Broken Prince: A Novel (The Royals Book 2) (21 page)

“If we can get our hands on those pictures, Dinah has nothing. No leverage at all.” I think it over. “How do we find it? Would she be dumb enough to keep it at the penthouse? Smart enough to make copies?”

“I don’t know. But you might be right. If we can find all the stuff she has on him and get rid of it, we could put this thing behind us.”

“But what about Brooke?”

“Brooke,” he repeats with disgust. “We need a paternity test. I don’t understand why Dad won’t get one.”

“I don’t either.” I chew on the end of my thumb until Reed pulls it out of my mouth.

“You’re going to gnaw your finger off if you think about it anymore. Can we stop talking about Brooke and Dinah? At least for a bit.”

“Why?”

His gaze heats up. “Because there’re better ways to spend our time right now.”

“Like what—”

Before I can finish, he rolls me over and presses his lips against my neck. “Like that,” he whispers.

I gasp. “Oh…okay.”

His clever fingers find a bare patch of skin above my waistband, and while a stronger girl might’ve been able to repress a shiver, I’ve never been able to resist Reed before. Seems pointless to try now. Especially when I enjoy his touch so much.

He burrows his nose against my neck and continues his slow sweep across my waist as if he’s happy to do nothing more than this. And for a while that’s all I need, too. I let the silence sink in around us and enjoy the simple touch. In the peace comes the realization this is the first time in forever that I’ve had a quiet moment with another person.

“Do you really forgive me?” he asks.

I stroke a hand over his glossy, dark hair. When I look at Reed and his muscular frame and his hard face, sometimes I forget that he’s got a heart that’s as fragile as mine. But guys aren’t supposed to be emotional so they hide their feelings behind seriousness, crudeness, or dickish behavior. “I really forgive you.”

“Even though I’m an asshole?”

“Are you done being an asshole to me?” I tug on his hair a little harder than necessary.

He dips his head as if to say,
I deserved that.
“I was done with that a long time ago. Right after our first kiss. I haven’t even looked at a single other girl since I met you, Ella.”

“Good. And if you treat me like the goddess I am and don’t cheat on me, then yes, I’m cool with this.”

“I can be a handful.”

Meaning he loves too deeply and he’s afraid I’m going to bug out on him again—like I did before, like his mom did permanently. “Yeah…but you’re my handful,” I whisper.

His laughter is muffled as his mouth moves along my collarbone, dotting my chest with soft kisses. The soft lace of my bra suddenly feels scratchy and rough. I shift restlessly. He moves lower, his chest pushing into the softness of my abdomen, resting against the ache between my legs.

My fingers clutch against his hair, not sure if I want to pull him up to my mouth or push him lower. But Reed has his own plans. He lifts the hem of my shirt, dragging the fabric up much too slowly. Impatient, I grab the bottom and whip it over my head.

He grins. “Have I mentioned how much I like your night gear?”

“It’s comfortable,” I say defensively.

“Mmmhmmm,” he murmurs, but the smug smile stays on his face as he reaches behind his back and tugs his own shirt off.

I forget what smart-ass remark I was going to say and stroke a hand over his chest.

He closes his eyes and shudders. His hands hang at his sides, clenching and unclenching. Waiting for me? I like this—that he’s on my leash until I tell him to go.

“Touch me,” I murmur.

His eyes snap open and the heat in them makes me gasp. He pushes me backward and attacks my yoga pants as if they’ve personally offended him. I lift my hips and push the spandex down my legs because I don’t want anything between us either. I want all of him pressed against me.

His fingers reach behind and release the clasp of my bra. Then his mouth covers me, and my whole body starts to tremble. When he kisses my nipple, I make a choked, desperate sound and dig my fingers into his shoulders.

I was wrong. His touch doesn’t soothe. It makes me wilder, hotter, more out of control than I’ve ever been. And the lower he moves, the hotter I get.

“Reed,” I moan, my head thrown back.

“Shhh,” he says. “Let me.”

Let him what? Move down until his shoulders are pushing me more open than I’d ever thought would be okay? Until his mouth is right
there
and his tongue is doing the most amazing things to that one throbbing spot? Let him touch me in ways I once thought would be awkward and uncomfortable?

