“I’ll reach out. You can tell Charlie and Kris that their son will survive the big, bad American college experience.”
“Thank you, Troy. How’s school?”
“Keeping me busy.”
“Okay. We’ll talk soon. And call Mom. She keeps complaining you never call her.”
I laughed. “I called her last week.”
“I’m paraphrasing by saying you’re her baby, and she worries you’re not eating properly while you’re at college and when is your master’s degree over anyway so you can come home.”
“Wren…”
“Don’t shoot the messenger.”
“Fine. I’ll call her tonight.”
I put my phone away, feeling all kinds of guilty for the secrets I was keeping from my family. Sometimes, I felt like I was two different people living two different lives, constantly swerving, praying they didn’t collide.
There was nerdy Troy, who lived with his nose in front of a computer screen. The Troy who loved going home to Chester Falls and just hanging out with the family. And the Troy whose quasi-best friend was a prince a few levels down on the succession line for the throne of a European country.
That Troy didn’t leave his best friend to fend for himself. Or stayed away.
The problem was that Troy was in direct conflict with the Troy who had started a billion-dollar secret company with his college roommate.
I glanced out the window only to see the very person I’d been avoiding.
My hands went straight for the pin on my jacket. I removed it and put it in my pocket just as Alexi walked into the coffee shop.
He looked around and was startled when he saw me. I smiled and waved. There was no way I could meet the client now.
I dropped Veronika a short message to cancel the appointment with the client. Thank fuck they weren’t on time, or that collision I was working so hard to avoid would have happened.
While Alexi got his drink, I allowed myself a good look at him. He was so far from the boy I’d met years ago. He’d grown almost as tall as me and had filled out in all the right places.
His cheeks had the same pretty blush. He had the same green eyes and cute freckles over his nose.
When he looked again in my direction, I had to remind myself he was off-limits. We were from different worlds. He was royalty, and I was just Troy—Elite or no Elite.
2
ALEXI
“Those pinssure seem to be popular,” the barista said over the steam coming out of the machine as she prepared my tea.
“What?”
She pointed at my jacket. “They’re really pretty.”
“Oh right, thanks.” I hurried to remove the pin and stuffed it in my pocket. If the Elite person turned up now, I couldn’t meet them. Not with Troy right there. After all, he was the reason I was meeting someone I didn’t know in a part of the city I’d never been to, as far away from campus as possible.
I paid for my drink and walked toward Troy. He kept glancing out the window as if waiting for a date or something. The thought made my stomach sour.
“Hey,” Troy said, pointing at the chair opposite where he sat. “Want to join me?”
“I don’t want to get in your way if you’re meeting someone already.”
“Fishing for information?” He winked and gave me his smile that always made me weak in the knees. “I’m not meeting anyone. Are you?”
