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I wanted to roll my eyes, but I was just grateful I didn’t have to room with Adena or something. She’d been worse lately, sneaking in little digs at me when Mason or one of the other Princes wasn’t watching, writing nasty messages and slipping them into my locker, and glaring at me in our shared classes. I’d put up with much worse last semester, so it was relatively easy to endure—but if I’d been stuck in a room alone with her for an entire weekend, I was sure she would’ve tried to pull something much worse.
As the guys settled into the room, I grabbed the maroon bikini I’d brought and slipped into the adjacent bathroom to change. My skin was pale against the dark color of the fabric, and I ran my fingers nervously over the flat plane of my stomach before blowing out a breath and squaring my shoulders.
Whatever. They can say whatever they want.
I had a good body—or at least, I liked it. It was strong, my limbs long and lean. But I didn’t look like some California heiress on the cover of a magazine. My dark hair was piled in a messy, windswept bun on my head, and I didn’t have the same perfect cleavage and tan skin I was sure most of the girls here would.
Pushing aside my nerves, I slipped out of the bathroom. The casual conversation in the room died, and I glanced up.
Four sets of eyes stared at me as if I were some kind of rare animal. I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to wrap my arms around myself.
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you show so much skin, that’s all,” Mason finally said, his gaze still locked on me. His eyes looked darker than usual, and a muscle in his jaw jumped.
“It’s not…” I took a step back toward the bathroom. Fuck it, maybe I’d swim in my clothes. “We don’t really… tan in Idaho.”
> “Hey. You look perfect.” Finn was the one who stepped forward, and when he slid his fingers under my halter straps and tugged gently like he’d done in the car, I stepped toward him. His dimples were nowhere to be found, his face oddly serious as he dipped his head to murmur in my ear. “You’re gorgeous, Tal.”
I blushed so hard I was sure he could feel the heat coming off me, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he dropped a chaste kiss on my cheek and turned around, striding over to the bed as he tugged his shirt off. The other Princes followed suit, tearing their gazes away from me after another uncomfortable moment of staring.
My cheeks, already warm from their intense scrutiny, warmed even more as I watched them.
Fucking hell.
These boys were way too damn hot for their own good. They were all wearing board shorts slung low on their hips, and without their shirts on, they looked so good I couldn’t help but stare. Cole was the biggest, only narrowly beating out Finn. Mason and Elijah were both leaner but cut, with those sexy V’s at their hips disappearing beneath their shorts. They all looked like they belonged in California and nowhere else.
I was staring at them worse than they’d stared at me, and I had to work to force my eyelids to blink, tearing my gaze away. I was about to step toward the door when Elijah turned around, and I got a good look at the tattoo on his back. I’d known he had one, but I’d only ever seen it from a distance before, never close enough to tell what it was.
“Holy shit…” I breathed, stepping closer.
It was the image of a man kneeling, his head bowed so his features were obscured. Huge dark wings sprouted from his back, placed in such a way that they almost looked like they could’ve been sprouting from Elijah’s back instead. A few black feathers drifted down below the wings.
“Oh. Yeah.” Elijah caught my awed gaze and shrugged lightly. “My mom and dad almost fucking disowned me when I got this. Worth it, though.”
“Oh my God. It definitely was. Can I…?”
“Sure.”
He turned around, and I stepped closer, drawn to the raw emotion in the image. It had to mean something to him—the image covered his whole back, and it didn’t seem like the kind of thing someone would just get on a whim. Asking about it felt too personal though, so I just traced the image with my fingertip, trying to absorb the emotions in the ink. His stiffened under my touch, and I saw goosebumps rise on his skin as his breathing picked up.
Mason cleared his throat impatiently, and I shook my head to clear it, pulling my hand back.
“It’s… it’s really beautiful, Elijah. I love it.”
“He’s not the only one with tattoos, you know,” Cole grumbled, and I laughed.
“All right, all right,” Mason said, his keen gaze taking in the three of us. For some reason, I got the sense he didn’t love the looks both Cole and Elijah—and Finn—were giving me. Is he… jealous? “Enough fucking around. Let’s go.”
Mason led us back through the house toward the kitchen. We grabbed drinks, and the guys smoked as we hung out. Elijah offered me a shotgun hit, but I declined. After the car ride up and the weird tension in the bedroom, my body still felt too on edge, turned on and sensitive, and I didn’t think I could handle him touching me without doing something stupid.
After a while, we trailed behind a bunch of other people to the back side of the mansion. The lawn was massive, and a small lake shimmered in the sun, too perfect to be natural. I was pretty sure it was man-made, and it was gorgeous. A path made of broad, flat stones led through the lake to a small island in the center. It wasn’t very deep either, and when I dipped my toe in, the water was the perfect temperature.
Lounge chairs were arrayed around the pond and in shady spots across the sweeping, green yard. We settled into a cluster of them a little distance from the water, soaking up the afternoon sun as we relaxed and drank.
This is paradise.
“God, I’m so fucking bored,” Adena whined, and I peeled my eyes open to see her flop onto one of the empty chairs nearby. Her usual posse followed her, sinking into open chairs around us.
