Broken Kingdom (Royal Hearts Academy #4)(26)

I never planned on becoming a bartender at No Name, but I had no choice after all the questions started rolling in.

“What are you doing for money?”

“Why don’t you go to college?”

“How are you going to support yourself?”

I make good money working for Loki, but given I promised Dylan and my friends I was done with him after Sawyer landed in the hospital, I needed a cover-up job.

Cobra wasn’t going to hire me because I’m not twenty-one until next month, but my fake ID and being paid off the books was a win-win situation for the both of us.

Not that No Name is an upstanding establishment.

Far from it. This shithole is as shady as it gets, but it serves its purpose.

After pouring Cobra his shot, I head out.

I shouldn’t be in a rush to rescue the little wicked princess—especially after finding out that she’s been hooking up with Morgan behind my back—but she’s Jace and Cole’s little sister.

Their family is already plagued with enough tragedy it could qualify as a Shakespeare play and they sure as shit don’t need any more.

I press a few buttons on my dash as I back out of the parking lot.

A moment later Hayley’s voice fills my car.

“Hey, you.”

I can’t trust Bianca or the alcohol in her system to tell me how the hell she ended up wandering off into the woods drunk, but I know Hayley will clear a few things up for me.

“Question.”

She laughs. “Answer.”

I make a sharp left. “Why is Bianca lost in the woods? I thought she was with you.”

How they became friends is anyone’s guess given they’re so different from one another—like the devil and an angel—but they’ve been thick as thieves for a hot minute now.

I can hear the apprehension in her voice. “Yeah…she was. Until she flipped out like a crazy bitch tonight.”

As opposed to any other night?

I pull a clipped blunt out of my cupholder and light it. “What happened?”

She sighs. “I’d tell you, but I don’t want to make shit weird between us.”

“You can tell me anything, Hayley. You know that.” I veer onto the highway. “Judgment-free zone between us.”

Always has been. We might not be a couple anymore, but I’d still do anything for the girl.

“I know.” There’s another long sigh. “Everything was fine when we got here but then I had to go to the bathroom. When I came back, I caught her and Zack messing around.”

Well, shit.

“Damn. I’m sorry, boo.”

Can’t say I’m surprised though. That fucker not only looked like an herb, everyone with a set of eyes could tell he was checking out Bianca from the moment he walked into the Covington’s back yard.

“Not your fault,” she says. “Anyway, we got into a fight and she ended up wandering off into the woods. I’ve been trying to call her and make sure she’s okay, but she won’t pick up.”

Sounds like Bianca all right. Stubborn brat.

“Well, she’s not your problem anymore. I’m on my way to Ocean Falls.”

She hesitates a beat before she utters, “Ocean Falls? Why? We went to Royal Manor Forest.”

“Are you sure?”

Bianca mentioned something about passing a waterfall and Royal Manor Forest doesn’t have any of those.

Ocean Falls on the other hand not only has some pretty sweet waterfalls and is surrounded by a large forest and hiking trail, they have a few cliffs overlooking the dope beach below.

Which makes it the perfect spot to smoke some ganja and chill.

“Positive, babe.” She groans over the extension. “That idiot is so directionally challenged she wouldn’t know her ass from her elbow.” She laughs. “It’s a good thing she won’t be driving any time soon, huh? She’d kill all of us.”

Following my gut, I get off the next exit and head toward Ocean Falls.

“Right—” An incoming call cuts me off mid-sentence.

Morgan.

“Sorry to cut this convo short, but I got to go. My gir—” I stop myself before I can finish that sentence.

That trifling bitch isn’t my girl anymore. Hell, she never was.

“Morgan’s on the other line.”

The disappointment in Hayley’s voice is tangible. “Oh.”

Whoop, there it is. The awkwardness that only happens when one of us brings up the person we’re currently chilling with.

Suffice it to say there will always be lingering feelings between us.

Then again, she’s the only girl I’ve ever labeled my girlfriend.

And for a short time—before Crystal used me for my sperm and shattered the thing in my chest—I thought we were good together.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish things ended up differently between us, or that I didn’t feel guilty about cheating on her.

She didn’t deserve that. No one does.

“Oak?” she questions before I hang up.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to grab lunch later this week? It’s been forever since we hung out and I really miss you.”

I’m smart enough to know that lunch with an ex has bad idea written all over it.