Page 5 of My Best Friend Prince Charming

“Not at all,” I said, stepping away from Austin. “Have you heard anything else about your audition?” I asked. Ryker was pretty much perfect for the part. I’d never really stopped to think about it, but with his longish, curly blond hair and bright blue eyes, he really did look like he could be Prince Charming. He was a highly attractive guy beneath all the nerdiness. I always thought of him as just a friend, but I wasn’t blind. I knew a hot guy when I saw one. It wasn’t surprising that Ryker was handpicked by a Hollywood director.

He had a pretty killer British accent, too. We used to make silly videos when we were younger, and he went crazy with different accents. I always thought we were just kids messing around, but now I realized that it could end up paying off big for Ryker.

The problem was, I didn’t know what I’d do without him. I really had to figure out how to be a better, more supportive friend, but I was seriously struggling with my feelings. I felt like I had a big battle inside me. One side fought to support Ryker, and the other side fought to be more selfish and keep him all to myself. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of going to college without him after we were so excited about going together.

Austin scowled. “You get after me for barging in, but when Ryker does the same thing, you don’t care?”

“Ryker’s different,” I said.

Ryker acted like he hadn’t heard Austin complaining. “I got an email with some instructions and a date and time.”

“Are you going?” I asked.

Austin folded his arms and shifted his weight to his other foot like he was already bored with the conversation. He probably wanted Ryker to leave so he could get back to making out.

“Yep. It’s next Saturday. I’ve already picked out some lines to audition with.”

“Let me know if you need help running through your lines.” I’d helped Ryker run lines for his musical. We’d had a lot of late nights with popcorn and Twizzlers and a lot of ridiculous nonsense. My mom was pretty strict with my curfew with Austin, but she didn’t mind letting Ryker stay over a little later. Our families were so close he was practically a son to her.

Maddie pushed open my bedroom door and climbed onto my bed, helping herself to the package of gummy bears on my nightstand.

“How is it that you’re the nerdiest girl at school, and you have two guys in your bedroom? And here I am over here, completely single, and not half as nerdy as you.”

My cheeks heated up. Maddie loved embarrassing me as much as possible. “Can I help you with something, Maddie?”

“I’m bored. I came in here to be entertained.”

“Don’t you have another werewolf book to read?”

“I just finished the series. I have to let the story marinate for a while before I can start a new book.”

“Well, you might want to go watch Netflix or something. We aren’t all that interesting.”

Maddie popped another gummy bear in her mouth and looked between the two guys standing awkwardly in my bedroom. “Looks pretty interesting to me.”

I wasn’t in the mood to be the butt of her joke. Plus, it wasn’t like there was anything going on between Ryker and me. The idea was laughable. Everyone knew we were just friends. I’d been dating Austin forever anyway. Maddie just loved a good love triangle and had an overactive imagination. There wasn’t a love triangle here—only the one she’d conjured up. It was definitely fictional.

“So,” Maddie said with a naughty little-sister smile. “Do you want to turn this love triangle into a square?” She patted the spot on the bed next to her. “Ryker, come sit next to me. I’m not in a complicated relationship.”

Ryker tugged on the collar of his shirt like it was choking him. “I was just leaving, actually.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t bite. Well, not very hard anyway.”

“Your sister’s crazy, Shannon,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me as he made a beeline for the door.

“I am well aware of that,” I called out to him as he went down the hall. “I have to live with her every day.”

* * *

I walkeddown the hall at school with Austin, our fingers entwined. He waved to a bunch of the baseball team and fist-bumped Jimmy Alston.

Austin and I were that couple that no one seemed to understand. We were nothing alike, but opposites attracted, right? I was the shy nerdy girl of the school, and Austin had to talk to every person he passed in the hallway. I just wanted to read manga, draw, and write my fan fiction. Austin cared about sports and friends more than grades. I was uncoordinated and obsessed with getting straight A’s. I had to. If I hadn’t worked my tail off, I wouldn’t have gotten the scholarship to UNC.

Logan Cartwright and Bella Davenport stood together at her locker, and she popped a grape in his mouth. They were so adorable. Austin and I weren’t like that. We weren’t really the romantic type. But we’d been a staple of Sweet Mountain High. That iconic couple of nerd and popular guy. I didn’t even know how or why we’d gotten together. It had just kind of happened.

We were assigned as partners in biology freshman year when we were dissecting frogs. He took his tweezers and poked at the frog. He asked me what he was poking at, and I told him it was the frog’s heart. He said he wondered if the frog had ever had his heart broken. I thought he was a weirdo in an adorable sort of way. At the end of the class period, he asked me out. Now we were close to graduation, and we’d lasted all four years.

Sure, we’d had our ups and downs like any couple, but we’d stood the test of time. Unlike my parents. Sometimes I wished they’d tried harder to work through their problems. Yeah, my dad cheated, but I wished my mom had found it in her heart to forgive him. But she just gave up. I refused to let that happen to Austin and me. No matter how hard it got. That was why I was still with him now.

Austin had plans to go to UNC with Ryker and me. I hoped to get into advertising and graphic design. I had an aunt who made good money and worked for several big name brands. She’d ended up traveling the world because of her career and could work from home if she felt like it. It was a win-win situation. I’d get to pursue art and make money while getting to see something other than Sweet Mountain. It wasn’t that I had anything against our little town; it was a darling place to live. But it was all I’d been able to see. My parents never took me on vacation, and my dad hadn’t once asked me to come see him at his home in California with his new wife. He’d pretty much moved on from us like we’d never existed.

Although I’d faithfully stayed by Austin’s side for the past four years, with a few hiccups here and there, we didn’t really hang out much outside of school. He tried to, but I usually ended up daydreaming about all the nerdy stuff I wanted to discuss with Ryker. All Austin wanted to do was kiss. I honestly didn’t see the appeal. Kissing was okay, but I got bored with it.

I could sit and talk to Ryker for hours on end, though, and we did on a regular basis. There was always so much to talk about. We never got bored. And Ryker was really good about responding to my texts. He always answered right away and usually said something to make me laugh. Sometimes Austin took an entire day to respond. It drove me nuts. How could anyone hold a conversation like that?

My relationship with Austin wasn’t perfect, but whose relationship was, anyway? Every couple had their struggles. We just had to work through them.

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