Page 32 of Royally Rivalled

Instead of reading into what I wanted, Astrid ran into Jeremy’s arms. He swung her around, lifting her up and down excitedly. I took the whisky and left to drink alone in the garden. I was over the obsession with The Princess. Let her have Jeremy! It was her fault for not reading all the flashing red flags.

twenty

ASTRID

I hoppedinto the arms of the man I least expected—Parker Westfall. He stared at me. I expected surprise or even disdain—the usual look he gave me. Instead, was thatlust? God, was that even possible? I realised his big brown eyes were trained on me, looking impossibly hungry. I had to get out of this. His arms were stronger and bigger than I anticipated. I thought about kissing him but beat that feeling down.

It wasn't Parker I wanted, right? I was here for Jeremy! So, I broke his stare and ran off into Jeremy's arms. He swung me around and laughed.

That’s more like it!

“Want to get another drink?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, sure.” I bit my lip, unable to hold back my feelings for him.

“What you want?”

“Beer is good still,” I said. “Yeah?”

“Sure.” Jeremy gave my ass a little smack as he let me go.

Fuck. Ilikedthat!

Amara skipped over, spinning me around. “She's the champion!”

I giggled, shaken out of whatever spell Jeremy left me in.

“So, finally, huh?” Amara asked.

“I think a lot could happen, yeah!”

“Get it!”

Jeremy returned with a beer, and we celebrated by taking a few sips before ignoring them. Instead, we escaped to a hallway where we could be alone. I felt as if things might escalate—hoping that I’d finally been put out of my misery—when we were rudely interrupted. He wouldneverproperly kiss me!

“Jer! Brian just lost it all over the fucking kitchen. We've got to take him home, mate!”

Jeremy's friend stood there in a panic

“Sorry, Astrid,” he said. “Rain check?”

I wasn't sure what a rain check was, but I nodded.

Off Jeremy went—leaving me. I decided to tell Amara I was off, too.

My plan was soon upended. Once more, as if we couldn’t stop colliding, I ran into Parker Westfall. This time, it wasmyfault. My beer spilt all over his jumper. I expected him to lash out at me, but he didn’t.

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

He chuckled. “It’s only fair, right? Retribution?”

“It wasn’t. I just wasn’t paying attention.”

I realised we were standingtooclose now. Again, this urge flooded me. Hewantedme, but I didn’t want him. OrdidI? He walked towards the kitchen. I followed as if pulled into his orbit. I told myself it was out of obligation, but that felt like a lie the more I considered it. I knew Jeremy fancied me, but Parker seemed to lust for me. Was that the word? He used a kitchen roll to dab his jumper before returning to me. Our eyes met again. He went to touch my hand, then grabbed my wrist. I looked down to see him dabbing up spilt beer. I looked down and saw beer running down my cleavage, too. Panicking about that, I pulled back.

"Uh... I can do it,” I took the kitchen roll from him. “Thanks, though”

He looked offended by my rejection. I dabbedthe beer from between my boobs, trying not to make it awkward and looked up to see him trained on me. He shook his head as if trying to scatter his thoughts visibly. He was checking out my tits! And yet, how he looked at me when he didn’t realise I was looking was priceless. No one had ever stared at me like that—not even my wayward rockstar. I could have leaned into it at that moment. Something pulled at me to kiss him. Maybe it was the way he nervously combed his fingers through his hair or the way he always stood arms crossed while thinking. Either way, if I were braver, I would have kissed him.

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