Her Royal Highness (Royals #2)(21)

Which is a feat given that she’s pushing those buttons so hard it’s like she’s imagining they’re my face.

My own computer is open on my bed because I’m waiting for Lee to call me in Hangouts, and when there’s a bloop sound, I put down my book, already sitting up with a smile.

But then I see the message in Hangouts.

It’s not Lee.

It’s Jude.

There’s just one word typed there.

Hi?

That question mark makes me frown at the screen, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. Am I going to reply? Why is she messaging now? Does she—

“Knock-knock,” a voice calls.

I look up, and hooooooly moly. The boy standing in our doorway is model-hot, all dark auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes. He’s wearing a green sweater with the best pair of jeans ever created, and I blink at him, trying to figure out where someone this gorgeous came from.

Then it hits me.

This must be Flora’s boyfriend. They go together too perfectly for him to be anything but hers. Probably a duke’s son or a viscount or something.

And sure enough, Flora leaps up from her bed with a squeal, slamming her laptop closed. “Seb!”

I watch her launch herself across the room and into his arms, and both their faces transform into something really . . . sweet.

Like, they’re both frighteningly hot, but they’re almost goofy as they smile at each other, and I realize that for as sexy as they both are, there’s a distinct lack of spark between them. They seem almost like—

“Who’s this?” Seb asks, looking over Flora’s shoulder at me, and Flora pulls back to give me her trademark dismissive look.

“Roomie. Quint,” she says, like using any more words to describe me might cause her physical pain.

Neat.

“Well, Roomie Quint,” Seb says, walking toward me with an outstretched hand. “I’m Brother Seb.” Then he grins, a dimple flashing in his cheek. “Brother Seb, that makes me sound like a monk.”

Snorting, Flora slaps at his arm. “And you’d be a bloody terrible one.”

I’m still hung up on “brother.” This is Flora’s brother? They look about the same age, sure, but they don’t look much alike, even if they were both clearly blessed by the Gene Fairy.

And he’s not just her brother, I suddenly remember.

“You’re twins, right?” I ask, shaking Seb’s outstretched hand. His skin is warm and soft, and I’m sure many a girl has shivered at that touch.

“We don’t look much alike, I’ll admit, but we are indeed twins,” he says before smiling at Flora. “She’s older by three minutes and has never let me forget it.”

Then he looks at us, a slightly dangerous glint in his eyes. “So,” he says with a smirk, “you two ready to have some fun?”





CHAPTER 12





“It’s friday,” I blurt out, and both Flora and Seb turn to look at me.

Seb grins a little, teeth practically flashing as he slides his hand in his back pocket. “So it is,” he says, lifting one shoulder. “But it’s just a trip down to the pub. I wouldn’t keep you out late, Roomie Quint.”

Flora’s eyes narrow slightly and my cheeks go hot. Suddenly Sakshi’s crush on Seb makes a lot of sense to me, but I’m still not about to go gallivanting off . . . wherever with the two of them.

I’m a rule follower by nature. I’ve never broken curfew, never skipped school, and never been to a bar.

And Jude’s message is still there on my screen, waiting.

So now I just lift my book from my bed and wiggle it slightly. “Homework,” I say. “But you two have fun.”

“Told you,” Flora says in a low voice to Seb, and I’m guessing that means she’s already filled him in on what a bore I am. Fine by me.

Then she steps a little closer to her brother. “Are they all here?”

Seb shakes his head, which has the effect of loosing the perfect amount of hair to flop over his forehead. “Not all. Spiffy, Dons, and Gilly were free, but Sherbet’s busy with school, and Monters is, of course, dead.”

I blink at that, but Flora just rolls her eyes. “He’s not dead, and Caroline said he’s actually back in Scotland now.”

“No, he’s extremely dead, and it’s all very tragic, but I’m moving past it. In any case, Monters wouldn’t have been any help here.”

Flora thinks that over, tilting her head to one side, before nodding with a “True,” and flipping her hair back over her shoulders. “Oh well. Two is better than none, I suppose. Shall we?”

I pretend to read as I watch Flora grab a gray leather jacket off the back of her desk chair, throwing it on over the sweater and jeans she’d changed into earlier. Then she slips her arm through Seb’s, and off they go, the door closing behind them.

I heave a sigh of relief and toss the book to the side, turning my attention back to my laptop. Maybe I’ll just reply with a “hi,” too. Or I could message Lee and ask what he thinks. That’s what I’ll do.

I open a separate message to text Lee, but there’s something niggling in the back of my mind, and, after a sec, I realize it’s a Friendship Alarm.