay hooted as his whole body shook with laughter and Adam chuckled with him.

I scowled at my siblings and pulled my hand from Mother’s fingers to tug at my ear. At least Uncle and Father had the decency to try to hide their chuckles, but Gigi grinned at me, looking bloody impressed with herself. So much for being her favourite if this was how she exposed me.

“Oh, stop it,” Mother said to them all, her softly curved brows pinched together. “Rolling in the sheets or not, you all know that isn’t what I meant.” She glanced back at me, her light wrinkles smoothing out instantly. “Ignore their teasing and tell me, Kai. Did you really fall asleep with her?”

Mother’s hopeful question softened the amusement wafting through the room and everyone went quiet, patiently waiting for my answer.

It was no secret among my family that I had struggled with sleep since a young age, and it had only gotten worse as I grew older. For some reason, my thoughts never went quiet enough for me to fall asleep for long periods of time or several nights in a row. Nightfall only ever made my mind run faster, jumping from thought to thought, worry to worry, and rarely ever stopping for a breath.

But with Esmeralda’s body wrapped all around mine, there was nothing I thought about other than how good and soft and sweet she felt against me. And how I could imagine lying in bed with her every night for years to come.

I swore I only closed my eyes for five minutes, but the next thing I knew, Fay was crashing through the bloody door.

I didn’t bother trying to tame the small smile forcing its way onto my mouth and tugged shyly at my ear. “Hmm.” I gave a slight nod. “I fell asleep with her.”

There was a split-second of silence then delighted chaos broke loose.

“Oh, this is wonderful.” Mother gleamed, watery relief filling her eyes.

“Well, I never…” Father said in awe while Uncle was doubled over in laughter.

“Marry her,” Gigi stated. “Put a ring on that girl’s finger today and marry her tomorrow.”

I felt heat rise through my face again, but it wasn’t the bad kind this time. It was surprise that Gigi was telling me to marry Esmeralda so quickly, a heavy satisfaction at the realisation that my family liked her, and a new excitement at the thought of a possible future with Esmeralda. And it was fucking scary because I had only really known her properly for a week, but…

My Esmeralda. My Babble. My wife…fuck, fuck, fuck, I liked that. I liked that more than I could say.

“Look at him,” Fay said, laughing again. “He’s fucking thinking about it!”

“Fay! Language,” Mother rumbled, and Fay snapped straight. “And Gigi, he can’t marry her just like that.” Gigi arched a questioning brow. “Well, I suppose not unless...” Mother turned to me. “Do you want to marry her? Are you even dating yet? Does she know how you feel about her?”

I nudged at my glasses. “I—we like each other, but I don’t know if we’re dating yet.”

“Bloody Neves,” Father muttered, glancing at his grinning younger brother.

“Who cares about dating? Just marry her,” Gigi said like her word was law.

“What did I tell you?” Uncle Arsh said to Father. “What did I tell you? And you doubted me. Now you owe me. A hundred Sterlings was the bet, and you better pay up, Rami.”

Mother swung an outraged look to Father. “You made a bet on our son?”

Father’s eyes widened in horror. “Uh—what? What? No. No, not at all, my love. It was Arsh.”

“What?” Uncle Arsh exclaimed.

Mother started railing off at the both of them without so much as taking a breath between her words and they dropped their heads in shame. Even Gigi added a few smug words of support for Mother. Fay and Adam grinned, obviously happy that it wasn’t them being told off for once. I had to admit, even I found it amusing. At least until the conversation swerved back to me.

“The point is,” Mother said, “that none of us should be interfering in Kai’s relationship with Esmeralda whether that is making bets on them or anything else.” She elegantly cleared her throat and faced me, motherly authority painting her face and posture. “That being said, Kai, there are condoms in the palace infirmary. Please be sensible and use them.”

I fought the urge to groan in painful embarrassment but couldn’t help a wince. Because as open as my family was about sex, this conversation was going in a direction that was simply plain awkward.

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