Cracked Kingdom (The Royals #5)(77)

As the three of us walk up the wide sidewalk leading to the main building, the stares we receive are comical. Jaws drop, people stop walking, conversations abruptly cease. If eyes could fall out, the concrete would be littered with them.

East stops in the middle of the sidewalk, just below the stairs, and turns to face a stunned student body. I want to keep going inside, but his strong arm around my waist prevents me from escaping.

“Because I’m a helpful, giving man, I’m going to answer some questions for y’all before classes start so you can concentrate on your shit inside, instead of spending the class period making up your own stories. Yes, Hartley and I are together. Yes, my family is okay with that.” He taps Ella, who nods. “Yes, Hartley still has amnesia and yes, I will beat the shit out of anyone who even makes her frown. If you make her cry, you’ll have so many broken bones that it’ll take an entire fleet of Chinese steel to put you back together.”

He says all of this with a huge smile and a conversational tone, which is probably why it sounds chilling.

“Any questions?” he hollers.

The silence is deafening. Easton smiles wider, claps his hands together and says, “All right, then. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. See you inside.”

He turns and urges Ella and me inside.

“Was that necessary?” I’m torn between embarrassment at what happened and embarrassment at myself for enjoying it so much.

“It was necessary,” Ella answers for him. “Especially when Seb shows up. We want to show a united front. Last year, the Royals were kind of shambling around like zombies and the school went nuts. There was so much awful bullying going on until we stood up together as a team. It’s always better for the sharks at Astor to know that the Royals will stick up for each other. Anyway, I’ll see you at lunch.”

She waves and jogs off, falling in beside a brunette who immediately hugs her.

“That’s Val, Ella’s best friend. You met her once before at the pier,” East murmurs in my ear. “And that’s Claire, my ex-girlfriend.” He points discreetly to a delicate, doll-like girl looking in our direction with sad eyes. “I’m only pointing people out so that you won’t be surprised. Let’s see. You should meet Pash. He’s my best friend outside my family.” He looks around.

He does these things all the time—these off-hand, seemingly unimportant gestures that turn my insides to mush. A few minutes ago he announced his intention to throw the massive Royal mantle over my shoulders, and now he’s anxious to share the smallest part of his life with me. He doesn’t want me to feel left out.

I thread my fingers through the ones that are dangling over my shoulder. “I can meet him later. Tomorrow. We have class now.”

He smiles at me, warming me from the inside out. My own personal sun.

The morning goes smoothly. Easton is in all of my classes. He admits that it was not a coincidence but that he finagled his way into them. I don’t mind. It’s nice not being isolated. There are plenty of stares in our direction, but East’s big frame is a formidable shield.

When we go to lunch, he steers me away from the corner. “There are bugs there, remember?”

“Oh, right. Bran told me.”

He scowls. “I told you, too, before Bran.”

I turn to hide a smile. His little, petty jealousies are adorable. “Bran’s a nice guy. You could be friends with him.”

“I was friends with him until he tried to trespass on my territory,” East mutters under his breath as he offers his ID card to the cashier.

“Your what?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Our territory?” he counters in an effort to save himself.

I hand my cash over. “I don’t think that’s much better.”

He pushes my hand down and gives the cashier his card.

“You can’t swipe it twice,” I remind him.

“Since when?” He points to the cashier. “Swipe it.”

“Um…” The guy bites his lower lip. “We’re not supposed to.”

“Swipe it,” East repeats, quiet but firm.

The cashier does as he’s told, the transaction goes through, and we pick up our trays so the next student can be checked out.

“They wouldn’t do that before,” I tell East, omitting the detail that it was Bran who had offered previously.

“It’s a stupid rule that no one enforces. They get paid, so what’s the big deal.” He stops at the table near the floor-to-ceiling plate glass window overlooking an athletic field. Ella and her friend Val are seated, as are the twins. Now that the two are together, it’s harder to tell which one is Sebastian and which one is Sawyer, but I guess that the scowling face belongs to Sebastian while the pained one is his twin’s.

I give them both a nod and a quiet hello. Sebastian pretends to gag when I sit down. It’s awkward and uncomfortable for everyone, but I don’t know if leaving would cause a bigger scene than staying.

My dilemma is momentarily interrupted by a drama playing out two tables away. My old pal, Kyle, stands next to the table where Felicity is seated with her squad. He has a tray in his hand and it’s evident he wants to join them. It’s equally obvious that Felicity doesn’t want that. She places her purse on the empty space beside her tray.