“You think I’m brooding? I don’t even know what that is.”
“You should read romance novels.”
“Not for me.” He points to the cards. “You ever play poker?”
“The closest I come to that is Yahtzee.”
“What is Yahtzee?”
14
Ashton
IspendtwohoursplayingYahtzee with Sophie.
And it’s… fun.
I’m not a person who plays games, at least not board games. I like to gamble, which means I get the gist of Yahtzee relatively quickly, but I’ve never played with dice using a cup.
I’ve also never played Scrabble, which is what Sophie suggests after we tire of Yahtzee.
I play a round with her, getting my butt handed to me because Sophie is smart. Or at least, she knows a lot of words with the letter Q.
I also discover that she grew up having game nights with her step-father and sisters. Now that Spencer is back in her life, she wants to include him and Lyra, but neither of them gets along with her mother, so going to the house isn’t a good idea.
She talks a lot about her family: instead of her mother Signe making Duncan pick between King Magnus and his family, Signe just took his family away from him. Sophie had no contact with her father for over ten years, which is a lot when you consider Duncan was just up the hill living at the castle the whole time.
I’ve never been interested in family dynamics. I don’t give much thought to my own family because they just irritate me. Fenella is one thing, but my mother never gives either of us much time because she’s so focused on our older brother Evan. And since Evan started climbing the ranks at Carrington Toys, my father doesn’t have a lot of time for me either.
At least he’s got an heir apparent. It was quite early in my life that he came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be taking over the reins at the company.
But I don’t give that much thought because it annoys me. And maybe that makes me grumpy. It’s always fun to blame them for as much as I can.
My family doesn’t do leisure time together. When the five of us are together, there is talking, sometimes arguing, and a lot of scrolling on phones. Growing up, my mother never once suggested we play a board game together.
She might be good at Beer Pong, but nothing else.
Someone brought in a stack of games for Sophie. Or maybe they were already in the castle—the royal family seems to get along so family game night wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
While I’m here, I do my best not to be grumpy.
I’ve been called a lot of things in my life—things that are personality based—but hearing Sophie call me a grouch was… different.
As in, I didn’t like it.
Especially when she announced it wasn’t her thing.
I’m notthatgrumpy.
Sophie is just exceptionally good-natured. I think she might be the nicest person I’ve ever met. Always a smile. Friendly, considerate, just plainnice.
I’m definitely not used to that.
I leave in the afternoon when Sophie starts yawning. They brought me lunch with hers, and we ate together at the table.
My room, along with most of the guest rooms, is on the fourth floor. A variety of paintings hang on the wall, from landscapes of Laandia to Viking ancestors.
The good art is on the lower floors, along with the weapon collection.
