Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
“Seems like she has a pretty firm one,” Hannah murmurs lightly as she peruses the menu.
I shoot her a look. “Hilarious.”
She shrugs. “I’m just saying.”
“She’s sending him Spotify links to songs,” Arden says, not bothering to hide his amusement.
“Taylor Swift. My fucking favorite,” Landon says dryly.
I bite back a wave of utterly inappropriate amusement. “Are you serious?”
“Which song?” Hannah asks.
“I don’t fucking know. I didn’t listen to it. Some month… April, August…”
“Gotta be August.” Hannah sighs, shaking her head. “Poor girl.”
“Poor lunatic. She needs a fucking restraining order,” Landon mutters.
“Just block her,” Malek says, rolling his eyes. “This is not as hard as you’re making it.”
“I should have just ignored her out of existence like I originally intended, but no. Parker had to be nice.”
“I’m so sorry for not being a heartless asshole,” I say dryly.
“You guys had better be careful at school,” Arden advises, eyebrows rising. “In all seriousness, if she realizes you two are hooking up, she might get the bright idea to rat you out so you have to break up and Landon will be available again.”
“I hope she’s not that fucking stupid,” Landon says, looking at his menu.
Malek says, “Pretty sure she is.”
“If she does, we can sic Anae on her,” Arden says, amused. “She’s pretty good at revenge.”
Hannah shifts uncomfortably and focuses harder on her menu, but I can tell by her face she’s feeling stressed.
I feel awkward asking with all the guys here, so I take my phone out of my purse and shoot her a quick text.
“You okay?”
Her phone lights up. She grabs it, reading the message, then typing back. “Yeah. I just don’t like hanging out with these guys.”
Hannah has always been sensitive to the energy of people around her. I think it’s one of the reasons getting sucked into Aubrey’s bullshit with Dare last year was so tough on her. I never met him in person, but I saw how taxed Hannah was dealing with him, and that tells me all I really need to know about his energy.
I suppose Arden echoing the same sentiment when it seems like Dare is actively in the process of trying to sic Anae on her for revenge… doesn’t make her eager to sit next to him.
I should have probably sat there and insulated her a little better. This is a table for six, so the seat between me and Landon is empty. I could have put her there and sat next to Arden myself, but I didn’t think about it when we sat down.
“You want to switch seats?” I ask her via text. “We could go to the bathroom and when you come back, just sit in the one on my other side.”
“No, it’s ok. He’ll know I’m moving because of him, and I’d rather not deal with his smugness.”
Interrupting, Arden asks, “Are you ladies having a nice conversation? Want to loop the rest of us in?”
I look up. “Sure. I was just telling Hannah how funny I think it is that big, bad Arden Prince needs Anae Richards to do his dirty work for him,” I say, smiling sweetly.
Arden’s jaw locks, and his already glacial blue eyes cool. An answering shiver shoots down my spine.
It’s pure physical instinct, though.
I’m not afraid of him.
Most people are because he has far too much money and painfully few morals. As a spoiled rich boy who has always had access to everything he could ever want, he’s also prone to boredom and given to wrathful swipes at anyone he considers an enemy. The drama spices things up for at least a little while.
But he also has a very simple weakness: his beautiful face. Truly, annoyingly gorgeous, as if sculpted by the universe’s finest sculptors. He’s done a little modeling just for fun, and women fall at his feet everywhere he goes. While he doesn’t have to hang his hat on his good looks given his family’s money and consequent power, he’s vain, and very much enjoys knowing he’s the most handsome man in any room he steps into.
And, friends or not, Landon would not hesitate to wreck that pretty face if he turned his wrath on me. He’s lost friends for me before and didn’t bat an eye over it. Arden would be no different.
Arden also isn’t an idiot, so he knows that.
Sure, legally, he knows Landon’s not allowed to hit him, but he also knows Landon does whatever the fuck he wants. And his father is Hayden Atwater, so he always finds a way out of the trouble he finds his way into.
Most importantly, Landon just doesn’t care about the consequences, so it would be unreasonable to expect restraint from him.
I can see how annoyed Arden is to have to exercise restraint when he’d like to verbally eviscerate me, but he doesn’t run as hot as Landon. He runs much colder.