Page 78 of Brutal Prince

“Indi, Briar? Did you two enjoy your ride yesterday?”

I groan, squeezing my eyes shut with my fingers in dread anticipation.

Wolf whistles, choruses of, ‘virgin’, ‘cherry popping’, and God knows what else erupt from the class.

Ms. Parsons’s attempts at hushing the kids are unsurprisingly ineffectual.

“Yeah, we did,” Briar says, raising his voice over the noise.

I let out another groan. Of course he’ll milk this as much as—

“In fact, we just decided to go out again today. Bare back, this time.”

The crowd only just settled, but now they all burst out laughing again.

Ms. Parsons is probably as red as I am, but this all ends in about five minutes for her — I’m not that lucky. I’m going to be on the receiving end of every horse-related sex pun for the next week until Lavish Prep’s gossip machine finds new fodder.

I’m terribly tempted to announce that I hate horses, Briar, and everything in between and just be done with this farce…

But despite what I told Addy this morning, I’m convinced that getting closer to Briar will give me — us — the answers we’re so desperately looking for. After all, we had a moment out there, yesterday.

It could have been because we were alone, with none of his classmates or friends around to impress. If that’s the case, then maybe it can happen again.

“I’ve always wanted to try that,” I quip, doing my best to ignore how hot my cheeks are. I turn to Briar, giving him a frigid smile. “Oh, and I’ve still got that gift you gave me this morning. Should I wear that?”

Briar blinks, his smug expression freezing. Then his face melts into grudging admiration. He gives me a small nod. “Good one, angel,” he says, his voice only loud enough for me to hear.

“I learn from the best.”

When Briar shakes his head and a rueful smile touches his mouth, my chest feels like it wants to explode. I face forward, brimming with victorious glee. But I know this feeling won’t last. Something rattled him earlier — that’s why he came to sit behind me, why he started talking about Addy.

Fuck it — I know the war’s far from over, but I won this battle and I’m gonna celebrate.

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