Royal just stands over us, not saying a word. I glare at him, but he has no expression whatsoever on his face, and he makes no move to leave.
“It’s okay,” Gideon says. “You don’t have to explain it. I knew it was a long shot.”
“I’m… Just not ready to date anyone yet,” I say. “Or even go to Homecoming. I’m sorry, Gideon.” I lean in and give him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he turns beet red.
“It’s okay,” he says again, edging away from the wall. “I’ll… See you Monday.”
He ducks inside, and I feel like the biggest asshole on earth.
Royal chuckles. “That was fun. Want to do it again? There’s another kid over there who was checking out your ass when you walked in.”
I sigh and turn to him. “What are you doing?”
“Mingling.”
I glare at him. “So, you’re just going to follow me around chasing off any guys who ask me out?”
“Oh, you think I’m being protective of you?” he asks, drawing back. “No, Cherry Pie. I’m protecting the poor unsuspecting freshmen mice from being eaten alive by a Darling snake.”
“He’s a sophomore, and I think you know that.”
“Sixteen,” he says, sipping his drink and looking down at me with hooded eyes. “That’s your family’s favorite age, isn’t it?”
“Guess we’re back to hating each other.”
“I never stopped hating you.”
I gaze back into his eyes, but there’s nothing there. He’s not the hollow-eyed boy who almost killed me the first time we met, but he’s completely closed off in a way I haven’t seen in a long time, since before I really knew him. It’s his cool, indifferent mask, as obscuring as the one Preston wears.
“Good,” I say lightly. “I hate you, too.”
“Why are you here?” he asks. “Baron said you were done with the football crowd.”
“You wouldn’t have come if you knew I’d be here?” I ask, feeling unaccountably hurt.
Which is stupid. Of course he didn’t want to see me.
“I do my best to avoid places where your kind are present.”
I roll my eyes and don’t bite on that one. But two can play this game. “I saw your dad tonight,” I say, giving him a little smirk.
“Yup,” he says, sounding zero percent surprised. “He never misses a game. Sacrifices every Friday night for the twins, and now every Saturday for my games. My perfect, doting dad.”
I quirk a brow. “I thought you’d be upset that we talked.”
He smirks down at me. “Why? You already know all my secrets.”
The statement hangs in the air between us. What I would have given for his secrets last year. Now I know them, and he has no reason to want to keep me away from his dad. More than that, I mean nothing to him. He doesn’t care if his dad hits on me, if I fuck his dad. After all, he’s never going to want me again. Not after he let his brothers take turns with me, and they brought a friend to join. Royal’s way too possessive to want to be with a girl who’s been with his brothers. He hated that I’d been with a couple guys before we even met.
“I didn’t tell Preston,” I say quietly.
Royal fixes those unflinching, hooded eyes on me, tipping his chin up to look down his nose at me like the superior asshole he is. “Tell him what?”
I glance around to make sure no one can overhear. “What happened to you.”
He holds my gaze a long minute, then lifts his beer to his lips and takes a sip.
“What?” I ask.