“Charlotte is no different than a shark, smelling new blood in her pool. She doesn’t like competition, even from her so-called friends. You can deny it all you want, but the guys are noticing you. I mean, ‘tongues rolling out onto the ground, dry-humping the wall when you walk by’ kind of notice.”
“Mina!” I groaned, rubbing my head. “That was a visual I didn’t need.”
“Please.” She followed me into the history lecture room, finding our seats closer to the front of the large lecture room. We were the type who not only liked to learn, but had to. I had no billion-pound inheritance waiting for me, nor would the school ignore bad marks from me like they did the “other” people.
“Like you wouldn’t love his tongue lapping at you.” She lifted her eyebrows towards the back row on the other side of the lecture room. Butterflies fluttered in my gut at seeing Theo lounge back in his chair, legs wide and his laughter booming through the room at something his friend Ben had said. There was no denying he was gorgeous; his confidence and sex appeal gripped you like a drug. Even my body disregarded my feelings for him, wanting to move toward him like everyone else. But once my mind stepped in, it got angry for letting his looks turn me into just another one of his lackeys at this school.
“Gross,” I snarled, tossing my bag on the ground as I plopped down in my chair. “Seriously, everyone thinks you are so prim and proper,” I muttered.
“Always watch out for the quiet ones.” She winked, settling in next to me. “But let’s keep it between us.”
Pulling out my notebook, I glanced back up at Theo, watching him with his friends. Like everyone in the world, I viewed him and his sister grow up on television and from afar at events my family was actually invited to. He was raised to be perfectly polished, saying and doing the right thing in the public eye, generous and kind. But seeing him completely be himself with no press or cameras on him, he was a different bloke—relaxed, full of mischief and ego. He recognized that he could get away with anything here without consequences. Everyone wanted a piece of him, but he kept his circle small. Benjamin Astor, Charlie Fitzroy, and Hazel Seymour were his main group—all kids of dukes and duchesses he grew up with. The next tier was the guys on the lacrosse team, which Theo was captain of. The next group was Charlotte’s crowd. I was somewhere on the bottom.
Charlotte and her friends moved into the seats in front of him, peering at him and fluffing their hair, trying to get his notice. Charlotte wanted to be in the first tier. The girlfriend. I heard rumors they dated briefly last year, but if they had, they clearly weren’t now.
She was everything you’d imagine him with. Raised to marry a prince, she was tall and trim with soft blonde hair and the classic features of a Disney princess. The thought of him picking her to date or marry made me yawn. She was like a caricature. It would be so predictable and boring. But I was probably putting too much faith in men or the idea they’d want more than her poised and perfected responses. That they could see through her shit. The demure compassionate girl reared to be a noble’s wife was nothing more than a ladder-climbing bitch. I was disappointed that she couldn’t see how cliché she was. This life was all about the surface. What it looked like to the world, not what it really was.
“I get it.” Mina smirked, following my eyes to the back. “As much as I hate him, he’s still hot as hell and a bloody prince. Hard to fight that.”
“I do not care about any of that.” I shook my head, turning back to my bag, grabbing a pen.
“No one can fight that. It’s like coded into the title to make us commoners fall to our knees.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Most hearing you would think you meant you drop to your knees in a bow, but I know you too well.”
“Only a select few do.” She grabbed her books, expression becoming the studious student as our professor strode in.
“All right. Everyone open to page 230, picking up where we left off on Monday. The reign of King Albert the first.”
“Who I liked to call Gramps.” Theo sighed, patting his chest like he was remembering him fondly. “I miss him so much.”
“Yes, Theodore. I’m sure your great-grandfather from the fifteenth century was a hoot at holiday parties.” The school had a rule, no student was to be called by their title. They liked to at least pretend they kept things fair. Professor Martin tried to hold back his annoyance. He was the one teacher who didn’t give in to the prince’s whims. He was the type of guy who didn’t give a shit who you were or what family tree you fell from. He was here to educate, and you were only special if you showed more brilliance in your brain than being a smart-ass.
He was my favorite teacher. Probably because he didn’t bend over for His Highness and kiss his arse.
“Oh, Grandpa Al is hilarious. He and I are always together drinking in the corner.” A smile tugged at his lips as most of the class collectively snickered at his joke. “Doesn’t talk much, but I enjoy his company. Bit of a lush, though.”
The chuckles warped into full laughs.
“That’s quite enough.” Martin sat on the edge of his desk, folding his arms.
“You think I’m kidding? I hang out with him all the time. He’s the picture of merriment.”
I groaned, understanding his awful joke. I had no doubt the castle had many paintings of King Albert over their walls; Theo probably did hang out and drink next to him all the time.
“Since you and King Albert are so close, maybe you can tell us who he was first set to marry to create an alliance between our countries?”
“Easy,” Theo scoffed. “Gertrude, the French princess.”
“Wrong.” I felt the word roll off my tongue before my mind got involved.
The entire class jerked to me. I felt the prince’s eyes burning into me as if he finally noticed the seat was occupied instead of empty.
“Excuse me?” He tipped his head, not believing I called him out. I could relate; my mind was also still rejecting the fact that it was me who had said it.
Mina stared at me, her mouth open, just like most of the class, but professor Martin leaned back, a smirk under his thick beard.
“Go on.” Martin nodded my way, encouraging me to speak.
Heat burned my cheeks, my confidence wobbling. Theo was so used to being in the spotlight. I wasn’t. I was fine with being behind the curtain.
“Y-you’re wrong.” I took a deep breath, forcing myself to sit up. He may be a prince, but I studied my arse off for my marks. I wanted to become a veterinarian, and you had to have really high grades to do it. To be a vet, you needed to be a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the RCVS, and to become a member, you had to complete a five-year degree course at a top uni. Because of that, I worked hard. Plus, I enjoyed history.
“You think I don’t know my own family history? I was raised with the stories. The real history. Don’t bring your CliffsNotes version of my family and challenge me.” He leaned back arrogantly.
Oh. No. He. Didn’t.
Mina’s mouth dropped open, knowing he had just pissed off a sleeping lion.
“Then this is going to be even more embarrassing for you.” I swallowed, noticing the professor now hiding his big grin behind his hand.