“Fuck.” He took a breath as he sat on the edge of the frame of the prison cot I’d woken on. “I am so sorry, Keegan. I had no way of knowing that was going to end up anywhere. Hell, it wouldn’t have ended up anywhere if I hadn’t been who I am.”
“Shit, shit, shit.” I paced the cell just like I had after I’d woken up in that place. I took off my cap and ran my hand through my hair.
“Keegan, I’m sorry if this is going to make your life more complicated in some—”
“No, it’s not that. I have a great family, and they’ve always been incredible. My brother is bi, so it’s not like that’s going to be an issue, but it does upset me that I might not be the one who gets to tell them. That they could find out from some stupid online crap. I didn’t keep it from them because I didn’t think they would handle it well. I don’t want them to think that was the reason.
“I was planning on getting this trip out of the way, having some fun, and working up the courage to finally say it. Just not very fair because, you know, it’s not like straight people have to go around telling everybody. And I’ve been confused as fuck trying to figure out who the hell I am anyway.”
“I understand that,” Owen said.
I sat down beside him, trying to absorb this information, sort through it while I reconfigured everything I’d felt throughout the day in light of the new information Owen had provided. “I’ve seen how it went down with my brother, and everything’s going to be fine, but there’s a part of me that has not been saying anything because I feel like in a way, I’ve been lying to them all these years.”
“Lying to them?”
“No, not like that, but even when Jace told us—that’s my brother, Jace—it was like I had missed out on a part of his life because I didn’t know he was bi. I love him so much, and I don’t ever want him to think I’m not there for him, and I don’t want them to feel like because I haven’t told them this, that they weren’t able to be there for me, that I didn’t want them to be, that I was keeping it from them.”
“Well, it sounds like you have a very nice family.”
“They’re pretty special.” I took a breath. “It would have been nice to say it myself and not have it revealed to them through some guy sticking his tongue down my throat.”
“There’s a chance it’s not even going to go anywhere outside this country, but it is online, and it is very well publicized, so there’s a possibility they might see it.”
“Better that you told me than me winding up getting out of here and being blindsided by it.”
“Yes, I think you’ve had enough surprises for one day.”
There was a knock on the door, and a guard entered and handed Owen the first-aid kit. He opened it and retrieved a cloth and some hydrogen peroxide to tend to my superficial injuries.
“So,” I went on, “when you said you were going to look me up at the hotel, that wasn’t just a way of blowing me off?”
“After everything that’s happened today, that’s your question?”
“Bruh, just let me ask the questions that come to me, okay?”
Owen looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh before he let it loose. And it helped ease my tension too. “Keegan, I fully intended to reach out to you once I’d located my niece and made sure she was safe. That’s why I asked what hotel you were in. Just obviously had a lot on my plate.”
I beamed—I couldn’t help myself. “Oh, I guess you can do that, as a prince…find people by hotels. You know, us normal people can’t do that kind of shit.”
“You don’t think I’m normal?” Owen asked, as though my thoughtless comment had really affected him.
“What? No, I didn’t mean that. I just meant, most people can’t ring up a hotel and find someone.”
He seemed to relax, but I could tell my comment had unsettled him. “Oh, yes. Of course.”
We shared a silent moment as he continued tending to my wounds, including a spot he’d found on my elbow.
“So you don’t hate me for being an asshole to you?” he asked.
“I don’t know if I can hate you until I really get to know you.”
“That’s a fair point. So I guess all I can do is get you brushed off and send you on your way. I’d like to have a chance to meet up with you later, if you’d like, but right now, I’m pretty sure I have to get barked at by my brother.”
“Thanks for listening,” I added.
“What?” He seemed thrown by my words, which I guessed made sense considering he was the one who got me locked up in his family’s dungeon.
“Listening to me talk about my family and everything,” I said. “I haven’t really shared that with anyone other than my friends.”
