Page 86 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

Still, so many secrets dance through the air, starting with … “Are you ever going to tell me how you vanished into thin air in the library?”

I diligently observe his reaction as tension ravels through his muscles and his fingers stop moving.

“I’d rather not.”

I frown. “Why not? You say you want to be my friend, you massage my legs, and yet you won’t tell me this or why you were even hanging out with that Eli guy, who your sister hates, by the way.”

“I know Lily hates him, and one day, that asshole will pay for what he’s done.” He bites out each word. “But I have to play this carefully. It’s how the royal game is played.” He looks at me then. “You need to take note of that, too. The more careful you are about seeking answers, the safer you’ll be.”

I’m unsure if he’s implying he’ll tell me later or he wants me to totally back off. I won’t, though. It’s not the way I work. I hate secrets. I hate lies. And I don’t want to hate him. He’s too cute and sweet for that.

Before deciding if I should simply peace out, a twenty-something-year-old, red-headed guy walks up to us. He’s wearing a pizza company shirt and is carrying a pizza box.

“Are you Finn Averson?” he asks as he stops beside us. His attention roams to where Finn’s hand stuck up my pant leg, and I can only imagine what he’s thinking.

“Yep, the one and only,” he tells him with a cheeky grin.

I can’t help smiling. Finn has that way about him where, even when he’s annoying the hell out of me, I can still smile at his stupid silliness.

“Here you go.” He hands Finn the box. “Thanks for the tip, too. That was awesome.”

“Sure, no problem. It’s a long drive up here.” Finn sets the box down beside his hip then opens the lid as the delivery guy strolls away with his arms crossed. He’s rigid as he passes by the group of people playing frisbee and one of the bulkier dudes makes some asinine comment to him about his outfit.

“How come you’re nice?” I return my focus to Finn as he grabs a slice of chicken and spinach pizza from the box.

His forehead creases. “Am I? Because people usually tell me I’m charming, not nice.” He dazzles me with a grin.

I sigh. Always joking.

“You are. So is River. And your sister.” I press a glance at the douchebag frisbee dude. “And then there’s guys like him who are total rich asshats.”

“Asshats, huh?” He’s beyond amused. “That’s an interesting choice of word.”

“That’s what he is. And you’re not. I’m just wondering why. What’s the deciding factor between a rich guy turning into a jerk and then turning into you and River?”

He contemplates this with his head tilted to the side, his gaze dissecting me. “We can be assholes, but we’ve never thought we were above anyone just because we were born into money. To be honest, I hate some of the people who go here, and I find people like you immensely more interesting.”

Is that a compliment or not? I can’t tell.

“Because I’m poor?”

“No, because you’re honest, and real, and tough in ways I can’t even begin to comprehend.”

“I doubt your life is super easy all the time, considering your broken friendship with Noah.”

“It hasn’t always been easy, but I still feel like your life has been harder, and you turned out way better than me.” His pretty boy gaze is unnervingly attentive—too much, honestly. “You fascinate me, Maddison Averly.”

That might be one of the sweetest things a guy has ever said to me. Not that I’m hot, tough, and have a nice ass. It’s making me feel twitchy, to the point where I squirm.

If he notices, he doesn’t remark. Instead, he moves to hand me a slice of pizza.

“Now, eat up because I’m not about to eat this entire thing by myself,” he tells me, dangling the pizza in front of my face.

I shake my head. “I’m not hungry.”

“Liar. River told me how you always refuse anything offered to you.” He urges me to take the slice. “Come on. Just take it. I have an entire pizza over here, and with how badly your leg muscles hurt, I’m betting you burned a lot of calories this morning.”

He’s right. And the pizza does look so yummy. If it weren’t for the alarm still blaring in the distance, I’d decline and go to the cafeteria. But I’m famished, so I take it.

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