“Our freedom!” he belted out, giving so much to his performance, he was panting. A few people clapped or whistled.
I buried my face in my hands, laughing. The guy was a born actor. If that was an option for him, he would already be on a plane heading to Los Angeles.
He bowed, leaping off the table, a grin bursting over his face. He had done a few plays here at school, but the moment his father found out, he was banned from doing theater again. He was, quote, “embarrassing the family.” Whatever.
Fredrick was killing everything that made Landen special and amazing.
“Nicely done, cousin.” I continued to snicker, my grin hurting my face. “It feels as new as the hundredth time you did it.”
“Thank you.” He bowed. “It’s all about being in the moment.”
“Sutton!” Our last name boomed over the quad, causing our heads to jerk up.
“It’s for you.” Landen winked, hitting my arm.
His voice was a knife cutting through the crowd. Students scrambled out of the prince’s way, letting him through, bowing to his whim without a word uttered. His green eyes narrowed on me, his shoulders rising.
“What is this?” He pulled a piece of paper from his notebook, a bright green pamphlet reflecting off the sunlight between his fingers.
Everyone around us stopped, watching like hawks. I was no longer invisible at this school.
“If you ever learned how to read,” I whipped to face him, my arms folding, “Your Highness,” I stepped closer to Prince Theo, his dark hair ruffled, his tie loose like Landen’s, “you would see it’s a march for endangered animals.”
“And you think I care about that?” He stepped closer, tipping his head.
“I really don’t care if you do, only care if your money does.”
He stared down at me, breathing deeply. “If I see one more of these stuffed in my book, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” I countered his step, my shoes hitting his.
“I’ll do this.” His hands skated up my face, his mouth crashing down on mine. His lips moved against mine but held back from fully kissing me. It seemed way too soon that he broke away, his gaze darting around nervously. “Probably shouldn’t have done that here.”
“Probably.” My shoulders dropped, my eyes scanning the crowd for anyone taking pictures or video of us. We were mostly protected and safe here, but you couldn’t stop people from slipping photos to the paparazzi for a hefty price. Dating the prince came with onerous limitations. We always had to be on guard and keep PDA to a minimum.
“Just wait until we’re alone.” He grinned down at me, his eyes hinting at the promise. “Think you need to be punished greatly for these.” He held up the leaflet.
“Really?” I coyly lifted a brow. “Then you might need to discipline me over your dorm room too.”
“Oh hell. What did you do this time?” He waggled his head, moving in closer.
“I didn’t do anything.” I opened my eyes wide, feigning innocence. “I’m not allowed over there, remember?”
“Okay, what I meant to ask was, what did Landen do for you?” Theo’s gaze flicked over to my cousin.
“She made me!” Landen pointed at me. “Not my fault. I was blackmailed! Had no choice.”
“Damn, you fold easy.” I curved my head back to my cousin. “Not even ten seconds.”
“He can cut off my head!” Landen waved toward Theo. “Toss my sexy self into a dungeon!”
“And I can cut off other things, plus show your dad those pictures I have from when you turned sixteen. You remember, right?”
“Bloody hell, woman.” Landen shook his head. “You are truly evil.”
“I can’t help it. I was just born this way.”
“Hey, back to me.” Theo waved to himself. “Still scared what you did to my room.”
“Let’s just say you have wall-to-wall reminders of a fantastic charity to donate to. A generous contribution from His Royal Highness would be extremely appreciated.” I winked, moving in so close our bodies pressed together. “It’s very important.”
“You wallpapered my room?” He let out a choked chuckle. “And no one stopped you?
“With superglue. They might have to burn the room down to get them off.” Landen smiled proudly, rolling his shoulders back. “And no one, not even your bodyguards, can resist my charms.”
“My guards stay outside the school.”
“Then who the hell did I bribe then?” Landen tossed his arms out. “Wow… that makes so much more sense now. No wonder they so easily agreed.”
“You guys are so weird.” Theo shook his head, pulling me into him, his nose nuzzling my ear, whispering privately to me. “You are making it really hard to keep my hands to myself.”
“Good.” I went back on my toes, kissing him, his fingers gripping my face firmer, pulling me into his physique.
“Okay, okay. Nobody wants to see this.” Landen groaned, motioning to us.
“Actually, I think billions of people would.” Mina tapped her chin. “We could make millions.”
“Wait?” Landen perked up. “I could have sold my cousin out and been living in Fiji? Drinking and napping in a hammock between hot yoga instructors and maids coming over for sex?”
“Yep.” She nodded.
“I’m sorry, Spence, never liked you that much.” Landen shrugged, and his mouth pinched together. “Not even the pictures you have can stop Fiji.”
“That’s why I have even more blackmail on you.” I turned to face him, Theo’s hand lightly touching my waist. It still felt like I would wake up and us becoming a couple seven months ago would all be a dream. I couldn’t get over the fact that I had fallen for a prince. I, who hated that whole aristocratic world, was now right at the center of it. Though being here at school, we were able to keep “us” quiet from the press. No one outside these walls knew we were dating. “I have a naked video of you in the bathtub with a rubber ducky.”
“Oh, when I was three? Please, Fiji is worth that.” He huffed dramatically.
“Try last year.”
“What?”
“New Year’s, baby.” I winked at my cousin. “After a crate of champagne and eating some space cake.”
“Fuck! Again, my dreams are thwarted by blackmail.” He let his head drop. “Goodbye, hot yoga instructor… hammock… pretty blue water. Lots of sweet money.”
“Seriously, I thought my friends were weird. Until I meet you guys.” Theo shook his head, dropping his arms from me.
After that moment eight months ago in class, Theo put me on his radar. Pursued me. A month later, we were dating, which meant dating his friends too. Being around Theo, Ben, Hazel, and Charlie so much, I had come to see they loved to tease and be mischievous, but only in the way true elite understood. They had existed their entire lives in such a bubble of just them, what they found funny or naughty existed way out of the realm of the normal person. They didn’t watch movies, TV, or couldn’t talk about the latest Netflix binge. They spent their breaks taking private jets to islands and partying with rock stars, models, and actors from the shows I watched on the sofa in my sweats.