by Lara Swann
“Okay. If you’re sure.” He says, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
I nod, thinking I’m probably almost sure. “Yes, I am—”
“Unless…” He turns back to me, drawing it out, and the arrogant smile there makes me feel like there’s a trap closing around me. “You want to make a bet? For that dream trip of yours?”
I pause before I’ve even started walking away, and swallow instinctively.
“What bet?” I ask suspiciously, thinking the whole time that I shouldn’t. That I’ve said ‘no’ and I should just walk away.
“How about…if you win, you get your trip - anywhere you and your friend want to go, no expenses spared, for the whole summer. If not…I’ll still give you that trip - but only after you’ve spent a month with me and my family, as my fiancee.” He grins at me as I feel a falling sensation in my stomach. “You could say that you win either way, you know.”
Oh fuck.
No way. It’s still a stupid idea. I’ve already adamantly said ‘no’ to the losing option, so I shouldn’t risk it…I really shouldn’t…
I narrow my gaze at him.
“What are we betting on? Some stupid frat thing, like whoever can get drunk fastest?”
I’m not going to be stupid enough to fall for this. He’ll never choose something that he’d lose at.
“You pick.”
My stomach goes into free-fall. He can’t mean that. He’s basically just declared that he thinks he can beat me in anything. Which, if it weren’t for the crazy stakes, would almost be enough to challenge him on - if only for the sake of my pride.
I glance around for a moment, wanting to call his bluff, and the only thing that comes to mind is the class that just ended - what feels like a lifetime ago now.
“The paper due next week. Whoever gets the higher mark.”
It’s totally unfair - as he said, I’m top of the class. And he’s a middling student at best. It’s also on one of my favorite topics - the Renaissance - and I already have a killer idea for it.
“Done.”
I blink as he immediately stretches his hand out towards me.
That wasn’t what I meant.
I wasn’t actually agreeing. I was just suggesting something for him to reject - calling his bluff.
But as I stare at his extended palm the same way I’d look at the head of a snake, I’m not sure I can resist.
A bet I can’t lose. The trip of a lifetime.
It might be just enough to push me over the edge. To give into the absurd part of me that has started thinking maybe this isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Fuck it.
I thrust my hand forward before I can think twice, and nod grimly as I shake, even as I see his eyes blaze with triumph.
My heart thuds hard in my chest.
Fuck.
I can’t believe I just did that.
But there’s no way I can lose...right?
Chapter Two
Derek
I can’t believe she just did that.
For a good few minutes there, Hanna had actually convinced me that she wasn’t going to go for it - something that had somehow never occurred to me in the day or so I’d been working on this plan.
Sure, I’ve never really spoken to Hanna before today - but she was right, anyone else would have jumped at my offer. I wouldn’t have even had to bribe them to do it.
I mean, who wouldn’t want a free vacation to Aldora? Staying in a real-life castle, being given the full Princess treatment…and maybe a few benefits on the side that only I could offer. What more could anyone ask for?
The occasional tiresome ceremony is an easy price to pay for all that.
Or at least, it should be.
But Hanna…she’s a surprise.
In more ways than one.
My lips curve up as I stride down the hall, remembering the way she’d looked at me and her oh-so-inviting objection that she wasn’t ‘pure and innocent’. It took all of two moments to decide I wanted to find out a good deal more about that.
She’d played my game, made me laugh…and tempted me in a way I hadn’t expected to feel at all.
It was intriguing enough that by the time I realized she might not accept my offer after all…I’d started really wanting her to. Yes, I could’ve gone back to a dozen different girls if she’d turned me down. It might have made things a little more complicated, and I’m not at all convinced I’d want my parents meeting those girls, but it was a real option. Except that Hanna had started seeming fun. Far too interesting to pass up, if I could help it.
Maybe she’ll even be someone that I won’t get totally bored of being around halfway through the summer. And even better - someone who might have a chance at distracting me from the tedium and frustration that being home always brings.
I pause as the thought of going home kills the buzz that talking to Hanna and winning her agreement had given me, and run my hand through my hair in irritation.
These last two years have been the best of my life. Getting away from my demanding parents, disapproving older brother and the home where nothing I’d ever done had been good enough had finally given me the chance to embrace what I wanted for once…all while enjoying the perks of a civilized, modern country.
And if I never had to go back, I’d be happy.
But as it is, even the next couple of years of this brief foreign education is at risk now, after fighting tooth-and-nail to be here in the first place. All because of a stupid, drunk craving for pot - and a couple of bastards who took advantage of my generous nature…combined with my ignorance of American laws.
I mean, sure, if I’d thought about it I would’ve known the whole thing was a fucking bad idea and unlikely to be legal.
But, again, drunk mistake. Thinking about things after a dozen pints isn’t exactly a strength of mine.
And unfortunately, when you’re caught buying over an ounce of pot on behalf of a whole party…well, it turns out no one is interested in hearing how it just made sense to buy it all together and split it. It wasn’t dealing, it was just…convenient.
