All good, girl. Catch me after; we’ll watch a movie or something.
Relief hit me hard. Also excitement. A movie? I’d seen only a few in my whole life, so to think I’d get to watch one tonight was enough to send a buzz of energy through my veins.
Alex gestured for me to go first, and I joined the throng of students leaving.
“Thanks for agreeing to have dinner with me,” he said, walking so close our bodies kept brushing against each other.
“This counts as a date,” I blurted. “It’s part of our deal.”
Alex slapped a hand to his chest. “You wound me, Violet Spencer. Here I thought you were starting to enjoy my attention.”
A part of me definitely was.
“Are you feeling better now? You looked a little pale when I caught you beside the nurse’s station,” he segued.
The painkillers had kicked in and I felt fine, so it was easy to say, “Feeling good as new.”
Alex nodded, looking pleased by this.
As we walked toward the dining hall, a silence fell over us, but it wasn’t really awkward. Alex never made me nervous the way that other students did. Like he wasn’t judging me. It was one of the things I liked the most about him.
“I’m really glad it was your name drawn in the ballot,” he said, sounding almost wistful. “I didn't expect you to be quite so … lovely.”
Uh, okay. I wasn’t sure how to take that, so I didn’t even bother to analyze it. “I still don’t understand,” I told him, and he tilted his head toward me, waiting for my next words. “Why me? Why are you pursuing someone like me?”
His brow furrowed, and he slowed. “Do I need a reason to pursue a pretty girl?”
I shrugged lightly, even though I felt anything but casual. “There are hundreds of stunningly beautiful, rich, and well-connected women in this school. I have none of that, and I know I’m not anything special, so yeah, it feels like you need a reason.”
I’d been suspicious from the start, and the feeling was only growing because I couldn’t understand it. I hadn’t seen Alex with any other chicks. I hadn’t even seen him show attention to any others. And he’d known me all of a week, most of which I hadn’t even seen him. So what the hell had him acting the way he did?
His expression softened, and before I could step back, he reached out and cupped my face, leaning in so close that I could practically taste him on my lips. Frozen, I couldn’t pull away, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to.
“The first moment I saw you, Violet, you were framed in the doorway of my favorite place in the world. The doorway to the soccer field. The light behind you turned your hair a pure, silvery blond, and your beautiful, heart-shaped face was filled with awe as you took in the stadium.”
Breathe, Violet. Breathe.
“Then that ball was flying for your face, and I started running before I could think about it, everything inside of me rebelling against it hitting you. It was pure instinct, and I wouldn’t have been able to fight it, even if I’d wanted to. But you didn’t need me. You caught that ball like you were a highly trained goalie, and it was probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Not one other woman in this school could have done that, and it was in that moment that I realized how much more than just a pretty face you are. I wanted to know everything about you.” His thumb brushed my cheek, and I realized he’d pushed us back into a corner, crowding me into the wall so closely I could feel the long, hard lines of his body pressing into me. “So that’s why I’m pursuing you, my American princess. Because in a world of spoiled, desperate women, you’re the most real thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
A single tear spilled out of my right eye, tracing down until it hit the hand that was cupping my face.
Then he kissed me.
Chapter 12
Books always describe first kisses as something so intense that the world feels like it stops for that moment. And while this wasn’t my first kiss, before it I’d sometimes wondered if maybe, with the right guy, I’d get that feeling—a punch in the gut that sucked the air from my lungs and had me desperate for more.
Kissing Alex was damned hot, and I felt all the right things, mostly in my vagina. I was turned on by Alex—dude was sexy as fuck, and I could imagine kissing him a lot more and enjoying every second of it. But there was no fairy tale, world-stops-spinning moment.
Guess the books were liars.
Alex opened his mouth further, his tongue stroking mine, his lips pressing harder as if he wanted more, and I stopped over-analyzing everything and enjoyed this unexpected make out session.
When he finally pulled away, both of our chests heaved a little as we sucked in air, and I licked my hot, swollen lips. I’d just kissed a damn prince. A crown prince. A crown prince who’d demonstrated with both words and actions that I was more than just some random chick he was pursuing. That there was real emotion behind everything he’d said and done. Might be time to stop avoiding the situation, and start looking at the guy standing right in front of me. God knows, spending the week avoiding him hadn’t shut my emotions down at all. Alex had played a starring role in plenty of my dreams.
“Ready for dinner?” he said, voice low and husky, our bodies still pressed together.
I nodded. “Yeah, I could eat.”
My body was craving a lot of things right now, and maybe if I filled one of its desires, it would shut up about the others. I’d had a bit of spotty blood from the IUD insertion, so I probably shouldn’t be thinking about sex for a while anyway.
But Alex made it hard. My gaze drifted down of its own accord … Yeah, very hard to turn all of that down.
When we entered the dining hall, eyes locked on us, and an awkward silence filled the immediate vicinity. I’d been pretty sure that no one had seen our kiss—Alex blocked me pretty effectively—but then again, I’d been kind of distracted and wouldn’t have noticed.
Alex led me to his table, seeming unconcerned by the attention. I heard more than one whisper about “charity case” and “whore,” and I did my best to ignore it. I wasn’t surprised by the whispers and rumors—I’d been seen with multiple princes in the last couple of days. Probably looked like I was doing the rounds, but it still pissed me off because dudes never got this treatment. I’d read many books about the world before the Monarch War, and even back then, women’d had to deal with all of this bullshit.
Alex’s table was full, except for two seats, and something told me he’d been explicit in making sure that there was a seat for me so he didn’t have to send anyone packing.
Lots of curious eyes were on me as I sat, awkwardly, but no one said anything. Within a few seconds they lost interest and went back to their chatting. The only one that didn’t was the tall, somewhat familiar, dark-skinned guy on the other side of Alex.
“Hi,” he said, leaning over, “I’m Drake.”
I quickly shook his hand, remembering him now from the party. His party. “Violet. It’s nice to meet you.”
Alex nudged his friend back, and Drake shot him a broad smile, white teeth flashing. “Come on, Alex. You don’t have to piss on her. I’m just being friendly.”