Dirty Prince
Page 1
DIRTY PRINCE
V. Darling
Copyright © 2020 V. Darling
All rights reserved.
vdarlingauthor.com
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Cover design by Tall Story
Editing by Creating Ink
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
WANT THE TEA ON THE SCARSDALE ROYALS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE?
ABOUT AUTHOR V. DARLING
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
Lev
Eight years old
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” I shout at Scout, who sits on the stairs outside her house with her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
She raises her head and sneers at me, her lip curling away from her teeth like she’s an angry Chihuahua. Girls are scary. And Scout Taylor is by far the scariest girl I’ve ever met, even though she’s a whole year younger than me.
“Go away, Lev.”
I kick rocks at her. Or ... I wish I could kick rocks at her. Mostly, I just stare at my feet a lot to avoid her angry eyes glaring back at me. “No.”
The word comes out like a whisper. Shit. I gotta remember to sound more like a man—at least, that’s what dad says. Toughen up. Don’t cry. Be a real man. Dad didn’t cry when Mom left with his best friend. Nav and I hate her now, but sometimes I wish she was still here. Sometimes I wish she hadn’t left us here with him.
I swallow hard and stare above her head, at her ponytail, so I won’t have to look in her eyes. I don’t feel like a man, especially not when I talk to Scout. I feel like a leech she’s found inside her shoe. Something sticky and gross to be sneered at and squished beneath her tiny sparkly sneakers.
Shit. She’s still staring at me like she wants to kick me in the balls.
“No,” I say again. “I’m not going away until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“God. You’re so annoying.” She stands and a crumpled piece of paper falls from her lap to the ground. She glares at it, and then at me. I know if she gets her hands on it, I’ll probably never know what the heck she’s crying about, and I need to know. Because I plan to knee whoever made her cry in the balls.
She bends, but I’m quicker. Boys are always quicker because we play football. I snatch it up and dart away when she lunges at me. “Give it back, Lev!”
She jumps for it, but she’s so small, she could never reach me. I’m taller than everyone in our class—except for my twin brother, Navrin. Scout screams and kicks at my shins, but I’m tough. I stand strong, even though it hurts like hell.
“God. I hate you! I hate both of you Fox boys.” She turns and storms up the stairs and I stare at the page. It’s a letter. A letter in Scout’s neat handwriting. Girls are always neater than boys. I think it’s because their fingers are so small. And pretty. Scout’s kind of irritating, but everything about her is really pretty. Especially her hair. She looks like an angry fairy princess.
I glance at the letter again and frown as I read the words.
Dear Nav,
Will you be my first kiss?
Tick the yes or no box.
P.s. I really hope you tick the yes box.
Forever yours,
Scout.
My hands are shaking so hard, I rip the paper in half. Scout turns at her front door and glares at me. I glare back, and then I rip it again and again, making confetti out of the note.
She stomps toward me and shoves my chest. “That wasn’t yours to rip up.”
“I don’t care.”
“God, I hate you so much.”
“I hate you too. You’re annoying, and your hair smells dumb.”
“My hair does not smell dumb. It smells like strawberries.”
“Yeah, exactly. Girly and dumb.”
“Well, at least I’m not dumb, not like you.” Scout twirls the end of her ponytail around her fingers, her eyes turn squinty, and her face is mad. Like, madder than I’ve ever seen. “I’m surprised you could even read that note.”
“Why are you sending my brother notes asking him to kiss you?”
“Why do you care? He ticked no anyway.”
“Probably because your shampoo’s so dumb. But why do you want to kiss him for?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“So are y—”
I grab her and pull her to me. Slamming my lips down on hers, I move my head side to side, the way they do in the movies.
I don’t know why I’m doing this. Maybe because she looked so sad that Nav wouldn’t kiss her, or maybe I just wanted to taste the cherry Chapstick she’s always applying to her lips. Lips I’m kissing. Oh shit. I’m kissing Scout Taylor. Why am I kissing Scout Taylor? Why am I kissing a girl at all?
I yank back, my hands still on her shoulders, a stunned look on her face as she blinks up at me.
Her lips twitch. It’s kind of red where I pressed my mouth against hers. I take a step back, and she shoves me with all her strength. I fall on the driveway, my butt stinging.
“I hate you, Lev Fox!”
I screw up my face and give her the same sneer she’s giving me. “I hate you too.”
“Good.”
“Fine,” I shout back, pushing to my feet. Scout turns on her heels and runs for the Taylors’ front door. I watch her the whole way. Does she know her ponytail bounces every time she walks? Is her hair as soft as it looks? I lick my lips and grin as I taste cherry Chapstick. Scout turns and glares, her scowl deepening as she pushes inside.
I hate her, but I’m still going to make her my girl. Maybe not now, but in the future when I’m grown. When I’m a man—big and strong, and tough like my dad. I’m going to make Scout Taylor mine, and she’ll wonder why she ever asked my stupid brother to kiss her.
