Cruel Prince (Royal Hearts Academy, #1)(13)

His jaw works. “That doesn’t sound like Tommy.”

“I know. I thought the same thing. But when I asked him about his sudden change of heart, he said he wanted us to be cool.” I shrug. “I think he’s tired of being a jerk all the time and needs a friend.”

I’m not brave enough to mention the part about him wanting to know if Jace ever kissed me.

Jace snorts. “No. He’s messing with you.”

“Messing with me how?”

Annoyance sweeps over his features. “By making you think he’s into you.” He plucks the remote off the floor. “He knows we’re friends. He’s just pretending to like you so he can try to steal you away and get a rise out of me. Ignore him if he tries to talk to you again. I’ll set him straight tomorrow.”

A strange feeling brews in the pit of my stomach. It’s not that Jace isn’t right. Tommy is most likely using me.

But the dismissive way he’s implying that Tommy couldn’t seriously like me ...

It’s as if the notion of anyone having feelings for me was utterly ridiculous.

“Why aren’t you playing?” Jace questions after a few minutes go by.

“What if he’s not?” I whisper. “What if Tommy really does like me?”

Jace rolls his eyes. “He doesn’t, trust me. It’s not possible.”

Ouch. The sinking feeling in my stomach travels upward until it wraps around my heart.

I have to leave…before I make an even bigger ass of myself.

When I became a teenager, my aunt Crystal warned me the next few years would be some of the best and worst of my life.

When I asked her why, she told me it was the time most girls had their first crushes, first kisses, and first loves…followed by their first heartbreak.

I, however, thought I was safe, because the person I gave my heart to…was my best friend.

And best friends aren’t allowed to break your heart.

It’s against the rules.

“Whoa. Where are you going?” Jace asks when I stand up. “We finally made it to the next level of Zombie Warfare. We’re close to the apocalypse.”

The irony. I’m pretty sure this is it.

“Is it really so hard to believe someone might be interested in me?” The question erupts out of my vocal cords like word vomit.

He grips the back of his neck as he stands, looking about as uncomfortable as I feel. Great.

“I don’t…what the hell is going on with you, D?”

God, he really doesn’t know. My vision becomes hazy and I close my eyes. Why would he?

“Is it because I don’t have huge boobs like Britney?”

Disgust rolls through me as the first tear makes its way down my cheek, but I can’t stop.

It turns out there is something even worse than unrequited love.

Being forced to pretend it doesn’t exist at all.

My feelings for Jace are slowly eating me alive…and it’s not fair that I’m the one forced to deal with them.

Jace—who always appears unflustered and in control—looks so confused, I almost feel bad for him. “What do Britney’s boobs have to do with anything?”

Ugh. He’s acting so dumb I could scream. “If I looked like Britney did, would it be easier for you to believe Tommy was into me?”

Annoyance flashes across his face. “Do you like Tommy? Is that why you’re so mad at me?”

I’ve never wanted to punch someone so badly before. Perhaps if I did, it would finally knock some sense into him.

“I already told you, I don’t like Tommy. I like yo—”

“Jesus. Stop ruining everything,” he shoots back. “We’re friends, Dylan. That’s all we’ll ever be.”

We stare at one another for what feels like an eternity as the full magnitude of his outburst seeps in.

Jace doesn’t feel the way I do. Far from it.

Holy shit. It would be more humane if Jace ripped out my beating heart and bludgeoned it with a mallet.

I wipe my tears with the back of my hand. The only thing worse than having your heart smashed, was crying in front of the person responsible for it.

Pain swells in my chest, and I draw in a heavy breath. The way I see it, I only have two choices. One—I can shove my love down as far as it will go. Keep pretending I don’t feel anything for him.

But I’m done with playing pretend. And now that everything I’ve been holding inside has come to the surface…it’s a long way down.

So long, we’ll never be able to get back to the place we started.

Our friendship is doomed.

Which only left option number two. I need to find out why. Given Jace has clearly made his mind up about the possibility of us ever being more than what we are, I deserve to hear all the reasons we can’t be together.

“Why?” I whisper.

My heartstrings are no longer pulling…they’re hanging by a thread tethered to Jace Covington.

His throat bobs. “Because we’re friends.”

I hate the way he emphasized the word friends. In the blink of an eye, he managed to turn a positive into a negative.

Apparently, my heart isn’t a fan of his answer either because I have the urge to dig deeper.

“Would you rather date someone you didn’t get along with?”