He nods. “Cool.”
“I guess. Ethan has a lot of stuff, so maybe I can have her leave her bedroom stuff for you.”
I pull my phone out and dial her, but she doesn’t answer. She’s probably busy with the move. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem.
The train stops in Cliffton Heights and we descend the stairs, Adrian looking around as if he’s in Disneyland.
“It’s just a small city.”
“I love it.”
“It’s not New York,” I remind him for the millionth time.
“I know. Stop being so nervous. This was my decision.” He knocks shoulders with me.
“Well, come on.” I nod in the direction of the Rooftop Apartments.
He soaks it all in, pointing and asking questions about each store and restaurant, commenting about how he needs to go to the drug store to grab some toiletries. He wasn’t even this excited last night when we ditched his security.
“Thanks, Sierra,” he says as I put the key into the lock of my apartment building.
“You’re welcome.” I smile.
His fingers land on my ribcage, tickling me while we walk toward the elevator. The doors open immediately, and we file in, his hands slowing and moving along my body. He crowds me into the corner and his mouth draws closer to me, his lips meeting mine and his tongue sliding into my mouth. This feels so right, but the two-month timeline rings in my head like a warning bell, ruining the kiss.
As though he can hear my musings, his body presses harder, his lips firmer, his tongue faster as though he’s trying to push that thought from my head. The doors open and we part, walking out of the elevator hand in hand.
The Mancini crew lingers between Blanca’s new apartment and mine. I peek into my apartment, not seeing Ethan and Blanca, so I leave Adrian there and head down the hall, saying a quick hello to everyone in the hall. I pound on Ethan’s door and he and Blanca groan from the other side. I do not want to know what they were doing because I’m fairly sure it’s what I was doing in the elevator with Adrian.
“What, Sierra?” Blanca asks through the door.
“You’re not taking your bed, right? Mind leaving it for Adrian? Maybe your dresser too?”
Ethan groans and the door swings open. Blanca’s lips are swollen, and Ethan turns his back to adjust himself.
“What?” Blanca’s eyes fly up and down my body, concern in her expression.
“Oh my God.” I step into their apartment and shut the door. There’s something about telling other people that a prince is moving in with us that I find so exciting. Blanca will know what this means to me. “He wants to live with us,” I whisper as if he’s within earshot.
“I’m sorry. Who does?” Blanca whispers back.
“Adrian.” I cannot lose the perma-smile on my face.
“Holy shit! Carm, grab your camera. It’s Prince Adrian Marx!” Bella, Blanca’s soon-to-be sister-in-law yells from the hallway.
“I’m not getting shit. He’s not that great, you know. Running a country isn’t any harder than selling an overpriced penthouse in Manhattan,” Carm, Blanca’s brother, yells back.
Blanca opens the door and walks down the hallway which is now empty. Ethan and I follow, and when we reach my apartment, sure enough, Bella’s mouth is hanging open.
Val, Blanca’s very pregnant sister-in-law, is searching the pantry, uncaring.
Annie, the second almost-sister-in-law, is sitting, watching everything go down with rapt attention.
All the guys are on the couch, watching the football game.
Rian raises her eyebrows at Blanca. They both think this is crazy. Maybe it is.
Adrian turns on his charm with Blanca, holding his hand out to her. “Hello, I’m Adrian Marx.”
God, his accent is so sexy.
Bella leans forward. “Prince. Adrian. Marx.” As though she might need clarification.
He chuckles and turns his attention back to Blanca. “Where do I sleep? In your bed?”
Ethan’s arm quickly hangs over her shoulder in a protective manner. “Not happening.”
“Sierra mentioned I could borrow a bed while I stay here. Temporarily, of course. Would you like compensation?”
“That accent,” Bella sighs.
“I have an accent too. A New York accent,” Carm yells.
“No, no compensation. So you’re moving in here?” Blanca clarifies, her gaze shooting from me to him to Ethan and to Adrian again.
“Yes. Sierra said that would be okay.”
Blanca turns to me and I giggle like the schoolgirl I am right now. “Can you believe it?”
She shakes her head. “No. I can’t.”
Rian grabs my arm. “Excuse us, Your Highness.” She curtsies, and Adrian laughs.
Blanca is quick to follow, and the three of us end up in Rian’s room with the door shut.
“Explain this to me, Sierra, because I had this lovely girl coming for an interview tomorrow,” Rian says, ever patient. She’s never quick to react. I’m the time bomb in our friendship.
“He’s taking two months off from being a prince.”
They aren’t nearly as surprised as I was. They actually seem indifferent.
“Okay, and why does that have anything to do with us?” Rian asks.
“Did you sleep with him?” Blanca asks, her eyes already casting judgment when her gaze dips down at my clothes.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” I joke.
“Sure, you do,” Rian says. “That’s all you do. Am I going to be stuck in a sexfest for two months?”
“No.” Although I kind of secretly hope there is more sex. Only because he’s so talented.
Rian’s expression says she doesn’t believe me. The unbreakable smile on my face probably doesn’t help with her assessment.
“Okay, I’m not sure. But he asked if he could take the spare room in exchange for an exclusive interview. You guys know how much I’ve wanted to move up to anchor. Maybe if I score this interview, I have a chance. I can’t be a beat reporter for some local station forever.”
Blanca’s shoulders fall because unlike Rian, she understands the work thing. Rian is happy writing textbook questions and baking in her free time. She’s content in that facet of her life, whereas Blanca and I are on a quest to climb the ladder as high and fast as we can get there. Fuck any glass ceilings along the way. We’ll bust through them.
“How is the prince paying for rent?” Rian asks.
“I’m paying the first month for sure. In exchange for the interview.”
Blanca balks. “Can you afford that?”
I nod. I have money tucked away from my mom dying in action that I hardly ever touch.
Blanca says nothing because she doesn’t have a say. She doesn’t live here anymore. But a line forms between her brows as she leans forward and lowers her voice. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. What happens in two months?”
“He returns to Sandsal and has to carry out his royal duties.”
Rian’s head falls into her hands. “This is insane. We’re living with a prince?”
“Thanks for understanding, Rian.” I should have called her before agreeing to it, I know that, but I was caught up in the moment. We’re roommates and friends. “It was wrong of me to agree to it without speaking to you first.”