Playboy Princes (Royals of Arbon Academy, #2)(16)

Since my royal friends didn’t seem to know about it, it had to be one of those “need to know” situations where you only found out if you were one without a match.

Jordan was quiet, his gaze assessing. “We should check in on the previous winners. See where they all ended up.”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to do it without alerting whoever might be watching that we’re looking into it.”

Jordan just grinned, white teeth blinding me with their perfect straight sheen. Genetically blessed bastards, him and Rafe both. “You’re in safe hands. There’s a way to disable tracking on these palm readers. If you know what you’re doing.”

I shook my head. “Mattie didn’t mention it to me.”

He let out a rumble of laughter. “Mattie doesn’t know. It’s New American technology. Not available to everyone, even that ratty little nation that developed one of the most important advances in war that we’ve seen in a hundred years.”

I nudged him as I went past, back to the bed. “They’re not ratty, you snobby jerk.”

He shrugged. “Facts are facts, Vi.”

Their arrogance knew no bounds. “Who decided that two of the most powerful princes in the world would be best friends?” I grumbled. “How you two fit both your heads in the same room is beyond me.”

Jordan didn’t look remotely offended. “We’re good at a lot of things together. If you’re interested in finding out.”

I met his gaze fully then, wondering if I’d just heard him right. “Are you telling me that Rafe is okay with sharing a woman with you?” I couldn’t imagine that scenario, not if Rafe truly cared about someone.

But… stranger things had happened.

Jordan shook his head, as darkness filled his eyes. The joking flirt was gone then, replaced with someone that had a core of steel and shadows. “Talk to me about the game plan for Alex.”

And just like that, we were back to business.





Chapter 7





Jordan and I ended up spending most of the day in his bedroom. After he did something technologically impressive to disable any tracking bots from my palm reader, we spent hours pouring over old news articles about previous ballot winners. When we’d exhausted those resources, we moved on to even older information about the rise of monarchies and rumors of an infertility problem.

Mattie and Nolan had joined us before lunch, and we’d filled them in on everything. Good thing, too, because she’d arrived all red-faced with anger and accusing me of being brainwashed. Apparently Alex had been making sure the entire school knew we were “still together” and “totally in love.” Gag.

“Hey, I have an important question,” Nolan said when we stopped to eat the food we’d ordered up from the kitchens. There were numerous perks to being a student at Arbon Academy, and room service was just one of them.

“Go on,” Jordan invited, taking a huge bite of pizza. The pizzas at Arbon were out-of-this-freaking-world good.

Nolan frowned thoughtfully, chewing his own mouthful. “How come Rafe isn’t here with us?” He arched a brow at me, and the food stuck in my throat. “I know you guys have had your issues but I figured you’d... uh… worked through those?”

My face heated, and I did everything possible to avoid Jordan’s intense stare. Despite my plan to speak with him about his confession, we hadn’t broached the subject. It was just sitting there like this giant pink elephant in the corner of the room that we’d both been ignoring. Still hadn’t stopped the occasional accidental-on-purpose touches as he’d helped me navigate my palm reader more efficiently.

“Wait, when did you work through things with Rafe?” Mattie asked, and I froze.

Fuck. I hadn’t told her…

Clearing my throat, I wiped my hands off on a napkin. “I’m sure Rafe has better things to do than help the poor little charity case with her boy troubles.”

That was probably unfair. He’d been nothing but understanding with me after watching me suck face with the enemy in the hall. But I was barely holding it together around Jordan. Add Rafe into the mix, and I might end up committed. Or naked.

My cheeks burned hotter—if that was even possible—as fantasies of Jordan, Rafe, and me naked flashed across my mind, and my thighs clenched involuntarily.

“Besides, I think we almost have this worked out. Right?” I gave Nolan a very clear shut-the-fuck-up glare, which he probably understood.

He took another bite of his pizza, seeming to let the matter drop.

But then… “Are you guys avoiding each other ’cause you fucked?”

I choked on my pizza, and Mattie started laughing.

“What? Violet and Rafe? As if!” She snickered, then sobered when she realized no one else was laughing. “Wait, what?”

I cringed. Hard. What the hell had I been thinking? I mean, obviously I hadn’t been—at all—at least, nothing beyond my need to wash Alex off my skin and out of my heart.

“Well, this is awkward,” Nolan commented, oh so helpfully. “So I guess Violet forgot to tell you about how Jordan kissed her, too?”

“Dude!” Jordan exclaimed, and I dropped my face into my hands with a groan.

“Wow,” Mattie spluttered. “I’m not sure if I should be impressed or jealous. I mean, Rafe and Jordan.”