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“Go, go!” Ellery screamed. She hooted and screamed louder as Jaylene moved past the spot Ellery fell. “Yes, yes!”
Jaylene’s hand slipped and she fell, but she’d made it farther than any of the competitors so far tonight. Ellery groaned along with everyone else that she’d fallen, but then she turned to him with a smile. “She did fabulous. So close, and she beat my time!”
“Uh-huh,” Derek murmured. He stared at her beautiful face, stunned by the sincerity and lack of guile he found in her green eyes.
“I’ve got to go congratulate her,” Ellery said.
She turned and rushed over to where Jaylene was being interviewed. As soon as the interview was over, Ellery hugged the other woman and they bounced happily together, holding hands and both looking very beautiful and happy. Was Derek the only one who knew Jaylene was a snarky woman who would rather poke Ellery’s eyes out than have her win? It had to be obvious to everyone how unselfish and kind Ellery was.
Jaylene glanced over at him as she and Ellery hugged again. She rolled her eyes and mouthed, “Adorkable.”
Derek looked away. He wanted to expose Jaylene, but that would only hurt Ellery.
It was almost his turn. He went to get ready and started the competition with the cheers of the crowd and a desire to beat Jaylene. The women didn’t usually make it the farthest on any given run, but this particular route was more geared to agility and speed than strength.
He flew through obstacle after obstacle, focused and determined. As he hit the final obstacle and grabbed the handles of the Invisible Ladder, he could hear the commentators saying his time wasn’t as fast as Ellery or Jaylene’s. He had to make it to the top or Jaylene would win this round. They were all moving on to Vegas, but Derek felt the need to avenge Ellery from Jaylene’s underhanded words, and when he pushed himself to extremes with Ninja Warrior, it helped assuage the pain of his mum’s death.
He moved the handles up and down, progressing steadily up the ladder. He passed the twenty-foot mark and his arms, back, and fingers were screaming in protest. Ten more feet. The crowd was cheering insanely, “Ninja Prince, Ninja Prince!”
Eight feet to go, six, four. The world slowed around him, and his fingers cramped. His body trembled with the exertion. He was going to fall. There was nothing left in a single muscle in his body. Every cell was depleted.
He glanced down and found Ellery in the crowd. Her hands were up as if she were clasping the rings, and she moved in sync with every pull he made. She bounced on her toes, her face intense, and she was screaming for him. “Go, Derek! Go!”
Their gazes caught and held. He could read the sincerity in her gaze. She wanted him to win, but it was more than that. She cared deeply for him, maybe even returned the intense connection and longing he was experiencing for her, despite her refusal to go on a date with him.
She grinned and hollered above the crowd, “Go, my Ninja Prince!”
MyNinja Prince?
Derek felt a surge of energy. He tightened his grip on the handles and kept moving, inch by agonizing inch, up and up until he shakily climbed onto the platform to the raucous cheers of the crowd and slammed his hand against the buzzer.
He’d done it. Because of her.
He glanced down again, and she was beaming at him, her hands thrown up in the air, cheering like a ‘rabid rah-rah,’ whatever that meant. He grinned and pointed at her.
She jumped up and down and cheered louder.
He loved Ellery Monson. She was the woman who could support and love him like only his mum had been able to do. Somehow, he would make her his princess.
But first, he had to convince her to go to dinner with him.
Derek grinned and lifted his arms in the air, accepting the crowd’s applause but more importantly Ellery’s.
His Princess Elle. Somehow, he would make that title come true.
CHAPTERONE
Ellery Monson kept one eye on Prince Derek August of Augustine as she worked her way through pullup after pullup after pullup. Her arms trembled and her grip threatened to give out. Her fingers cramped around the metal bar, and she wondered if they’d ever straighten fully again. She could not quit. One more pullup might mean the difference between completing the Invisible Ladder or falling next time. She prayed she didn’t look and smell as sweaty and disgusting as she felt, because he was walking in her direction.
“You’ve got this,” Derek encouraged as he reached her side, ever the encouraging cheerleader for their crew of American Ninja Warrior trainees and hopefuls. Hoorah was an easy job for the Ninja Prince as he was the top ninja in the world currently. Everyone liked him and wanted to be around him, and Ellery was convinced he took sunshine pills for breakfast.
“You’re so impressive, my Brave Boston Beauty,” he said, teasing her with his twist on the nickname the ninja warrior commentators had tagged her with. She was more a dork than brave, but she loved him for so many things, including not calling her ‘adorkable.’
“Give me two more,” he encouraged.
She also adored his lyrical accent. Though she’d never tell him that.
Ellery was too spent to even give a teasing reply like the prince expected from her. After Derek had gotten to know Ellery and her boss and fellow competitor Jason during the American Ninja Warrior finals throughout March, April, and May, he’d moved to Boston and trained in their gym with them.