He groans out his own delight as I let him work me into a mindless mess. My back arches and my toes curl and I grip the sheets as a rush of pure bliss rushes through me.

Eventually he rises, leaving me shaking and gasping. He lies down on his side next to me, and I don’t miss the tent situation in his boxers.

Reed grins when he catches me staring. “Just ignore it. It’ll go away soon.”

I slide closer. “Why would we want to ignore it?”

He tenses when I put my hand over him. “I wanted tonight to be about you,” he protests, but his eyes are fiery as my fingers slide inside his boxers.

“Well, I want it to be about us,” I whisper.

He feels so good in my hand, and I can tell by his heavy eyelids and ragged breathing that he’s enjoying every second of this.

“Ella…” He pushes his hips forward. “Fuck. Faster.”

Watching his face is the most thrilling thing ever. His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are hazy, and when I kiss him, his tongue tangles with mine until we’re both breathless.

The throbbing between my legs starts up again and Reed seems to sense it, because his fingers find me and then we’re frantically trying to drive each other wild. And it works. I clutch him tighter, because if I’m going to lose it, I’m taking him with me. His mouth is on mine and we move in perfect sync until I’m lost, drowning in a state of blissful happiness.

“
H
ave you seen Reed
?” Callum asks someone in the hall.

The sound of his voice so close to my door jerks me upright. A heavy arm clotheslines me, sending me straight back to the mattress.

“Probably went to football practice,” Easton replies.

“Huh, it’s early. Shouldn’t you be at practice, too?”

“Trying to, but someone’s grilling me about my brother’s whereabouts,” is Easton’s snarky response.

Callum grunts or laughs or huffs a breath. I can’t really tell. I shake Reed’s shoulder until his eyes snap open.

“It’s your dad,” I hiss.

He shuts his eyes in response and rubs his cheek against my hand.

Callum speaks up again. “I got a call from Franklin Auto Body saying Reed brought in a car, but I see his Rover out there. Ella’s car is missing. She hasn’t run off again, has she?” There’s a strained note in his voice. I wonder if I upset him over the money talk. Or maybe he thinks he upset
me
and that’s why he’s worried I might’ve run.

“Nah, Ella’s car had an unfortunate honey accident and she was too embarrassed to tell you. Reed took it in for her.”

“Honey accident?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Dad,” Easton says, and then their footsteps fade down the hall.

I glance at the clock, which tells me I need to get moving if I want to make it to the bakery on time. Lucy gave me a second chance, and there’s no way I’m blowing it again. I crawl out from under Reed’s possessive arm and realize I’m in my underwear.

Walking around barely dressed in front of Reed is somehow more awkward than taking my clothes off for a bunch of strangers. I find his discarded T-shirt still clinging to the edge of the bed and quickly slip it on.

Reed rolls onto his back and tucks his hands under his head. He watches with intent interest as I buzz around the room getting ready.

“You didn’t need to cover up for me,” he drawls.

“I didn’t cover up for you. I covered up for me.”

He laughs, a low, sexy, gravelly thing. “You still have your V-card, little Miss Innocent.”

“I don’t feel very innocent,” I mutter.

“You don’t look it either.”

I duck in front of the wide mirror that hangs over my desk. My hair is crazy wild. It looks like a family of forest animals took up residence in it. “Oh my God! Is this what sex hair really looks like?” Though is it still considered sex hair when you didn’t have sex?

Behind me, Reed rises from the bed, looking way too good at this time of the morning. He brushes aside some of my sex hair and presses a hot kiss against my neck.

“You look gorgeous and hot and if I stay in here any longer, your virginity will be on the floor somewhere next to yesterday’s panties.”

Then he gives my butt a hard slap and saunters out of my room wearing only his boxers. Thankfully, he isn’t greeted with any horrified exclamations from Callum.

With Reed gone, I dunk my hair under the sink, throw on a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a rather smutty black-lace top that I used to wear at a truck stop where I worked before Callum found me.

Reed walks by my room as I step out. He stops, runs his eyes over my body, and then holds up a finger. “Hold it right there.”

I don’t stay, because as I’ve told Reed a million times before, I’m not a dog.

I follow him to his room, where I find him rifling around in his closet. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for a uniform.”