There are a lot of things that titles and royalty and status can let you get away with. I’ve done more than a few things that have gotten me a roll of the eyes, a shrug, or a “stern warning” not to do it again.
But being arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs? That’s…not quite so easy.
For something like that, the whole embassy has to get involved. That cleared it up, of course - with no record or scandal to worry about…but it left me with dealing with the furious King and Queen of Aldora. My loving Mom and Dad, who without that little incident wouldn’t have known the slightest thing about my time in America.
“Our only real presence in America, and this is how you represent us?”
“Your actions have undermined our whole country…”
“We let you go away to school and this is what you’re learning, boy?”
“I can’t believe we didn’t keep a closer eye on you from the start…”
I had to play every card I could think of to avoid being on the next flight back to Europe.
And since then, I’ve made an effort to show them that I’ve changed - that the whole incident has finally made me see all of my mistakes and failings, and I’m determined to turn it all around, etcetera, etcetera. I’ve sent regular updates with good news and a positive spin on what I’m up to out here, and I think I might be slowly easing their suspicions.
In short, I’ve been in full-on grovelling mode.
Distasteful, irritating and beneath me - but worth it if it means that after this summer, I’ll be heading right back to Boston University for another year away from their influence.
Of course, it also means that they’ll be expecting to see that change in me when I get home this summer. Real, live and in person. Which is a hell of a lot harder than it is from a few emails 4000 miles away.
I’ve been in full brooding mode in the last week to try and work out ho
w to achieve that, so when I walked past Hanna’s conversation with her friend yesterday…the beginnings of an idea appeared. A crazy idea, sure. But one that would be big enough and distracting enough that it could show my family I was trying, even if I hadn’t quite got it right yet. And with all those ceremonies to organize and my Princesca-attenciano to assess, on top of the general running of Aldora - well, I started thinking it might be enough to preoccupy them and keep any attention away from whatever slips I might make.
I didn’t think getting the girl to play along would be the hard part about it, but then nothing quite seems to be going my way at the moment.
Okay, maybe it would have gone a little better if I hadn’t acted like the whole thing was a joke - but sometimes that’s a damn sight easier than taking it seriously. And as far as I’m concerned, the whole process of royal marriage in Aldora is a joke.
But if it’ll get my parents off my back for a little longer, I’ll play along.
And fuck it, after that little exchange with Hanna…who knows, maybe I’ll even enjoy a little of it.
Not that I’d been planning on any of that sort of activity before I’d seen the way she looked at me. Not-quite-disguised interest combined with the kind of self-assurance and challenge that had my blood pumping almost immediately.
Which makes it strange that I’ve never really looked twice at her before. I mean, she’s definitely pretty enough for the attention - in a chic ‘glasses, blouses and skirts’ kind of way - but she doesn’t flaunt it like the other girls I know, and with them right in front of me…well, I’d never noticed Hanna. And since she doesn’t turn up to the kinds of parties I frequent…well, maybe I’d made some assumptions, too.
A fuck-ton of assumptions.
I grin at that. So much for choosing Hanna because it would be simpler with all of that off the table.
Simpler, but let’s be honest…a whole lot less fun.
Hell, I’d had a whole speech prepared about how I’d respect her boundaries, reassurances about how modest Aldoran culture is and how little would be expected of her. Turns out, that was all totally unnecessary.
And I’m not too sorry about it, after all.
The thought of that finally brings a smile back to my face, and I shrug off the last of my sullenness at the idea of going home. I’ve got a plan, and something to make the summer a whole lot more interesting - there’s no reason to be dwelling on going home when I’ve got the rest of the term to finish in style.
There are simply better things to focus on. And for once, that even includes writing a paper.
That turns my smile into a grin, as I think back to Hanna’s determined, disbelieving expression.
And a certain professor to see about it.
Chapter Three
Hanna
I keep my gaze locked so firmly on Professor Banks that I can’t actually see him - his animated features blurring into the background as tension thrums through my body.
I can feel Derek looking at me - I know he is. But I don’t turn around. I don’t want to meet his eyes or acknowledge what’s going on here at all.
I’m pretty sure he can tell, though. I’m flicking my pen back and forth in my fingers, fidgeting as I wait for the Professor to finally give us back our papers.
What the hell is taking so long, anyway?
If I could focus for long enough to actually listen, I guess I might know. I’ve never been this distracted in a lecture before, but fuck.
All I’ve been able to think about over the last couple of weeks is Derek’s offer. And whatever stupidity led me to accept it. Waiting for the results of this paper, and…the results of how I’d be spending my summer. I’ve tried to tell myself that either way, it’ll be an amazing trip to Europe buut…yeah. It’s been a hard sell.
“You know I’m rooting for you, babe. You got this.” Carly’s murmur comes from the desk beside me, and I flick a semi-anxious, semi-grateful smile her way.
