Page 3 of Prince of Ruin

I snort and trot up beside him. “Passing through? Bone Hollow, Indiana is hardly a town topass throughon.” Built on a small county-line road, you literally have to drive fifteen minutes off the main road to get here.

His back turns rigid, as if he’s been caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t be doing. He pinches his lower lip between his teeth and glances out the window. Sensing the awkward silence, thanks to my intrusive question, I try to flash my own adorable grin that makes Hannah blush, but it only seems to pile onto the awkwardness with Aden.

“I know why you’re here,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

His jaw tenses, and he stands a little straighter as if bracing himself for a fight. “Y-you do?” His eyes are guarded now, the knot in his throat bobbing with a hard swallow. And he actually takes a step back, as if he were…afraid of me?

“You’re here for the Renaissance faire, aren’t you?”

He releases a breath that kind of turns into a nervous laugh. “Y—yeah. Yeah. That’s it. I’m totally here for the, um, faire.”

“No need to be embarrassed, Aden.” I huff and nudge his elbow with mine as we make our way down the hall. “It’s one of my favorite parts about living in Bone Hollow.”

His cheeks grow pink with my flirtatious nudge, and I desperately hope I’m not being too forward.

He says, “I’m staying at the Bone Bed & Breakfast Inn down the road.”

A laugh erupts out of me. “I love the owners of that place, but theyreally couldn’t have picked a better name, could they? It sounds like the name of some porn studio.”

He bites back his own smile. “Yeah, after they’re done filming you eating sausage, you get to eatmoresausage with your waffles.”

“Oh shit, Aden.” Laughter bubbles out of me. “I think they need you on their vision team.”

I follow him to the checkout and greet the older librarian, Lucy, as she scans his first book, and I realize I totally forgot to grab a book. I was too busy mooning over this eye-candy, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to let him go just so I could scan the shelves of books I’ve already scoured five-million times.

“Jurassic Park, huh?” Aden asks, looking at my t-shirt with the JP logo of a t-rex skull on the front.

“Hell yeah. Best movie ever made. And the book is even better.” A crisp autumn breeze greets us when we step outside, bringing with it the sharp smell of rotting leaves and decay.

He cocks a brow. “I’m not sure I’ve ever met a Jurassic Park fan who also read the book.”

“Those of us who read the book are a whole other breed of fans.” I stick out my arm, where a tattoo of a velociraptor skeleton, like the one featured at the beginning of the movie, is tattooed on my forearm. “You’ll also typically find us permanently printed with dinosaurs.”

Grabbing my wrist, he inspects the tattoo. “That’ssick,Clav.”

My cheeks heat at the gentle touch of his long fingers pressed into my skin. His hands are firm and warm against the autumn chill, and I get this strange urge to slide my hand up so our fingers link together.Somehow, I’m able to control myself as he releases me while we cross the street. Clearing my throat, I casually shove my glasses up the bridge of my nose, then drag my hand across the back of my neck.

“So, uh, what do you do?” Aden asks as we step onto the sidewalk.

Ugh. The dreaded question. “I’m taking a break from college and living with my parents for now, just outside town, until I figure shit out.”

His eyes widen. “Yourparents?”

God, this is embarrassing. What twenty-three-year-old still lives with their parents? A college drop-out, that’s who. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“It’s…it’s a long story.” I release a nervous laugh. “I’m hoping to move out soon though.”

“Oh.Oh.No, I don’t think it’s weird that you’re living with them.”

“It’s…weird.”

“No, it’s just, I didn’t know you had two parents.”

My brows pinch together. “How could you?” I chuckle. “We just met.”

“I mean—” He’s the one struggling now, which is strange. This hot guy is way out of my league, and seems to be intimidated byme.“Most people our age have divorced parents. It’s cool that you’re living with both of them.”

“Yeah, well, my dad isn’t my birth dad. My mom was single when she had me cuz my bio dad was an asshole who fucked right off. Rick kind of took us under his wing.” I shrug and kick a pebble into the road. “He might as well be my birth dad, the way he raised me.”

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