I roll my eyes. “There’s no uniforms on Fridays.”

Friday is the one day we’re allowed to break out our non-school-issued wardrobes, though Headmaster Beringer seems to prefer everyone wearing something to support the football team on game day.

“Doesn’t mean you should be wearing something that will cause a riot at school.” Reed emerges with a button-down shirt in white with tiny blue checks. “Don’t suppose you’d wear my jersey, would you?”

I make a face. I’m not ready to declare to the world that I’m back together with Reed Royal. I already have enough shit to deal with at school and I’m not sure how this is going to complicate things.

Reed sighs but doesn’t argue.

I let him push my arms into the shirt and then flap the excess fabric in his face. “How am I supposed to wear this?”

He waves his index finger in a circle. “Do the thing with the sleeves. The roll-up thing. Aren’t boyfriend clothes supposed to be in?”

His use of the word
boyfriend
has me feeling twenty degrees warmer, but I can’t let Reed know how easily he affects me or he’ll use it against me all the time. “It’s boyfriend jeans, and fine, but just this once,” I grumble, scrunching up the sleeves so I can actually use my hands at the bakery today without Reed’s cuffs getting in all the flour.

We grab a couple snacks from the kitchen before heading out.

“So what do you want to do this weekend?” Reed asks once we get on the road to the bakery.

“I don’t want to go to an Astor party.” I wrinkle my nose. “And we should do something with Val because Tam’s an asshole and I don’t want her to be alone.”

“There’s a farm that has a big maze and a pumpkin toss we could go to.”

“We? As in you and your brothers we?” I ask hopefully.

“Yeah, all of us. We’ll take our testosterone out on the fruit and then you and I can go make out in the maze.”

“You sound very sure of yourself.”

He smirks. “I have scratches on my back this morning.”

“You do not!” I exclaim and then suck in breath. “Do you?” I ask quietly, looking at my nails.

Reed keeps smiling but wisely changes the subject. “How is Val anyway?”

I tuck my hands under my thighs. “Not good. She misses her ex.” I wish she could see how much better off she is without that cheating Tam, but I don’t hand out relationship advice. In the backrooms of strip clubs, more than one friendship is ruined when a woman tries to point out obvious flaws in her friend’s man.

A sudden thought strikes me. Reed is a year older than I am. Next year I’ll still be at Astor Park and he’ll be gone. He once said he wanted to put an ocean between him and Bayview. I know why now, but the thought of him being so far away is gut wrenching.

“Am I going to have to worry about you at college?” I ask nervously.

“No.” He reaches over and places a hand on my knee to give me a reassuring squeeze. “Val’s man wants to try a bunch of different stuff out, but I’ve already…” He pauses and searches for the right word. “I don’t mean this to sound bad about your dad, but Steve had all the women he wanted in the world and none of that made him happy. I don’t need to sleep around to know what I want.”

His words, gah, his words are like sunshine baking sweetness into every pore of my body. Suddenly I pray that I didn’t make a mistake agreeing to give him another chance. If he hurts me again, I don’t think I’ll survive it.

Reed pulls to a stop outside of the bakery and leans over to curl his hand around the back of my neck. Before I can protest, he plants a hard, possessive kiss against my lips.

“Meet you at the parking lot,” he growls against my mouth.

He doesn’t wait for an answer, but speeds off to practice. I give myself another mental headslap for enjoying his caveman behavior, but I can’t keep the smile off my face as I enter the bakery.

* * *

T
he morning goes by quickly
. I thought it would drag while I moped and missed Reed’s company, but instead I’m energized. Maybe that’s what good almost-sex does for a person. I wonder how I’ll feel after the real thing. Like a superhero? Like I could leap tall buildings with one jump and single-handedly hold up falling airplanes in the sky?

The fact that I found a pair of used panties in my locker doesn’t even bother me. I mean, I’m going to have to start wearing rubber gloves everywhere, but even my tormenters at Astor Park Prep can’t get me down now.

“Did you get laid last night?” Val demands as we set down our lunch trays later.

Do I have a sign on my forehead? “Why? What do you see?”

“You have this sick, happy face that people who get it regular and get it good wear.” She slumps with disgust into her seat.

“I didn’t get laid last night,” I promise her.

