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Could he kiss her or not?
I should let him,she thought. Make him think that he could kiss her and then turn away at the last second.
But this time, with the prince and his friends around them—-
This time, if she did it to him again, the entire school would see it.
“Fawn?” Grant swallowed.
She managed a smile. “I’ll see you whenever then.” She raised one trembling hand up, her fingers fluttering to wave goodbye at him.
And at that moment, she knew.
Grant might be the first man to make her heart beat fast—-
The first man to kiss her—-
The first man to break her heart—-
Grant was all those and more, but even so—-
No matter what happened after this, it was over.
And when Grant suddenly whitened in front of her, it seemed like he knew it, too.
“Fawn.” His voice was hoarse, but when he seemed to walk towards her, the prince stalled him, coming to stand beside Fawn.
Grant froze, and so did Fawn.
“You should go now,” the prince advised gently. “There seems to be an urgent matter with the council.” As the prince spoke, he placed his hand on the small of Fawn’s back, and she bit her lip at the way Grant jerked in reaction to the prince’s gesture.
“I’ll take care of her, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Grant’s eyes swung to her.
She swallowed. “Grant, I...” She didn’t know what to think or do, but the prince made the decision for her as his hand on her backmoved and his fingers began to gently caress her spine. With his friends forming a half circle around them, she knew that the movement of his hand was completely hidden from other people’s views, but even so—-
She could feel her cheeks heating up at the prince’s caress.
In front of her, pain flashed in Grant’s eyes.
Oh.
A moment later, Grant straightened, and it was like seeing the old Grant again, handsome and smiling. “I’ll entrust Fawn to you then.” But he didn’t look at Fawn as he spoke, and after a quick wave, he turned and walked away.
She waited for him to look back. She wondered painfully what she would do if he did.
But he didn’t.
WHEN THE PRINCE JOINEDhis friends in Derek Christopoulos’ office and they saw that he was alone, all four of them smirked.
He bristled. “What?”
The prince’s defensive tone was more than they hoped for, and their laughter rang out, causing the female employees outside the office to sigh dreamily.
Boyfriend goals,they all thought admiringly.
Squad goals,the few male employees present thought enviously.