I liked that.
“Yep, I ran into him on the soccer field—or more like his ball almost ran into my face—and we got to chatting. He seems nice.”
Her lips twitched. “For a prince, he’s okay.”
I choked on air, spluttering as I stared at her. “Prince?”
Fuck.Seriously. Fuck off with that.
Mattie shook her head, sitting a little straighter, elegantly crossing her long legs. “Yeah, Prince Alex of the Australasias.”
Great, not only was he a prince, he was from one of the four superpower monarchies. “What’s his game?” I asked with a sigh, dropping down next to her. I decided I might as well be as honest as she was, and while I had no fear of a physical attack from Alex—he was nothing I couldn’t handle—there was a lot of other shit he could drop on me. I wanted to be prepared. “I mean, the charity-case scholarship winner is not really going to be on a prince’s radar, right?”
Princess Ballot.Fucker was living up to its name.
Mattie cleared her throat. “Crown prince at that.”
Great. Even better.
She hurried on. “Don’t stress on it. We’re royals, but that doesn’t automatically make us horrible people. I might be a princess of some small obscure nation, but thankfully my twin is the crown prince, and that means I’m at Arbon to have some fun.” Her lips quirked up. “For some reason, new girl, you look like my type of fun.”
Her eyes caressed me in a not totally platonic stare.
“I’m straight,” I said, not at all offended, shooting her back the same half smile.
Mattie threw her head back and laughed. “I’m not totally straight and neither is my brother, but that’s not the sort of fun I’m talking about. I meant that you’re real. And after everything that happened last year, I’m all about real these days.”
I personally had no idea what had happened last year but sensed that I should wait for her to tell me that story, so for now I just accepted that this might be that friend I was looking for. A princess and everything. She would have all the deets.
“Rafe?” I asked, needing to know. “What’s up with Alex and him?”
Mattie’s smile fell, and she shook her head. “I’d advise you not to get between those two. Their rivalry has been strong since last year—personal shit you don’t even want to know about between them. They’re in their fourth and final years now, and I swear their aim is for one of them to end up dead before this year is out.”
I swallowed hard. That didn’t sound good. “Is Rafe … a prince?”
Mattie shot me a sympathetic look. “You should have stayed off his radar.”
“Rafe’s?” I squeaked. “I didn’t do anything except catch the damn ball.”
She shook her head. “No … you should have stayed off Alex’s radar. Rafe is out to destroy him and he won’t let anything stand in his way. Rafe is dangerous, and for more than just the fact that he’s the leading center forward for the best college soccer team in the entire world and would go professional if he wasn’t a crown prince.” My eyes grew very wide. Crown prince. Fuck fuck fuck. “He’s dangerous in many ways,” Mattie continued, “and since I’m more than a little sure we’re going to be great friends, I’ll make sure you avoid them as much as possible.”
I wanted to know more than anything what made Rafe extra dangerous. I thought about begging her to tell me more tonight, but again I held back.
I needed Mattie a hell of a lot more than she needed me. All in good time.
“So, what country is Rafe the prince of…”
I trailed off, and in my head I was begging her to say Burma or something in the lower end of the power scale.
I should have known better. The pieces were clicking together in my head, and I was already cursing my own stupidity.
“The Switzerlands,” she said softly. “Prince Rafael is the most powerful heir in the world.”
Well, fuck.
Chapter 5
Mattie fixed my makeup—she was about the most expert person I’d ever seen with this stuff, knowing what all the random bits and pieces were and exactly how to apply them. She put Meredith to shame, and I wished my friend could be here to learn with me. Though maybe she was safer back home.