I broke down and told her after only a few days. Her excitement - and the crazy fun planning session that quickly followed - was almost enough to make me forget what I might have agreed to. For a little while, at least.
But Prince Derek kept appearing in my mind. That cocky, suggestive look in his eyes. The outrageous promises and crazy ideas. The way he’d looked as he’d delivered them.
On one knee in front of me. Laughing and joking. That brief glimpse of something a little more serious underneath.
It was…almost fascinating.
If I let myself think like that.
And combined with the constant worry that this isn’t going to go how I think it will…I haven’t been able to think of anything else since he made that offer.
We haven’t talked since, either. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not, but I guess it makes sense. We never had a to reason to hang out before - why would we want to now?
No reason that being maybe-fake-engaged would change anything, huh?
Not that we will be. I put everything into that paper. There’s no way I haven’t beaten him at this.
It’s just…he was so damn confident. Bastard.
I glance over at Carly, nerves seizing me yet again. “What if—”
Professor Banks comes to the end of whatever he was saying and clears his throat at the front of the room, and Carly’s nudge cuts me off.
Oh god.
“And I know you’ve all been waiting to get your last papers of the semester back—” There are a series of mixed responses to that, and I wish they’d all just shut up so we can get this over with. “—but I don’t want you walking out as soon as I hand these out this time. We still have another thirty minutes of material to get through - and it might be on your exams.”
Louder complaints, this time. For once, I kinda agree with them, as I wonder how Derek and I are going to wait until after to compare scores. C’mon, c’mon.
He picks up the papers, looks around at the class and gives us a small smile.
“You can relax, though - I was very impressed with the essays I received this time. And it looks like we even have a new rising star.” My stomach drops as his gaze fixes on Derek. “Congratulations, Mr. Salducco, you got the top mark of the class.”
I hear Carly splutter beside me, and then I don’t hear anything else at all beyond the strange buzzing in my ears.
When the Professor gets around to hand me my paper, he must see my disbelief because he gives a little sympathetic-apologetic shrug.
“Don’t worry too much about it, Hanna - your paper was excellent, as usual, and who knows…maybe you can use the competition to inspire you further.”
I’m barely listening, but I try to nod and smile as if this is no big deal. It would be ridiculous - not to mention embarrassing - if he thought it was. I’ve dropped from the top mark plenty of times, over plenty of classes. I don’t care that much. Or I wouldn’t, about any other paper. But this one…
“Oh my god…” Carly hisses from beside me. “I have no fucking clue - I read your paper…his must’ve been a work of art or something…fuck.”
I take a deep breath, even as she scoots closer to me, looking down at my mark.
I haven’t even done that yet. I was gone the moment Professor Banks announced Derek’s placement out to the whole class. Prompted by Carly’s interest, I look myself.
88%.
Perfectly respectable. About what I usually get. Sure, I thought this paper might be one of my best, but still…
That meant Derek did really fucking well.
Like, better than he’s ever done before.
How the hell did that happen?
I resist the urge to look over at him - even though I know he’s staring straight at me, waiting for me to do just that. I can feel his hot gaze on the back of my neck, and it’s sending weird, conflicting sensations through me.
I glance over at Carly again, who’s wearing the same confused-uncertain look that’s probably on my own expression, and try to breathe e
venly. I have no idea what the hell happened, but the knot in the center of my stomach is reminding me of exactly what it means.
“What—” She starts, only for Professor Banks to take up position at the front of the class again and start calling for attention.
I’m not sure whether I’m grateful for the reprieve or not.
Then I remember that he intends to lecture for another thirty minutes - that I have to deal with this for another thirty minutes - and I’m decidedly not. Instead, I stare balefully towards the front of the class and try to remember why he’s my favorite Professor.
After he settles into his rhythm, though, Carly starts up again.
“What are you going to do?”
I have no idea.
I pick up the pencil again, and nibble at the end of it - a bad habit from high school that I still haven’t managed to shake.
I think about everything this could mean. A month with Derek. A month of trying to fit myself into the totally unsuitable role of Princess. A month of lying to everyone about everything.
And then my trip of a lifetime.
My chance to find myself and figure out what I really want to do after college.
Cliche, I know, but beyond an unusual passion for all things European History…nothing else has stuck. And what to do with that interest, I really don’t know.
As Carly has pointed out more than once, though - how could I know, without even visiting the continent? I was grateful the moment she said it, too, since it made me feel like less of a failure for not having more direction.
And it also made my next goal absolutely clear: take that trip.
We’ve been saving and planning together for a while now, and I’ve only been getting more excited about it as more and more of what we want to do becomes clear - the things we study and read about that go on the list of ‘yes, I’ll go there too’.
It’s the sort of thing that my parents have never done and probably couldn’t even imagine when they were my age, but they’ve heard enough about it from me that they’re rooting for it too, now - and sneaking me the odd bit of cash every now and then to add to my growing funds.