Her kisses belong to me.
All of her kisses.
Forever.
Scout Taylor is mine.
CHAPTER ONE
Scout
I enter the halls of Scarsdale High, my small hand tucked neatly inside the paw of the Scarsdale Bears’ QB1, Navrin Fox. My friends, Nova Reed, Blythe Lauder, and Violet Rothchild flank my left side, while Nav’s teammates, Kingston Martell, and River Astor flank his. Behind us are Lev and my brother Saint. Heads snap in our direction. Every pair of eyes in this school are glued to us, even those of the faculty, and with good reason.
Sure, some of our parents attended it before us, and I’d bet they too believed they were God’s gift, but we actually are.
People scurry out of our way. The sharp slam of lockers precedes us as students throw their own bodies against the metal, attempting to give us more room, trying to make themselves smaller, to take up less space.
Don’t worry. We didn’t see you there anyway.
We walk the halls as if we own the place, because we do. Our parents’ money paid for this school. Scarsdale belongs to the Taylors, the Foxs, the Reeds, Lauders, Rothchilds, and Astors, and it always will.
We stop at my locker and I grab the books I’ll need for first period. Nav wraps his arms around me from behind and bows his head to kiss my neck. I turn in his arms and offer my lips instead.
“Jesus, get a room,” Lev says, and I pull away from Navrin to glare at his twin.
“Jealous?”
“Oh, completely,” he answers snidely. “Let’s not forget I had your first kiss ... among other things.”
Nav’s eyes narrow into slits as he turns to face his brother. “Shut up, fuckface.”
“How could I forget that?” I say. “I had to bathe in bleach for a week afterward.”
“Lev’s not the only one complaining here, just so you know,” Saint says.
I roll my eyes. “As if it’s any worse than having to witness the parties you fuckboys host in the Fox pool house.”
Justin Hearst approaches us with several footballers in tow. Like the rest of us, he comes from money, old money. His parents may even be worth more than mine, but Justin behaves like a heavy-browed, thick-necked Neanderthal most of the time. He’s downright puke-worthy when it comes to vocalizing his conquests, and several junior girls left Scarsdale last year after being dumb enough to hook up with him.
Besides, you are who you hang with, and Justin’s choice of friends immediately negates him from holding a position with us Royals. He’s every bit the creeper his pasty freckled skin and orange hair pegs him as. I mean, would it kill him to visit a tanning bed?
“Hey Nav, Lev, King, Saint.” Justin stands behind the boys. No one turns to greet him. “Ladies.” He waggles his brows at Nova, Blythe, Violet, and me like a pathetic sleazeball.
I glare at him over Nav’s shoulder. “What do you want, Justin?”
Lev fake coughs. “A dick.”
“Funny, Fox.”
Saint stifles a laugh by coughing into his closed fist, and Lev shrugs. “Just doing my part for humanity.”
“Oh, yeah? Little late for that, isn’t it? Maybe a voluntary abortion would have done the world more good than anything you could conjure being alive.”
“Is there a reason your mouth is still moving, Ed Sheeran?” Lev’s eyes are cold and deadly as he leans against the locker beside mine.
“I’m sure he has a point,” Nav says, lifting his head from the crook of my neck to turn and glare at Justin and his loser friends.
“I do. I ... I ... just came to invite you to a party at my house next weekend after the game. No parents, plenty of booze, and more ass than you can shake your pin dicks at.”
“We’re done here.” Nav reaches out and slams my locker. The loud, metallic rapport rings in my ears. He kisses my hand, and takes my textbooks from me as we walk toward class.
“So you’ll come?” Justin calls after us.
“Maybe,” Nav answers without a backward glance.
“Can you spell desperation?” I murmur. The rest of The Royals chuckle as more students scamper out of our way.
Ruling Scarsdale High is a hard job, but someone has to do it.
CHAPTER TWO
Lev
I don’t bother knocking as I enter the Taylors’ mansion. I should head straight for the stairs, but Scout is singing in the kitchen so, like a fucking creeper, I stalk silently forward for a closer look.
She’s bent over the island as she flips through a magazine, her glossy dark-chocolate hair braided over her shoulder, and her earbuds in. Her ass is covered in a pair of sleep shorts that are practically indecent with the PINK logo slapped across her pert little cheeks.
She sings along to a Billie Eilish song. She’s a fucking terrible singer, but I’d be lying if I said seeing her bent over that counter wasn’t forcing all the blood to drain to my dick.
I lean against the opposite wall and watch her as she sips her coffee and takes several bites out of her bagel—probably gluten-free because Scout Taylor would never eat carbs. As if she can sense me, she turns and scowls, ripping the earbuds from her ears. “Jesus, Lev. I knew you were pathetic, but I never took you for a stalker.”
I give her a jaded smile and slowly, indolently, roll my gaze up her tanned legs. “I’d rather slit my goddamn throat than have to watch you all day.”
