“Never planned to be anything but,” I shot back, making a good show of straightening my shirt. “The problem is, Max, I can change, and you can’t. You can pretend all you want, but deep down you will always be a Karling.”
His expression grew hard, but he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, pushing another senior that was walking in. I kept my lazy grin as I bowed before the rest of those gathered. “I hope you enjoyed the show, ladies and gentlemen. Good night.”
There were some cheers as I exited the room, my grin disappearing the moment I rounded the corner. Fucking Max. He couldn’t live up to the fact that his family and his future were shit. How he had even gotten into the academy was still a mystery.
It wasn’t like his old man had connections like that anymore.
My bad mood followed me all the way to my car, where I wrenched open the door and climbed in, starting the engine. Damn, my jaw ached. Max could carry a right hook when he thought about it.
I leaned my head back on the headrest, staring up at the academy that had been my life for nearly four years. I was going to miss this place when I was gone, when I was forced back into the life that my father had laid out for me.
I threw the car in reverse and peeled out of the parking spot, pointing it to the road that would take me home. There was a moment that I thought about calling Anna and seeing if I could get her to come with, to give us both a night away from the academy, but I decided against it. It was too soon. We were not there yet, and I had other plans to set in motion before we were.
One thing was definite. My relationship with both Arthur and Max was never gonna be the same. Arthur was nothing but a desperate, jealous bastard that was seeing with his cock first.
Max was a ticking time bomb and his motive; I still wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish. Maybe he was trying to bring glory back to his family’s name, but it was gonna take more than just marrying an empress to do so.
Fucking pauper. She was the catalyst to us all and hell, she was going to be the death of me before this was all over.
**
I drove home and took a shower before relaxing in my king-sized bed, alone. Normally I didn’t spend many nights alone, but ever since I had decided to get involved with my pauper, I hadn’t wanted to look at another woman.
Shit, she was so far under my skin!
Grabbing my phone, I hovered over her name, finally clicking on it.
Hey, pauper.
Those three little dots danced forever, and I had nearly given up when the text message dinged.
This has to be Royce.
Her response brought a true grin to my face. You’re damn right, it is.
What do you want, Royce? It’s late and I’m tired.
What did I want? I couldn’t tell her what I really wanted, not yet. I just—hell, I was lonely and hated to admit as much. You ready for more?
More? What else is there?
I chuckled. If she only knew what else I could give her.
That’s a loaded question, pauper.
Anna immediately sent back an eye-rolling face, bringing out another chuckle in me.
Good night, Royce.
Good night, pauper.
I put my cell phone on the table and placed my hands behind my head, looking up at my ceiling. This was about to get interesting between us and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was ready for it.
Chapter 7
Anna
A few days later, after successfully ducking all the kings and feeling as if my life was getting back to normal, I ended up seeing all the kings at different times of the day, all for good reason even if I didn’t really want to see them.
It was the end of the senior season for many of the sports, namely rowing and polo, which meant the entire academy was asked to support and cheer on their outgoing senior class.
First, the freshman class was invited to the lake to watch the last rowing event of the season, the weather starting to really turn chilly even in the sunshine. I didn’t want to go, but Johanna forced me to, stating that I needed to get out of the dorm and still live my life.
We found a seat on the grassy area surrounding the lake, watching as the rowboats lined up next to each other on the glossy surface. “I wonder why they make us come to these,” I stated dryly. “It’s not like it gets any more exciting from the first few I’ve seen.”
“Because it’s supposed to be fun,” Johanna reminded me, pointing toward the rowers. “Besides, look at all that eye candy.”
I really didn’t want to. I had enough men issues in my life than to be ogling another one.
But my traitorous eyes did so anyway, seeking out the dark head that I knew would be amongst the other rowers.
Max.
There he was, swinging his arms in wide circles to loosen up with the rest of his team. They were wearing short-sleeved shirts that molded to their chests like a second skin, showing off every ridge of their muscles.
But those shorts, oh my God, they showed off everything.
And I mean everything.
“See?” Johanna said proudly, lowering her sunglasses to get a better look. “I mean, it’s like the best.”
I couldn’t help but agree. These guys were
