Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(44)

“Is this why you were laughing like a lunatic at your phone earlier?” Nick asked. “Seriously? Dinosaur jokes?”

Cade shrugged. “I dino what to tell ya. I guess your sense of humor isn’t developed enough to appreciate them.”

“Please stop,” Nick said.

“Wait,” I said, holding up my hands. “You two were listening in?” I asked. I knew I hadn’t actually done much of the talking in the room with Rich, but I still felt indignant. Besides, what if I’d let something happen between Rich and me?

“Barely,” Nick said. “Cade was breathing louder than a bulldog taking a nap.”

“What?” Cade rounded on Nick. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth.”

“This is coming from the man who thinks you can put somebody’s balls in a headlock,” Nick said.

“If you want a repeat of the beatdown you just got, I’ll be happy to give you a refresher.”

“Do you two mind?” Rich asked.

Cade looked at me. “Wait. Before you two frolic off into the moonlight. You’ve gotta tell me. Would his moves have worked if he didn’t show you he was a dinosaur nerd?”

“Rich didn’t try any moves,” I said impatiently. I already felt confused enough about the whole thing without having to explain it to the peanut gallery outside. “We were just talking.”

Rich rubbed the back of his head and grimaced. “Actually, I did try a couple moves. Apparently, they didn’t work as well as I thought.”

Cade and Nick burst out laughing.

I felt another, bigger wave of guilt roll through me. Here I was, standing with not just Rich, but all three of the King brothers. Meanwhile, Iris and Miranda were probably at home trying to imagine what kind of traitor things I was up to tonight. At least I hadn’t taken Rich’s silent invitation to kiss again in the dinosaur room. It had been written as clear as day in his eyes, but this time I’d managed to resist.

It felt like I needed to lie down or maybe take a cold shower. I couldn’t get my thoughts straight lately, and the two people I normally would’ve gone to for advice hated me right now.

“You okay?” Rich asked. He put his hand on my back, and even the innocent touch sent trickles of warmth through me.

“She looks like she needs CPR,” said Cade.

Nick frowned at him. “Usually, people who are standing up and conscious don’t need CPR.”

Cade shrugged. “Just trying to be a wingman.”

“More like a wing nut.” Nick laughed.

Cade’s hand shot out and popped Nick between the legs. Nick hunched over in silent pain.

“Call me a wing nut again,” Cade whispered with a wild grin.

“Anyway,” Rich said, urging me away from the two of them and toward the stairs.

“They don’t seem to get along,” I said. I was desperate to talk about anything but Rich and me. I really did enjoy being with him, but every time the silence stretched out long enough for me to feel where gravity was trying to take us, I wanted to run.

“Cade and Nick are always fighting, but they are also always together. It’s kind of like an old married couple, but with more testosterone and penis jokes.”

“Charming.” I laughed.

“Yeah. Cade is smarter than he lets on, but he’s also dumber than he seems.”

I laughed again. “I’m not sure that actually makes sense. I think a statement like that needs an example.”

“Okay. Easy. I can give you a few. I once caught Cade trying to find his phone by looking under the couch with the flashlight app on his phone. I also saw him learn half of a chemistry textbook in a few hours because he was determined to blow up a mailbox using only what we had in the cabinets at home. He once told me everybody uses the toilet wrong, because if you sit backward, you have a built-in table.”

“Yeah . . . but wouldn’t you need to take your pants completely off first?”

“Like I said. A smart idiot. Do I need to go on?”

I was smiling hard enough that my face hurt. “Need to? No. But I’m highly entertained. I think I want more.”

“Maybe the best example would be when he got locked in the backyard of our house when we were kids. He tried the gate and couldn’t get out, but the house was locked. He couldn’t climb it, and he didn’t have his phone. By the time we found him, he’d made his way onto the roof of the house by jumping about three feet from a tree branch to the roof. He was actually trying to go down the chimney. Cade wasn’t as amused as we were when he realized the gate wasn’t locked—he’d just been pulling instead of pushing.”

I laughed. “Okay, so I believe you that he’s dumb, but I’m not exactly getting the whole smart thing.”

“Well, it’s just that the same person who got into all those idiotic situations is the one who has played a huge part in getting Sion to where it is. When it comes to negotiation and people, he’s pretty much a genius. He could probably talk a vegan into eating a Philly cheesesteak.”

“And what about Nick?” I asked. “He never struck me as stupid. I feel like I remembered him being pretty much awesome at everything in school when it came to academics.”

“Yeah. Nick has probably never tried anything he wasn’t immediately good at. That’s also his problem. Most people learn to bust their ass, because they find something they want to master and have to work hard to do it. Nick never had to learn to work hard, because everything was so easy. I think he likes being around Cade because keeping him from offing himself is probably a challenge, even for Nick. Everything is so easy for Nick that he always ends up seeming bored. I thought Sion would be enough of a challenge for him, but he’s like a human computer. Give him a problem, and he spits out a solution. It’s honestly scary, sometimes.”