I checked the time on my phone. I hoped Veronika didn’t threaten murder if I told her to reassign the client to someone else. We never canceled on clients. Ever. It was part of our promise that no challenge was too big for Elite. No promise was left unfulfilled. But I certainly had too much on my hands to deal with this.
When I looked out to the street, I saw a familiar head of red hair behind a row of parked cars.
His cheeks were flushed and he ran his hand through his hair a few times as he looked at his phone and then the buildings.
What do you want for yourself?
I knew what I wanted, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to wait. And wait for what? To graduate and have the financial security to pursue something with Alexi?
I already had one of those, and the other was within reach, so what was stopping me?
The distance that had broken the bond we’d forged as friends when we first met? Sure, I’d always thought my feelings for Alexi weren’t totally unreciprocated, but we’d been young, and I’d been about to leave for college. Alexi had still been adjusting to having two parents who loved him so much but also came with the most important titles in their country, making him an overnight literal prince.
It was a lot then.
But was it still a lot now?
I dropped a quick message to Veronika and turned my phone to silent to avoid her wrath before walking out of the coffee shop.
4
ALEXI
“Toldyou that you should have borrowed my car,” Jett sang into my headphones as I stared at my phone screen to double-check I was on the right street. Dammed American grid systems.
“I thought I’d make it. I didn’t think Professor Stanson would make me stay longer.”
“What did he want, anyway? I don’t know a single teacher who even meets the students’ eyes as they leave the classroom in case anyone has questions.”
I laughed. “That’s because apart from you, no one in your classes, including the teachers, actually wants to be there.”
“Ouch.”
“He said he hoped to include some of my drawings in his student exhibition at the end of the year.”
Jett whistled. “Aren’t those usually for seniors?”
Yes, which was why I hadn’t had the guts to cut the meeting short. Stanson didn’t know who I was. To him, I was just another student, which made this opportunity all the more significant.
“Sometimes he includes a sophomore or junior student that shows promise.”
“Congrats, boo. You totally deserve to be there. Your art is beautiful.”
My face heated with the compliment. Only my parents and close family knew how much art had changed my life. Having it recognized by a teacher who knew me as just another student gave me a strange sense of validation.
“Thanks, Jett. I’ll catch you later. Gotta find this coffee shop. What’s with the American obsession with coffee anyway?”
He laughed as I hung up the call and pocketed the headphones. Okay, so I was on the right street, now I just—“Hmph.”
I stepped back to steady myself after bumping into a wall of muscle, already preparing for the embarrassment of being so distracted I didn’t see where I was going.
“Troy.” I gasped as my face heated to the point I was sure I could fry an egg on my cheek, which wasn’t an image I wanted in my head.
“I’m so sorry. I thought you saw me after I called your name. You suddenly changed direction on me, and it was too late to stop you.”
“I…um…”Find your words, Alexi.“Nice to see you…again.”
God, his smile made my belly feel warm, like spring in Lydovia. I couldn’t even meet his gaze.