“You did something.” She inspects me carefully, as if there’s some evidence of Reed’s fingers on my face. “With him?” She tips her head in the direction of the cashier, where Reed is paying for his lunch. My face must have given it away, because she groans. “You did. You took him back.
Why
?”

My spine feels all prickly. Val isn’t usually judgmental, but right now her disapproval is written all over her face. “What, are you going to unfriend me now?” I say sarcastically.

Her expression instantly softens. “No! Of course not. But I don’t understand. You said you couldn’t forgive him.”

“I guess I was wrong.” I sigh. “I love him, Val. Maybe it makes me the dumbest girl on the planet, but I really want to try to make things work with him. I…miss him.”

She makes a frustrated noise. “I miss Tam, too. Look at the stupid shit I did the other night, and for what? We can’t take these assholes back or we’ll never be able to live with ourselves.”

“I know and trust me, if I was sitting in your seat, I’d be rolling my eyes, too.” I nibble on the corner of my lip. I can’t reveal exactly what Reed’s issues are, because that’s private, but I want Val to understand. The only reason she’s pressing me is that she cares, which I really do appreciate.

“So what is it? Is he just really good at groveling?”

Why did I forgive Reed? It wasn’t because he had a sad story and that he made me feel good, because those aren’t reasons to be with anyone who treated a girl the way Reed treated me.

My connection to him is…complicated. Even I can’t make sense of it half the time. I just know that I get him on a deeper level, that his loss speaks to mine. That his happiness stirs my own. That his struggle to find some sense in this crazy world is as familiar to me as my own skin.

Carefully, I try to explain this to Val. “I took him back because I don’t know if there’s anyone I understand better or who gets me in the same way. You don’t know this, but a couple weeks after I got here, I had a meltdown all over Reed and started hitting him in the car.”

Val’s lips twitch. “Seriously?”

I’m glad to see her smiling. Val’s friendship is as important as anything these days. “Seriously. He held me off with one hand while still driving us home. And even when he said he hated me, he still drove me to school every day. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like we’re the same. Some days I’m hormonal and weepy and some days he’s an asshole, but we’re made out of the same bits of flesh and bone and screwed up emotions.”

“Have you even tried another guy?”

“No. And even if I did, it wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t be…Reed.”

She sighs, but it’s a sound of acceptance. “I’m not going to pretend to understand, but I decided after the other night that I’m moving on.”

“You might want to wait until your bruise fades. How’d you even explain that to your family?”

“I said I walked into a door. It’s true enough, except the door was some girl’s face.”

“Are we going to the game tonight?”

She pokes at her quinoa veggie bowl. “I don’t know. I think I’m done with Astor guys.”

“How about the hottie sitting next to Easton?” I ask.

She peers past my shoulders. “Liam Hunter?”

“He looks…intense.”

“He is intense. And probably on top of my list of guys to avoid. He’s like Tam. A poor boy with a big chip on his shoulder who wants to make it big. He’d use me up like Kleenex and then toss me away.” She uncaps her water bottle. “What I need is a rich boy, because they don’t attach to people, only things. If they don’t attach to me, then I won’t attach to them.”

I start to tell her that isn’t how it works, that you can fall in love with people who can’t stand you. Look at me and Reed. I fell for him while he was pushing me away and treating me awful. I kept loving him despite finding out some pretty horrible things. But Val isn’t hearing me. She’s still wrapped up in her hurt and that’s the only voice in her head right now.

“You need a rich boy to use, I’m your man.”

We both twist around to see Wade sidling up to our table.

Val gives him a cool appraisal. I can tell she likes what she sees, but that’s not much of a surprise. Wade is hot. “If I used you, then you’d have to abstain from other girls.”

“What do you mean?” he asks, looking genuinely confused. Fidelity is obviously a foreign concept to him.

“She means that while the two of you are using each other, you don’t go outside of that friends-with-benefits relationship,” I explain.

He frowns. “But—”

Val cuts him off. “Forget it, Wade. I’d do things to you that would blow your mind, and then you’d never be able to enjoy yourself again because you’d keep comparing all your other girls to me and coming up short.”

His mouth hangs open.

I grin, because this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone get the better of Wade. “She knows things,” I confirm, even though I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about.