Playboy Princes (Royals of Arbon Academy, #2)(25)

The hall was silent when we left, and I took a second to check my palm reader. I’d been decidedly ignoring it for the last few hours, turning it to silent.

Twelve missed calls and twenty messages flashed up at me. Alex.

Not tonight, dickhead. I’d deal with you tomorrow.

Tonight, I was getting shitfaced.

I was definitely gonna slip a nip at some point, but it’d be worth it to forget Alex for a few hours.

Mattie led us along the silent hall, and I followed. I wasn’t closely paying attention to where we were going, but I was almost certain I’d never been here before.

“Dean Morgan isn’t exactly aware I’m throwing this party,” she whispered, and I fought down my laughter.

“Shocker.”

She shrugged, the red straps of her bra moving across the dark creaminess of her skin. “He only thinks he owns this school. We’re the ones who are really in charge.”

Truth. The royals owned everything.

We ended up in a section of the school I definitely had not been to. It was a series of function rooms that all seemed to lead into a gigantic ballroom.

“This is where the dance will be held soon,” Mattie said, no longer whispering. Apparently we were pretty far from the main part of the academy now. “We’re just going to utilize one of the smaller rooms out the back.”

Good plan because the ballroom would hold ten thousand easily. Mattie was popular, but not that popular.

We crossed the huge room to get to this smaller one, and as we got closer to the far side of the ballroom, I heard the music.

“My people set it all up,” Mattie said, already moving her hips. “My door guys will stop any unwelcome assholes. It’s going to be amazing.”

My heartrate picked up, and it wasn’t just the heavy bass pumping from behind the closed door. It was the thought of who might be on the other side.

Mattie opened the door quickly, and two beefy dudes stepped forward as the music spilled out through the gap. The second they caught sight of Mattie, they averted their eyes but still managed to bow their heads. “Princess,” both of them said.

“Nice job, boys,” Mattie said, striding into the room. “Appreciate your hard work.”

They bowed again before resuming their positions at the door.

“Oh, and this is my bestie, Violet. Keep an eye on her too, please.”

She strolled off into the crowd then, leaving me awkwardly standing as two men tried to look at me, but not below my face. They were definitely professional, I’d give them that.

“I can take care of myself,” I said before I abruptly turned and marched after Mattie. I should never have agreed to wear an outfit I couldn’t conceal my weapon in. Although…

A quick glance around told me that no one was concealing weapons here tonight, and at least that was some comfort.

“Tits and ass everywhere, am I right?” Nolan all but slammed into me, smelling of tequila and sexy man. He wore…

“What the fuck are you wearing?” I asked him, my eyes drawn to the tiny pouch that covered his dick and basically nothing else.

Nolan had a ripped-as-fuck body, smaller than Jordan’s or Rafe’s, but definitely sports toned. All of it was on display, except what was covered by the dick-pouch. Even his entire ass cheeks were out there for the world to see.

“You and Mattie suffer from zero confidence issues,” I said drily, and his smile grew.

“Fuck hiding your body from the world.” He ran his gaze across me. “Especially with a body like that, New Girl. I get the hype. I really fucking get it.”

I whacked him across his stomach. “Twincest, remember. Let’s dial it back.”

Nolan threw his hands up. “Just making an observation. Like I said, there’s no room for another dick on your dance card. And that being the case, I’m taking mine somewhere else.”

Shaking my head at the words that came out of that dude’s mouth, I moved further into the party, not sure I’d ever seen so much skin on display. Even at the pool.

The room was dark though, allowing us the illusion of privacy, with strobe lights flashing on the main dance floor. Making my way to the bar, I ordered two cocktails straight up.

“Whatever is gonna fuck me up,” I said to the chick taking my order.

Her lips twitched. “I gotchu.”

She was back in a few minutes with what she called “death by sunrise,” and I smiled in anticipation. She waved away the cash I pulled out for a tip. “All included. Just enjoy and be safe.”

She was gone then, and I downed the first one in about one minute, picking up the second as Mattie found me.

“Dude! You’re drinking death by sunrise. They make the flaming illusions look like soda. I’m super proud of you.”

I snorted, the alcohol already going to my head. “I always wanted a friend who was a bad influence. I’m so glad it’s you.”

Mattie laughed, throwing her arms around me. “I just overheard Zach, the fucking man-whore asshole pig-face, arguing with my bouncers over why he wasn’t allowed in. I’m pretty glad I stuck him on the blacklist. He’ll probably slink off to Drake’s party and bang any chick who will have him, but whatever.” She shrugged like she didn’t care, even though she clearly did. “All in all, Violet Rose Spencer, I think my lingerie party this year is going well.”