Page 138 of My Dark Prince
Translation: I hope you mind with every fiber of my body.
“I can see that. Hi, I’m Ollie.” I offered my hand to her nearest friend. “Nice to meet you.”
“Hazel.” She twirled a thick curl around her finger, fighting what had to be disdain. “I was Briar’s roommate in college, so I know all about you. No need to spend any effort winning me over. You won’t succeed.”
“Fair enough.”
Briar scanned me up and down, her expression clouding over. “Did you just go hunting?”
“Pigeons,” I confirmed. “Claypigeons. Speaking of hunting, where do you think the burgers and hot dogs you’ve been grilling came from?”
“Oh, I know this one.” She snapped her fingers, pretending to think. “The storks, right? Or was it the babies?”
“You’re a vegetarian,” I reminded her. “You don’t eat meat.”
“My friends do. Live and let live. Ever heard of this expression?”
“Yes.” I pinned her with a glare. “Didn’t realize you live by it, Miss No-Private-Airplane-For-You.”
“Clearly, I do.” She handed Hazel plates, ladling truffle fries into the empty space. “I’m feeding my friends slaughtered animal corpses.”
“Hmm. Appetizing. Thanks so much.” Hazel took a bite, side-eyeing Briar. “I’m going to deliver this other plate to Katie and leave you two to try to off one another.”
We were now alone.
A buzz of excitement zipped through me.
I was a big fan of being alone with this woman.
“Oh, by the way. They’re going to stay the entire weekend.” Briar pasted on a sweet smile. “That’s cool, right?”
No. Not at all. Our other roommate – the one you do not know exists – will literally string me up from the balcony and livestream it the second he finds out.
“Cool?” I gave her my best outraged face. “That’sfantastic. Half-naked women in my realm are nothing new. Feels like a homecooked meal.”
I sent her a playful wink and strolled over to the industrial fridge, fishing out a veggie patty. A few times a year, I made them from scratch in bulk and vacuumed seal them before storing them in the deep freezer.
Every now and then, my cousin Flynn came into town to ask about Seb’s whereabouts, bumming a meal off me before fucking off into the sunset. He was a vegetarian on the grounds of pissing me off and complaining that I never prepared for his visits.
Now I made it a point to be prepared.
“Sit down.” I tore open the individual pack and threw it on the grill. “I’m going to make you the best veggie burger of your fucking life.”
Briar didn’t budge. “No, thank you.”
“Your mouth will have an orgasm. It’ll be good preparation for the rest of you when we finally consummate our engagement.”
“Not gonna happen, but okay.” She crossed her arms, eyes glued to me, nonetheless.
“The secret is in the spices.” I slid open a drawer, plucking them out by the bottle. Cumin. Chili. Paprika. Thyme. Roasted garlic. Lemon pepper. Celery salt. “They take it from nothing burger to everything burger. You’ll see.”
She finally claimed the seat nearest to me, nursing her pink cocktail. “I emptied your drink stash, by the way.”
She was desperate to make me mad.
It was so adorable.
“Good.” I grabbed the tongs and snapped them in the air. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