“Knives are in the top drawer; knock yourself out.” She picks up her plate and tosses the rest of her bagel in the trash. “Just don’t spill your blood or entrails on the rug. You know how Ebba gets about stubborn stains.”
“Oh, Cub. I always knew you were sociopath.”
“Takes one to know one,” she chirps in that saccharine-sweet voice.
If only every cell in her tight little body wasn’t dripping with venom.
I grab her coffee cup and gulp down the remainder of the hot liquid.
Scout wrinkles her nose. “Eww. Excuse you.”
I smirk. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“What is it you want, Lev? Other than to ruin a perfectly good day.”
I wish I could say I have a reason for visiting Saint this early, but I don’t. Well, not one beyond wanting to catch his sister in her skimpy little pajamas. “Saint in?”
“He’s in the Temple of Doom with all his reptiles. Say, why don’t you go in there and get cozy with a few of the more poisonous species?”
“Why taunt the snakes when you’re all the venom I need, Cub?”
Her eyes narrow, and I have no doubt she’s planning homicide right now. I should probably leave before she gets friendly with a set of steak knives.
“Do us all a favor and drop dead, Lev.”
“I’ll get right on that, but while we’re on the subject of things we really want, you should just stop pretending now that you hate me and admit you’re dying for me to fuck your brains out.”
“Hmm, tempting ... but I prefer not to contract genital warts from my sexual partners. I hear Charleigh Waters’ vagina is finally healing again.”
I chuckle. “Oh, Cub, your desperation really isn’t cute.”
Her lips twist into a sneer. “Fuck you.”
I grin and back away toward the stairs. “Only in your dreams, sweetheart.”
And more often in mine.
CHAPTER THREE
Scout
Sixteen years old
The trouble with boys is that they love to exclude girls, unless of course it comes to having sex. At least that’s the case with Nav, King, River, and Saint. Lev is the only one who doesn’t seem to mind when I hang around but Nav doesn’t even know I exist.
I glance around the Foxs’ pool. It’s packed with bodies. Teens sip beer from Solo cups, seniors make out in the hot tub, and there’s not a parent in sight. It’s totally unfair that the twins are rich, good-looking, and this popular. Even as freshmen, the Fox brothers could have any girl—or guy—they wanted. Then again, they look like the kind of models you see on Instagram. All dark hair, sculpted cheekbones, brooding eyes, and bodies you just want to lick.
“Fun party.” Nova sips beer from her cup and wrinkles her nose before setting it down on the ground beside her lounger.
“The best,” Violet says, nodding along to “I Like It” by Cardi B.
“It’s okay, I guess.” I shrug, my gaze darts to the closed door of the pool house.
Hello? Who throws a party and completely disappears?
“Did you see Nav earlier tonight?” Nova leans across my lounger�
�probably because the music is so loud.
“Oh my God, he looks so good in swim shorts.” Blythe’s eyes roll back in her head.
I scowl and toss my empty cup behind me onto the perfectly manicured lawn. “Yeah, I noticed.”
“Scout, you have to make a move,” Nova says. “Before someone else does.”
“He doesn’t know I exist.”
Violet chokes on her beer. “Are you crazy? Everyone knows you. Behind Charleigh Waters, you’re the most popular junior in our school.”
“Maybe, but Nav still sees me as a little kid.” I sigh and lean back in my lounger as I watch the debauchery in the hot tub. My skin gets all prickly and hot when I think about kissing Navrin Fox like that. “They all do.”
“Then go find him and show him you’re not.” Violet sits up and grabs my wrist, clearly unaware of her own strength.
“Um, easy for you to say,” I complain. “River’s only been begging for it since you were twelve.”
“Firstly, that is so not true.” Violet rolls her eyes. “We were together for like a million years before he finally popped my cherry. Secondly, I bet if you asked Nav to do yours, he’d be all over you like a rash.”
Nova nods enthusiastically. “Yes. You should really go find him and give him your virginity as a birthday gift.”
“It’s absolutely time. I’m willing to bet you’re the only hymenally challenged sixteen-year-old on the planet,” Blythe says, smiling at a senior who eyes her as he walks past. Thanks to her caramel skin, pale blue eyes, and insane curls, it’s hard not to stare at how gorgeous she is.
Bitch.
“Um ... hello?” Nova waves her hand. “Not all of us are total sluts.”
“Oh, sweetie, we all know you’re saving yourself for Saint.” She pats Nova’s hand and smiles conspiratorially. “Why don’t you give him an early birthday present too?”
“Oh, ew!” I protest, screwing up my nose at the mention of my brother having sex.
“His birthday is not until January,” Nova says matter-of-factly, and then she bites her bottom lip and smiles sheepishly.
“Whatever,” Violet says. “The point is, it’s time for Scout to show Navrin Fox that she’s ripe for the taking.”