Page 77 of Teach Me to Fly

“Oops,” she says, with zero fucking sincerity.

My eyes drop back to Angelique. Champagne clings to her skin and soaks into the fabric of her dress. Her jaw tightens, and her fists clench as her shoulders tremble.

She’spissed.

Lando’s across the room one second and beside us the next. He takes one look at Angelique and doesn’t hesitate. “Come on, gorgeous, let’s clean you up before you commit a crime.”

He glares at Wendy over his shoulder. “Maybe go fuck yourself with that drink next time.”

Angelique lets him lead her away, still trembling. And I instantly feel rageas I turn back to Wendy.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I ask, my voice low and dark.

She scoffs, trying to toss her hair like this is some kind of joke. “My problem?” she snaps. “She crept her way in, stole everything, and you just let her.”

I stare at her coldly, trying to calm my anger back to a manageable level.

“She doesn’t deserve it,” Wendy spits. “And you’re too blind to see she’s just playing you. You think she wants you? She’s using you to get her career back, and the minute she’s succeeded, she’s going to leave you.”

My blood hums and my hands flex at my sides. The old me would have believed that. Believed that I’m not worthy enough for Angelique to want to stay with me, for me. But not the new me. The new me won’t let her slip away again. I take a step forward, close enough that Wendy takes one back.

“Listen carefully,” I say, voice deadly serious. “Stay the fuck away from Angelique. This is your last fucking warning.”

She opens her mouth, but I’m not done.

“Piss her off again, and you don’t just lose the understudy role. You lose Imperium. All of it.”

Wendy’s face drains of color when she finally understands I’m not bluffing.

Her voice is small. “I understand.”

“Good,” I say. “Now get the fuck out of my house.”

She doesn’t even try to argue as she grabs her clutch and disappears into the crowd. Angelique returns a few minutes later, wearing one of Lando’s oversized shirts. Her damp curls are tied up messily and there’s a tight line around her mouth. She looks tired.

“I think I’m just going to call it a night,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck. “I feel gross and sticky and—yeah. Not in a party mood.”

“I’ll come with you,” I say instantly.

She nods, grateful, and I scan the room for Lando and Terry, but they’ve vanished into the chaos. We slip out the back door and into the cool night air, walking side by sidethrough the gardens to get to the path that leads to the guest house.

I haven’t taken this way to the guesthouse in years and I’m almost surprised when I see the maintained pool come into view. Memories rush back of seventeen-year-old me shoving sixteen-year-old Angelique into the water just to annoy her.

She walks past it without noticing, but I don’t. I turn, grab her around the waist and, in one fluid motion, lift her into my arms.

“Reign! what the hell are you doing—”she shrieks, but it’s too late.

I toss her and she screams as she hits the water with a splash so loud it echoes through the courtyard. She surfaces, loose curls plastered to her face, eyes wide with shock.

“Are you insane?!” she yells, wiping water from her eyes.

I chuckle, tugging my shirt off over my head, noticing how her gaze catches on my chest. She quietly watches me as she treads water and her eyes travel down my chest, over my stomach, lingering on the ridges.

I take a step forward, toss the shirt to the ground, and dive in. The water surrounds me, cold and perfect, and I swim under, reaching her in a few easy strokes, before I rise slowly, surfacing just in front of her. She’s treading water, her back brushing the edge of the pool, and I’m so close now I can feel the ripples from her body touch mine.

I look down at her mouth, then drag my eyes lower, catching the way her soaked, oversized shirt floats around her. Beneath it, I glimpse the pale fabric of her underwear and my skin buzzes. Even though the pool is cool, I feel hot now.

“Sorry for throwing you in. I just figured you wanted the stickiness off,” I say.

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