Page 481 of Bad Prince
“Stella.”
The way he says my name quiets everything in me.
“I took my girl to a dance,” he says simply. “You were home before practice. Neither of us missed anything. We got our workdone.” His thumb strokes once against my knee beneath the table. “I’m not apologizing for doing one thing right.”
That hits me so hard I have to look away for a second.
Jade makes a very small satisfied noise into her coffee.
Leo smirks.
“Yeah, okay. That was solid.”
I swallow and try for lightness because otherwise I’m going to do something embarrassing like cry into a pastry basket.
“Your confidence is upsetting.”
Tristan smiles without looking away from me.
“It seems to be working.”
Jade glances between us and then, because she has the instincts of a very elegant shark, stands.
“Come with me,” she says to me.
I blink.
“Where?”
“To the terrace. I need five minutes of girl talk before the men ruin brunch with sports metaphors.”
Leo lifts a hand in protest.
“I have never?—”
She doesn’t even look at him.
“Sit down.”
He sits.
I bite back a laugh and let Jade tow me through the open glass doors onto the terrace, where the wind is colder and the sea louder and the privacy only partial in that expensive Newport way where everyone politely pretends not to eavesdrop.
She turns to face me and folds her arms.
“Well?”
I laugh softly.
“Well what?”
She gives me a look.
“Do you love him?”
The question lands clean.
No warning.
