Savage Royals: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance(69)

Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I let out a breath. “Yeah. I get it. My mom was a screw-up and my dad was an alcoholic, so odds are good I’ll turn out the same way.”

“Talia.” She clucked her tongue. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. You are a Hildebrand, and that means somethi—”

“Right. I’m a Hildebrand.” Useless anger thickened my voice, and I didn’t care if she heard it. “I’ll try to be better at it. Wouldn’t want to embarrass the family.”

“Tal—”

“I gotta go or I’ll be late for class.”

Without waiting for an answer, I ended the call, fingers twitching to throw the phone on the ground.

What the fuck? How is it my fault I got attacked?





I had a hard time focusing on dance practice, even though it was normally my perfect escape when things were getting me down.

Instead, Finn and I sat against the wall watching funny animal videos and epic fail clips for most of the hour, and I actually felt a little better by the time I headed for my next class.

But Jacqueline’s voice kept echoing in my head, and every time it did, my anger returned full force.

That was why she’d called me today, of all days? To yell at me for something that wasn’t my fault?

I hit the books hard in the evening, memorizing a long list of authors and dates for English Lit, then I slipped on some comfy shorts and a tank and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

When I heard a knock on the door, I scrunched up my face, glancing at my reflection in the mirror. It was after ten, and with everyone in full finals panic mode, Prentice Hall had been like a ghost town when I’d gotten back earlier. Everyone was either holed up studying or off-campus, practicing avoidance.

“Yeah?” I called as I walked toward the door, then opened it without waiting for an answer.

Mason, Finn, Elijah, and Cole were all gathered in the hallway, and I blinked at them in surprise. They’d only been to my dorm a few times, including last week after Adena had hit me.

“Um… hey, guys. What’s up?”

Mason raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been holding out on us, little dancer.”

“What?”

“Did you really think we wouldn’t find out?”

My gut twisted as I realized what he was talking about. “Oh. It’s not a big deal. That’s why I didn’t say anything. It’s never really been a big deal.”

“Yeah, that’s not helping your case, Legs.” Finn smirked. “Now put some shoes on. We’re going out.”

I hesitated for another few heartbeats, shifting from one foot to the other.

“Or we can carry you out,” Cole deadpanned, and I scoffed.

“You wouldn’t.”

His blank expression split into a feral smile, and he cocked his head. “Wanna find out?”

Sort of, actually.

But I relented, grabbing a pair of sneakers from beside the door and throwing on a black hoodie over my tank. The guys had changed out of their uniforms into street clothes, and they were all wearing dark colors too.

They hustled me out the door and across campus, and we all piled into Mason’s car. All four of the Princes had cars, but for some reason when we all went somewhere together, it was always in Mason’s dark red convertible.

“Where are we going?” I asked, settling into the front passenger seat.

It struck me how much our relationship had changed that I now trusted these guys enough to let them abscond with me from campus in the middle of the night to an unknown destination.

“You’ll see,” Elijah promised.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know. But I was sort of hoping for some kind of hint before we get there.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Mason grinned as we drove through the gates before hooking a left on the street.

Wherever we were going, it didn’t take us long to get there. We drove for about thirty minutes, moving farther and farther from the lights of the area surrounding Roseland. When Mason finally pulled into a small, dimly lit parking lot, I heard waves crashing on a nearby beach as he turned off the engine.

The moon was full, its blue-white light reflecting off the waves in front of us as Finn opened my door for me and we all piled out of the car. As we left the parking lots, grass turned to sand under my feet, and we walked about forty yards until we reached the shoreline. It was dim, but the moon gave enough light to see by.

I glanced around at the four guys. “What is this? What are we doing here?”

Elijah grinned, pulling a small box from behind his back and opening it.

A single cupcake with an unlit candle sat inside.

Cole dug his lighter from his pocket, flicked it open, and lit the wick.

“Happy birthday, Legs,” Mason murmured, watching me carefully.

“I can’t believe you didn’t fucking tell us,” Finn grumbled.

“I…”

My mouth opened and closed, but I couldn’t find the words. I hadn’t told anyone it was my birthday. I’d thought maybe Jacqueline would remember, but she either hadn’t, or I’d hung up on her before she could get around to tacking a birthday wish onto the end of her lecture.

I hadn’t really celebrated my birthday since I was ten years old. The first few years after mom died, dad had tried to keep up appearances and traditions, but he’d eventually abandoned them all.