Majesty (American Royals, #2)(87)
She held tight to Ethan’s hand as they wove through the crowds, keeping well away from the media crews. Reporters were already stationed in the streets, speaking rapidly into their microphones as they filmed pre-ceremony footage. Nina had jammed a baseball cap low over her head, and in the crowds she doubted anyone would recognize her as Prince Jefferson’s erstwhile girlfriend. But she wasn’t in the mood to answer questions about Ethan. Or about Jeff and Daphne.
She’d seen that Jeff had officially asked Daphne to the wedding. It was impossible to avoid the internet’s breathless speculation about whether they were getting back together. Earlier this year, that kind of news would’ve been painful to hear—but now Nina didn’t especially care.
There was nothing Daphne could do to hurt her anymore.
As she and Ethan jostled through the crowds, Nina found herself marveling at the scale of it all. There were so many people out here—young and old, in pairs or in massive groups—and every last one of them was smiling. Thousands of strangers, drawn together by the wedding of two people they would probably never meet.
“Beatrice seems more popular than she was at the start of this year,” she observed.
Ethan laughed. “Everyone loves an excuse for a national holiday.”
“You know what I mean. People are getting used to the idea of change.” She tugged at Ethan’s arm, pulling him around a pair of women in hot pink sashes that said QUEEN BEE. “They’re starting to like having a young queen. It makes the country feel youthful and energized.”
“Some of that’s because of Sam and Marshall, too,” Ethan reminded her.
Nina had been thrilled to find out that Sam and Marshall were together for real now, and not just for show. She didn’t know Marshall that well, but she knew one thing for certain: he didn’t try to make Samantha into someone she wasn’t. Which made him leagues better than everyone else in Sam’s life—including, at times, her own family.
They crossed the intersection into Chilton Square. A few soldiers stood at attention, their helmets topped with ceremonial plumes. Nina smiled when she saw that someone had placed a plastic bachelorette tiara atop the statue of Artemis at the fountain’s center. Its veil fell over the goddess’s features, fluttering a little in the wind.
She thought of what her parents had said last week, when she’d gone to ask their advice. She’d explained everything—her situation with Ethan, her painful conversation with Jeff, Ethan’s suggestion that they attend the royal wedding together—and her mom had reached for her hand with a sigh. “Oh, sweetheart. Relationships are never simple.”
“You and Ethan have both occupied a very strange and specific position near the royal family,” her mamá had agreed. “But…you shouldn’t be drawn to Ethan simply because you understand each other’s backgrounds. There’s so much more to both of you. And if you think no one else could relate, you’re doing the rest of the world a disservice.”
Nina hesitated. She thought of all the things she loved about Ethan: his razor-sharp wit, his unexpected softness. The way everything felt more vibrant simply when she was with him.
“No,” she decided. “It’s more than that.”
Isabella shifted closer on the couch. “Then there’s really only one thing to ask yourself. Is Ethan worth it, or not?”
Was he worth it?
The press would paint Nina as even more of a villain this time. She was the woman who’d moved on from the prince to his best friend. The tabloids would probably claim that she was dating Ethan simply out of spite, to punish Jeff for breaking up with her. The world had already resented her, and now it would despise her.
Nina couldn’t begin to imagine the nicknames the internet would give her, once those articles were published.
She remembered what her mom had said earlier this year: that Nina should rely on the people who really knew her to stay grounded. Ethan was one of those people now. At some point this year she’d come to lean on him, and that was worth fighting for.
He drew to a halt in the sea of people and stared down at her, evidently sensing the direction of her thoughts. “We don’t have to do this, if you aren’t ready,” he said softly.
“No.” She shook her head, causing her ponytail to slip loose. “I want to go to this wedding with you. Whatever happens, you’re worth it.”
“I’m worth it?” he said roughly. “Nina, I’m not—I don’t deserve you.”
“It’s not about deserving, Ethan. This isn’t a sports game. We don’t keep tallies of wins and losses. We’re together, and I’m ready for everyone to know it.”
Relief blossomed on his features, and he grabbed Nina beneath the arms, spinning her around in a ballroom dancing move. When he set her down again, his eyes were bright. “I’m so glad that I met you.”
“You met me a long time ago,” she felt the need to point out.
“But I didn’t know you back then. I thought you were stuck-up and annoying, and impossible to talk to—”
“Is there a compliment in here?”
“—and my reasons for hanging out with you, earlier this year, were totally messed up—”
What did he mean by that? Was he talking about their journalism class?
Ethan caught her hands in his own. “What I’m trying to say is that I was wrong about you. I had no idea…” He paused, as if weighing his next words carefully. “I had no idea, Nina Gonzalez, that I would end up being totally crazy about you.”