Page 85 of Rivals
Nina wasn’t sure. Lately, she’d become acutely conscious of Jeff’s every move: of the way his shirts fit over his shoulders, of the warmth of his arm when it brushed hers as they walked across campus. The spark in his eyes when they met hers, the way his laugh shivered through her.
Before Nina could figure out how to reply, her phone rang again. Puzzled, she answered. “Hello?”
“Nina, this is Matt. His Highness’s Revere Guard.”
“Is everything okay?” Nina asked quickly, alarmed. Surely there could be no good reason for Jeff’s Guard to be calling her directly.
“Sorry to bother you, but I could use your help.” Matt sounded sheepish, almost embarrassed. “Prince Jefferson has had a lot to drink, and he refuses to go home.”
Shouldn’t you be calling Daphne?Nina was about to ask, but Matt’s next words stopped her. “His Highness keeps asking for you.”
Nina felt a traitorous flush of excitement, which quickly gave way to guilt. She wondered if the fight Daphne had staged with Jeff at the End of Session party had escalated into anactualfight—if taking down Gabriella had put Jeff and Daphne’s relationship on the rocks.
She cradled the phone closer to her ear. “Where should I meet you?”
The fraternity house was a white monolith on the corner of the Street: that was what everyone at King’s College called the road lined with frat and sorority houses, as if no other street were worth mentioning. Stone columns rose up before its entrance, making it resemble a national landmark or perhaps a bank building. Nina hadn’t been inside since last year, back when she and Jeff were dating, when they’d gone upstairs in the middle of a party to discuss their relationship.
As she got closer, Nina realized that the people gathered on the grassy front lawn weren’t college kids drinking beer from plastic cups. They were paparazzi, milling about with their cameras, glancing periodically at the door as they waited for someone to emerge.
Clearly that someone was Prince Jefferson.
Nina hesitated. No way was she about to let the press take photos of her, start bullying her family again, pry into her personal life—everything they had done when she and Jeff dated.
Except…they would only do that if they considered her worth their attention. Nina glanced down at her wide-leg jeans, ratty sneakers, and navy King’s College hoodie. She looked like a schlumpy student on her way to the library, not like a girl who belonged in a headline with Jeff.
Because shewasn’tthat girl, not at all.
She pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt and started forward. Sure enough, the paparazzi hardly spared her a glance as she headed toward the entrance.
The foyer was empty, a massive staircase with gold railings curving up to the second floor. The low thump of speakersemanated from deeper in the house, where Nina assumed she would find the party. She started forward, then heard voices in a room to her left. One of those voices belonged to Jeff, she realized, who was drunkenly singing the theme song to a children’s cartoon.
“Jeff?” she called out, and the door swung open.
“Nina. I’m so glad you came.” Matt took a step back, revealing a billiards room. The blinds had been drawn over the windows, and the other three walls were lined with photos of old fraternity pledge classes, each labeled with the graduating year. It looked like they went back a century.
Jeff sat on the edge of a pool table, swinging his legs like a child on the edge of an actual pool. He brightened when he saw her.
“Nina! You came! I wanted you to.”
Unlike people who got surly or sad when they’d had too much to drink, Jeff was always a sweet, affectionate drunk. His smile was boyish and eager, his hair disheveled and a little damp. Nina suppressed the urge to reach back and smooth the unruly curls behind his ears.
“He refuses to go home,” Matt explained. “And as much as I’d love to spend the night on this billiards table, our chief of security insists that I get him back.”
“I can’t leave!” Jeff chimed in, outraged. “I’m…I’ze…it’s a party!”
Nina fought back a laugh, and Matt glared at her. “Look, we have to get His Highness out the front door and into the waiting car.”
“Isn’t there another entrance?”
“The paparazzi are out back, too! Someone must have tipped off the press that Jefferson was here.” Matt sighed. “I’m legally authorized to use force on him in extreme situations, but I don’t want to resort to that.”
“Use force?”
“Knock him out, then carry him to the car fireman-style,” Matt told her, and Nina winced at the image. He nodded. “Exactly. That photo would be all over the internet tomorrow, and aside from ruining my career, it would get the prince in trouble.”
Jefferson glanced slowly from one of them to the other, as if he was trying to follow their conversation but struggling to keep up. He frowned endearingly. “Matt, you’re not gonna punch me. You’re too nice for that.”
“We have to convince him to walk out the doors,” Matt said to Nina, as if Jeff hadn’t spoken.
