Broken Kingdom (Royal Hearts Academy #4)(21)

And no one wants to see me.

Fuck them. Fuck this.

Fuck everything.





Chapter 7





Bianca





I ended up showing up late for class and missing my statistics quiz.

Fortunately, my professor was kind enough to let me stay after and take it, but I’m pretty sure I bombed it anyway.

“If you can’t remember who you were, how do you know what kind of person you used to be or what might have shaped you to be that way?”

Oakley’s words from yesterday echo through my head as I place my exam on the professor’s desk and gather my things.

I thought I had enough pieces to decode who I was, but as it turns out…I was wrong.

Blowing out a shaky breath, I recall what I learned about my former self last night.

The most surprising fact? I was a virgin.

Which obviously means the first time Stone and I had sex last year was my first time having sex…ever.

It’s something I should be happy about because he’s going to be my husband, but I can’t shake this weird feeling I have.

I wish it was special.

Not that it was bad by any means, but right before it happened all I could think about was how it wasn’t a big deal because I must have done it plenty of times before.

But it was a big deal.

So is finding out that I had some kind of sick, twisted obsession with this Oakley guy and pretty much stole his girlfriend.

Both of them.

My heart clenches.

Given Hayley died and he obviously cared about her…he has to be hurting.

I’m not sure why I was with him the night of the accident—because if the memory I had last night is anything to go on, he wanted nothing to do with me—but I really want to find out.

“Are you okay?” Stone questions.

A jolt runs through me when I look up. I was so out of it I didn’t even realize he was waiting for me outside of class.

“Yeah.” I force a smile. “I’m fine.”

He gives me a puzzled look. “Are you su—”

“Actually,” I interject, because I hate keeping stuff from him. “Not really. I had a memory last night.”

Taking me by the elbow, he leads me out to the courtyard. “What happened?”

“Well,” I begin. “It was my birthday.” A weird feeling prickles in my chest because talking about your past hookups with your fiancé is really awkward. “Long story short, Morgan and I hooked up and Oakley caught us—” It suddenly dawns on me that he might not know who Oakley is. “Oakley is—”

“I know who Oakley is,” he bites out with a scowl. “I also know the prick is here on campus.”

I blink in confusion. “How—”

“I ran into Cole this morning and he told me what happened.”

Well, shit.

“Oh.”

“I’m pissed you didn’t tell me yourself—”

“You’ve been really busy lately.”

It’s not like I intentionally kept it from him, there was just no time to fill him in on everything with his crazy schedule.

“I get that.” He cups my cheek. “But if he bothers you again, you better tell me—”

“He wasn’t bothering me,” I snap before I catch myself. “I mean, I understand why you’re concerned, but it wasn’t like that. He’s …”

Not the bad guy everyone keeps saying he is.

At least he didn’t appear that way yesterday.

“He’s what?” Stone presses.

“He was sitting by himself when I approached him. Not the other way around.”

Stone’s eyes darken. “What do you mean when you approached him? Are you talking to random dudes behind my back now?”

Jesus Christ. Of course, Stone would think that.

He has a jealous streak about a mile long.

“No,” I defend. “There was an open seat next to him on the bench when I went to eat lunch at the lake yesterday and I asked if I could sit down.”

I don’t know what to make of his expression, but it’s not a pleasant one. “Well, if that’s the case, I don’t want you eating lunch by yourself anymore.”

It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”

I’m nineteen for crying out loud. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself which means I’m allowed to eat lunch with whoever I damn well please.

He points to his face. “Do I look like I’m kidding?” He must sense my irritation because his expression softens. “I’m not trying to be an asshole here, Bianca, but put yourself in my position. This guy not only killed an innocent girl, he almost killed you and you expect me not to be concerned for your safety?”

I get what he’s saying, but I’m too hung up on what else he said. “You knew Oakley was driving the car when we got into the accident?”

Frustrated, he drags a hand through his hair. “Yeah, for about two whole hours now.”

Oh.

“I guess Cole must have told you?”

He nods. “I wish your brothers brought me in the loop earlier, but I get why they kept it a secret from you.” Rage twists his features. “You were better off not remembering that piece of shit.”