Page 7 of My Dark Prince
“Are you even listening?” Ollie kicked Seb with the tip of his pointed shoe.
The latter responded with a loud, audible snore that confirmed he’d fallen asleep. Oliver sniffed, unfurling Seb’s fingers from the wine bottle.
He turned to me with a shrug. “Shall we?”
Chapter Three
Oliver
One makeshift bed and one idiotic brother later, I slipped into the stall Briar Rose occupied. Sometime in our two minutes apart, she’d slumped against the wooden wall, a hand flung over the crate of books Seb had stolen on a whim.
Something about her belonged in a fairytale – the early chapters, where life hits the princess like a pile of bricks and she’s on the precipice of discovering what a bad ass she is.
Briar Rose had gotten real pretty in the last couple years. Impossible not to stare at, though I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly made her so different than the rest. Sure, she had a pert nose, and delicate brows, and heart-shaped lips, and eyelashes longer than a Dostoevsky novel. But I knew lots of beautiful girls, and none of them made my knees weak and my neck hot.
Like right now.
I unfastened a couple buttons on my dress shirt, pretending to listen to her read from one of Seb’s commandeered books. But really, all I could focus on were her lips. Specifically, how her lower one was so much plumper than the upper one, begging to be scooped into my mouth and sucked clean.
Cuddlebug crossed her legs, one foot dangling her slipper in the air. “Earth to Ollie. Are you even listening?” She slapped the yellow pages of the hardcover. A cloud of dust plumed from them. “You’re missing out on all the wild portions of the book.”
“Shit. I might’ve zoned out for a sec.” I blinked. Cleared my throat. “What are we reading again?”
“Sleeping Beauty and her Children.” She tapped the book with her finger and grabbed the half-empty wine bottle from the crate, stealing a small sip. “It’s a variation ofThe Sleeping Beauty, I guess. But I don’t like it.”
“Why not?” I rubbed the back of my sweaty neck. “I love it.”
I mean, she’d read it to me while I stared at her hopelessly, so I guess I liked it.
She narrowed her violet eyes. “You like it?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “What’s not to like?”
“Maybe that the princerapesthe princess while she’s asleep and impregnates her.”
“Oh.”
“Then, the King’s mom tries to kill the children and feed them to the King.”
Yikes.
I stole the bottle, forming words around its mouth. “I’m a sucker for complex families?”
“Sleeping Beauty literally gives birth while still in a coma.” Briar Rose’s mouth went slack. “This is not a fairytale. It’s Satan’s tale.”
I took a pull of the wine, setting it between us in the crate, tucked between the books. “I must’ve dosed off during that part.”
“I mean, holy hell, the lengths people went to back then for entertainment …” She shook her head.
“Remember … they didn’t have Netflix and pickleball.”
Briar Rose closed the hardcover and lowered it back inside the box, taking an extra moment to brush its spine one last time despite loathing its contents. Of all her quirks, I found this one the cutest. Ever since I started gifting her roses, she consumed any fairytale she could get her hands on. It occurred to me that she often hung onto my words and actions like they hid the secrets of the universe. As a kid, her attention made me feel ten feet tall. Nowadays, it stirred something confusing – even dizzying – inside me.
“Did you get my package last month? I almost gave up a limb for that copy ofMarvelous Tales. Each time the auctioneerraised the bid, I imagined Dad beating me over the head with his wallet.”
Whenever I traveled, I always made sure to pick up a souvenir for her and ship it to whatever country her dad had hauled her off to at the time. Lately, I found myself sending over local versions ofSleeping Beauty. Other than their shared names, Briar Rose’s gentleness reminded me of the princess. Something about her dream-stricken eyes and soft-spoken words made me want to snuggle into her like a cozy blanket.
“I loved it.” She closed the box, biting her lower lip. “You got it when you went to Xi’an with Zach, right?”
