Page 20 of Wicked Prince

Anthony gives me a mischievous smirk. "Five full seconds, huh? That can be a long time, depending on what you're doing."

I roll my eyes and take a sip of my soda. "Trust me, it's never happening again."

"You'd be the first girl to turn him down," Anthony muses. His eyes glint slightly with curiosity. "Whydidyou turn him down, anyway?"

I can understand his confusion. Lorenzo is drop-dead gorgeous, and popular, and rich, and the heir apparent to a massive crime empire. All things that would make him a catch by the standards of virtually everyone here.

"I'm not interested in a relationship with anyone, and definitely not one as high-profile as that,” I reply.

"Huh." He seems like he's trying to make sense of it before he shakes his head and gives up. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but that's just going to make him even more ravenous."

I groan. I was already kind of afraid of that. "Right now, I think I have more pressing things to worry about."

"Don't worry about Tish," Anthony says with a dismissive wave. "She's all bark. Total coward underneath."

"I figured, but it's not just her," I mutter. "Apparently, I'm a huge slut."

"Oh, really?" he asks dryly.

"Yep. And I got kicked out of school for screwing my teacher, so there's that," I reply, swirling my straw around in my drink.

Anthony lets out a low whistle. "Man, you really get around. Humanities or sciences?"

I pause to think about it. "I think I'm gonna go with English Lit professor. Sounds sexier than math."

"Good choice," he says with a laugh. "Seriously, though, that's just the way this school is. Someone new shows up and that's all anyone can think about for a while. They'll get bored and move on to someone else eventually. Just play dead and try to be as boring as possible and it will be over sooner."

"Trust me, I'm trying. Apparently, keeping the peace is not something I'm good at."

"A girl after my own heart," Anthony says, his smile falling as he looks at something over my shoulder. At first, I think maybe it's Tish or Kayleigh coming back for round two, but when I glance up, I see one of the guys who was playing soccer with Lorenzo headed straight for us. Judging from the look on Anthony's face, they know each other, and it isn't a friendly connection.

"Jeff," Anthony says, his voice dripping with irritation. "Nice of you to show up and ruin my afternoon."

"Don't worry, I'm not here for you," he sneers, glancing over me. "You're Amelia, right?"

"Yeah…" I say warily. With the notable exception of Anthony, everyone who has introduced themselves so far has been a complete asshole, so I don't have high hopes for this encounter.

Especially not if he's Lorenzo's friend. The fact that Anthony obviously can't stand the guy just drives it home.

Jeff takes something out of his pocket and I actually flinch a little. This place is making me paranoid already. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to notice.

He hands me a small crimson envelope. "This is for you."

I stare down at the envelope in confusion. There is no name on it or anything, but it's sealed. "What is this?"

Jeff shrugs. "I'm just the delivery boy."

"Aw, how exciting for you," Anthony coos to him. "Lorenzo promoted you from licking his shoes."

Irritation glints in Jeff's eyes, but he just flips Anthony the middle finger and walks off without another word.

I raise an eyebrow, and once he's out of earshot, I turn back to Anthony. "Bad blood?"

"You have no idea," Anthony mutters.

"Oh, come on, you know my drama already," I press.

Anthony heaves a huge sigh and leans back against the booth. "Fine. Jeff and I went to high school together, and he was a complete ass the whole way through. Guy's a closet case, complete with the projection and overcompensating. Last semester, we screwed around a few times in a serious lapse of judgment on my part. But we still fucking hate each other. Now it's just awkward."

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