Cruel Prince (Royal Hearts Academy, #1)(10)

Slowly, he turns. “You’re right.”

The ominous feeling in my gut intensifies as he steps forward, closing the distance between us.

“Welcome back, buddy.”

The smile he shoots me is so cruel I nearly wince.

“Damn,” Cole declares as his brother walks away for the second time. “Being on Jace’s shit list is—” He laughs to himself as he slings an arm around some girl’s shoulder. “On second thought—why ruin all the fun?”

I glare at him. Cole’s always been a cocky punk, but evidently, he’s upgraded to a full-grown asshole.

“Wow—”

“Ew,” Britney screeches, looking at her phone screen in disgust. “Desperate much?”

I have no idea what she’s talking about. And I don’t have the chance to ask because she tosses her head back, giggling with her cronies as they amble toward the building. My asshole step-cousin doesn’t even spare me so much as a parting glance before he chases after them.

For a moment, I consider calling my aunt to pick me up.

No. I won’t give them the satisfaction of getting under my skin so easily.

Whatever it is, it will blow over soon. High school gossip has the shelf life of fruit. There’s always a new rumor that upstages the one before.

My steps are steady as I walk inside.

Besides, how bad could it be?





Chapter 6





Jace





“Thanks for the heads up, man,” Oakley calls out as he approaches me.

Second period only ended thirty seconds ago. Word got out quicker than I thought it would.

Then again, Britney’s rumors tend to spread fast…just like her legs.

Even still, I’m not sure why Oakley’s wasting his time and mine with this little confrontation in the first place. He knows damn well there’s a better chance of getting struck by lightning twice than getting an apology out of me.

I slam my locker shut. “If I told you ahead of time, I’d have to hear you bitch about it even longer.”

He considers my statement for a moment. “Fine, you have a point.” He runs a hand down his scalp. “But now Hayley’s pissed and she won’t talk to me.”

“And that’s different from any other day because?”

“Because he was this close to getting her to agree to anal,” my brother Cole declares as he joins us.

Oakley sighs as we start trekking down the hall. “Did you two make a pact to screw up my life today or something?”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Cole shrugs. “The way I see it, you’re down one annoying girlfriend and up one hot freaky cousin.”

Although his jab was directed at Oak, he looks at me for a reaction.

I don’t give him one.

Cole grins. “If you don’t want her, I might take a crack at her.”

Before I can tell him to fuck off, a chubby brunette with black-rimmed glasses, who’s carrying a stack of books, crashes into him.

Cole scowls. “Walk much?”

“Yes, I walk with my Lord and Savior daily,” the girl deadpans as she fixes her glasses.

My brother opens his mouth then clamps it shut, looking visibly uncomfortable.

The girl gives him a saccharine smile. “But he’s on a break right now. Therefore, eat shit and get crabs, Covington.”

“Jesus. She’s annoying,” Cole grits after she stalks off.

“Careful,” Oak mocks. “Her Lord and Savior might hear you.”

Cole flips him the bird before he ducks inside a classroom.

“Look,” Oakley says as we reach our next class. “I’ll go along with the rumor because I want the blue-haired bitch gone too, but I’m gonna need you to do me a solid and come clean to Hayley.”

I don’t know what’s been going on with him lately, but he’s more dependent on her than usual.

Well, whenever he’s not off somewhere smoking himself stupid.

I decide to throw him a bone. “Fine.” I scan the classroom to see if Dylan’s arrived yet. She hasn’t.

“But not until tomorrow.”

She’ll be long gone by then.





Chapter 7





Dylan





The girls’ restroom in a high school is the equivalent of a warzone.

Half the girls are trash talkers…the other half are targets.

And the handful who don’t fit into the above boxes are casualties—they neither want to participate in drama nor defend it.

They just want to pee in peace.

Usually, I’m a casualty. But not today.

Today, I’m the girl who has a target on her back the size of Texas.

All because Oakley had to open his stupid mouth and tell everyone we slept together. Which was pretty shitty of him considering he was the one who asked me to keep quiet about him greeting me with a hard-on.

“I mean, seriously,” some girl on the other side of the bathroom stall utters. “Who sleeps with their freaking cousin? So gross.”

I grit my teeth as I finish my business in the stall.

“I heard she’s new,” another girl chimes in. “Maybe she’s from one of those hillbilly states?”