Cruel Prince (Royal Hearts Academy, #1)(70)

Shifting ever so slightly, I turn to look at him.

He’s reclined in his seat, with his legs spread out and his hood covering half his face…it makes my insides swoop, but my heart hurt.

It’s clear he’s battling some demons…but he’s doing it all alone.

I hate it.

Reclining my own seat, I relax against the plush leather. “Hey.”

He tilts his head a little, his gaze moving over me like lava. “Hey.”

Lifting my hand, I trace the curve of his brow. “It’s kind of crazy.”

His gorgeous face is all hard edges, chiseled bones, and full lips, but in this moment, his eyes hold a softness and vulnerability I haven’t seen in years.

“What is?”

I run my thumb down his cheek. “That it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, but being this close to you still…”

The reality that we’re no longer friends sinks its claws into my heart and I stop talking.

His fingertips trail up my outstretched forearm. “Still what?”

Makes me want to merge my broken pieces with yours.

“Cracks me wide open,” I whisper, because friends or not, I’ll never be able to keep anything from him. “I guess my broken pieces missed yours as much as I missed you.”

He exhales sharply. “You say the weirdest shit sometimes.”

I can’t help but laugh. He’s not wrong.

He’s also the only one who ever truly got me.

“Yeah, but you love it.”

He grins before his expression turns serious. “Yeah…I did.”

I wish I knew what caused that change, or how to fix it, but Jace has built his walls so high, they’re impossible to climb.

However, I’ve never been the kind of girl to give up. The locks to his fucked-up kingdom might have changed, but I still remember the layout.

“Cole said you left in the middle of your birthday dinner.”

A muscle in his jaw tics. “Cole has a big fucking mouth.”

He does, but that’s beside the point. “We were worried about you.” I hold his gaze. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but your secrets have always been safe with me. No matter how much you hurt me.”

After Jace confessed to doing all those awful things, I could have retaliated by spilling everything he ever told me when we were kids, but I didn’t.

We were best friends before we were enemies, therefore my love for him will always be stronger than my animosity.

I can feel the ice around him thaw a little before he speaks. “My father keeps pushing me to go away to college. Then tonight at dinner he mentioned me working for Trust Pharmaceuticals and starting an internship next year.”

“But that’s not what you want to do.”

It’s not a question, it’s a fact. Jace has never expressed any interest in working for his father’s company. He’s always had his sights set on being a video game developer.

He shakes his head. “Fuck no. I don’t know shit about what he does, and I have no desire to.”

Not to mention the elephant in the room. Why would Jace ever want to work for the company responsible for his little brother’s death?

Granted, it was an accident, but still. It would be a punch-you-in-the-face reminder of your grief, day in and day out.

“It’s really messed up of him to push that on you.”

“I know.” His throat bobs on a swallow. “I’m not sure I even want to go to college in the first place. But if I did, I’d go to one close by so I can be here for Cole and Bianca.” He shrugs. “I was planning on getting an apartment after graduation with the money I made from Z.I. anyway. And if I’m not taking classes, I’ll have time to develop and sell more games.”

Pride swells in my chest. “You sold a game? That’s awesome.”

His eyes light up. “Zombie Island. Well, that’s what the company who bought it renamed it. Originally, I called it Zombie Nightmare.”

“Zombie Nightmare is way cooler.”

“Right?” He makes a face. “They wanted to market to younger kids though, so I had to change some things and…” He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, I don’t have to go to college in order to make something of myself.”

“No, you don’t. Not unless you want to. I mean, I’m going so I can have a business degree under my belt—”

“Not a bad idea,” he interjects. “That way when you start your record label, you won’t need to hire a bunch of schmucks who will take you for a ride and run it into the ground.”

“Exactly.” I chew my thumbnail. “Although it will take a lot more than a business degree to get the ball rolling. I still have to find bands—good bands—that will trust me enough to put their dreams in my hands. Plus, with my dad in jail and the authorities sequestering every dime from his bank accounts, I have to find a way…” I suck in a breath. “I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Just the thought of everything I’ll need to do soon makes my head spin. Not to mention the fact that I’ll be so broke, ramen will be a splurge.

But where there’s a will there’s a way, and I’m determined to make it happen.