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“You’re only saying that because you want to jump his dick—”
“Oh, please. Paola’s already riding Bronco’s dick and that boring prince is out of the picture—”
“Wait. Quiet. Someone’s coming…hey, it’s the prodigal prince!”
She was startled, not expecting Rick to walk in on a conversation that mostly didn’t have good things to say about him. But he was unfazed when he greeted them, tone dancing with a heavily coated charm. Enthusiasm riddled the group, her body turning rigid at their abrupt switch-up that sang him praises and extravagantly cheered him on. A female voice crooned.
“I have been waiting for you to spend some time with us. Now that you’re here, why don’t you tell us all about your latest adventure?”
“As you probably already heard, it was a happy accident, and I will be glad to talk about it…but not now. I bet you’re out here because the banquet they prepared is already making you want to sleep, right?”
“As a matter of fact—”
“I set up a room in the western hall. One of our usual spots. There will be more than dancing.”
There was a gasp, then a more sincere hum of excitement. The female voice crooned again.
“What about you? We miss you. I miss you. You should come with us. You can relax and I can ease your tension. Your muscles are really…hard.”
She closed her eyes against the urge to march out there, certain that wasn’t a good idea. She listened while the woman flirted some more and Rick politely interacted, promising them they would have such a good time. Then they were gone, footsteps receding and voices still talking about the now-generous prince. A quiet scoff glissaded off her lips—
“If they were headed here, you wouldn’t have stood a chance against getting caught.”
Emerald blinked, taken aback when she assumed he would go with them. But she recovered quickly.
“I have magic. I think I could manage.”
“They would detect it and you would still be found.”
“Yeah, well, they didn’t come here, so arguing about it is pointless.”
So was standing here in the corner, made tighter now that he squeezed himself in too. But Rick didn’t seem to mind, taking up space with his wide shoulders and surveying her as if trying to figure her out.
“They will be distracted for a while, so you don’t need to worry about running into them.”
“I’m not worried.”
A ghost of a smile teased his mouth, drawing her attention there. “I figured. I suppose it’s them who should be worried about you.”
“Not quite either. Let’s just say we’re co-existing and don’t need to be worried about each other.”
It was a lie because nerves had riddled her earlier at the possibility of getting found and dragged somewhere without anyone’s knowledge. Perhaps he thought the same thing, too, as his smile faded and he eyed her some more.
“I asked Bronco to keep an eye on Yu, in turn keeping an eye on you.”
She raised a brow. “I don’t need anything keeping an eye on me. And Bronco didn’t disobey you. I bet he’s still in there keeping an eye on our friend. Do you trust him?”
“He hasn’t shown any reason not to be trusted. And he’s not within my circle of friends, who could slip me anything in a drink and I wouldn’t question.” There was a long pause. “He’s a childhood friend. Close to me and my sister, but more to me. He never dropped the titles, though, because he’s just ornery that way.”
“Then Yu’s safe.” The conversation earlier flared again and she felt her shoulders tense. “Those Fae folks…”
“They’re my friends…or they were,” he mused. There was no bitterness, only his matter-of-fact tone. “I guess they’re not very pleased with me. The investigation kept me very busy and I practically shunned them. Then I left.”
“You didn’t leave,” she argued stubbornly. “At least, not voluntarily. And you have every reason to be cautious, even if it means avoiding them and being a prick in their eyes.Andif they were your friends, they wouldn’t judge right away.”
She knew she had driven the point across when he didn’t defend them. Instead, Rick sighed.
“I suppose I should tone the avoiding down and act normal around them…with lesser party attendances, of course.”
