Page 97 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

Talking about this reminds me of all the shit waiting for me on the other side of Royal City.

“What would it take to get him to leave you alone?” River suddenly asks, wetting his lips with his tongue.

“Nothing. My dad owes him big time so, until I’ve worked enough for Drew to deem his debt dissolved, he’ll basically owns me.” I have to take a breath before I enter panic mode. “He does already.”

“Yeah, but …” He hesitates. “He could be bought off.”

It suddenly clicks what he’s implying.

I promptly shake my head. “No way.”

“Just hear me out,” he starts but is interrupted as the waitress walks up to our table and sets down our food.

Once she leaves, I hastily tell River, “I’m not going to let you pay off my father’s debt.”

He picks up the taco and eyes it warily as a glob of meat falls out of it. “Why not? Money doesn’t mean anything to my family. We have a ton of it, to the point where it’s completely wasted on pointless shit. So, why not let me use it to take this bounty off of you.”

“Because I don’t want handouts.” I squirm at the discomfort of this conversation. “It makes me feel uncomfortable, like I’d be in debt to you, which is better than being in debt to Drew, but still makes me feel like crap.” I pick up one of my tacos and take a huge bite to distract myself from the buzzing anxiety in my veins.

“I don’t want to upset you, so I’ll let this drop for now. But please just think about it, okay? It really wouldn’t be a big deal, and I want to help you.”

I chew my taco while studying his sincere expression. It’s his sincerity that makes me nod, though I know there’s hardly any chance I’ll take him up on the offer.

That seems to satisfy him, and he smiles in return. “Good.” He starts to reach for a taco.

“Before we close up this subject, I need to ask you something.” I was going to wait until later, but since we’re on the subject. “Did you pay for my bail?”

He doesn’t even have to answer—his expression says it all.

“River.” I drop my taco and lower my head into my hands. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I felt so bad for you,” he answers honestly. “You were stuck in jail, and you just looked … Your eyes …” He summons a deep breath. “There was just something about the sadness in your eyes that I felt I could relate to. Like your helplessness … I feel that sometimes, and it's just … I wanted to help you. Please don’t make a big deal about it, because it wasn’t.”

Any anger I felt reduces. I think, at the core of River, he’s just a guy who likes to help people.

“I’m going to pay you back,” I swear as I lift my head and look at him. “I don’t care if it takes me a decade.”

“You don’t have to,” he states.

“I know I don’t for your sake. But, for mine, I do.” I pick up a taco.

He wavers, eyeing me closely. “All right.” Then his eyes drop to the taco. “So, is this really good? Because mine’s leaking.”

I giggle as I reach for a napkin. “Just try it. I promise it’s good. In fact, the leakier it is, the better.”

He arches his brow dubiously, and then I watch as he stuffs part of it into his mouth. He chews it for a moment.

“Well, how is it?” I ask as I clean the grease off my fingers.

“Good,” he says around a mouthful. “Like, really good.”

I collect another taco. “See? Not everything has to be expensive to be good.”

He carries my gaze. “Trust me; I know.”

I have a feeling he’s not talking about the food, and my stomach swoops a bit.

I internally grimace, knowing I’m getting further and further into a mess but not seeming to care enough to stop myself.

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