Page 28 of Scandalous Park Avenue Prince

And it was a mistake for me to accept that help.

A misguided sense of confidence ran through me. I was getting to him, breaking through his no-nonsense texts—but then another message came through, then another, and another.

FILTH:

It was a mistake to come see you today.

And a mistake that night of the charity event.

You need to stop texting. This, all of it, you, was a mistake that we both need to move on from. I’m turning off my phone now.

I stared at the rapid-fire responses and read them one after another, over and over again until they blurred into one. I zeroed in on the wordmistakethat he’d written four times.

Four. Fucking. Times.

I was a mistake?

Our kiss was a mistake?

Fuck. That.

The irritation flowing through me had me looking around for the one person I could count on to make me feel better, to forget about how stupid I’d been to think there was any kind of chance with Archer.

Mr. Carrington. Whatever.

As expected, East was surrounded by a group of admirers hanging on his every word, but it only took me tugging on his arm and saying, “I need you,” to get his full attention.

Of all of the Park Avenue Princes, East was the most judgmental by far, and his upper lip curled as those assessing eyes raked over me.

“Youneedme? I agree, but in what way in particular?”

“I don’t want to remember anything from tonight when I wake up tomorrow.”

His arched brow rose even higher. “Drinks or something a little stronger?”

That was why I went to East. He didn’t ask why, trusting that if someone had fucked with us, we’d tell him so revenge could be exacted. Anything else and he’d make it happen.

“Drinks,” I said.

“A shit-faced Preston. This’ll be fun.”

He steered me toward the main bar, and it never ceased to amaze the way people scattered to get out of our way. East leaned over the bar, whispering something in the bartender’s ear, and a few moments later, several shot glasses were set out in front of us.

“Cheers to me. Cheers to you. Cheers to a drink that lets you forget all that you do!” He clinked his glass against mine. “Get messy, my friend. I promise you’ll remember nothing tomorrow.”

I didn’t bother asking what he’d ordered, just downed the shots one at a time, and to his credit, East didn’t let me drink alone. That was what friends were for, right?

“Whoa, what the hell is going on here without me?” Travis moved in between us, stealing the last of East’s shots and throwing it back. His face puckered and he slammed the empty glass on the bar. “Holy shit, you drank six of those?”

“Mind your business,” East said, pushing Travis away before reaching for the large glass with two straws that had appeared between us. Whatever he’d ordered was layered, dark to light, and again, I didn’t much care what it was.

Calling me a mistake…The texts Mr. Carrington sent still irked, and I didn’t want to think about them.

I lowered my mouth to the straw as East did the same, our foreheads almost touching.

“Go,” he said, and I began to suck down the drink in large pulls, ignoring the fact that the rest of our friends had gathered around us and were egging us on.

All but Travis, who leaned in by my ear and said in a low voice, “You good, man?”

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