Page 90 of Bitter Prince

Phoenix tugged on the blanket and pulled it off me.

“You can’t sleep in today.”

“Shouldn’t a girl be able to sleep in on her birthday?” I grumbled, curling into a ball and putting a pillow over the top of my head to muffle their obnoxious giggling.

“It’s not your birthday yet,” Athena snickered. “Today, we prepare you for adulthood.”

“Go the fuck away,” I groaned. “All of you. Shoo.”

“Have you used the condoms I gave you yet?” Raven demanded. God help me. It was way too early for this conversation. So instead of answering, I just shot out my hand and gave her a thumbs-up. No sense telling them that Amon was adamant about waiting until I turned eighteen.

“Phoenix said she’s cringing knowing about your sex life,” Isla interpreted, since my head was still buried under the pillow.

“Well, I want to know,” Raven announced. “Every. Single. Detail. Did he go down on you? Did you blow him? Tell me you didn’t give him your ass.”

Trouble apparently started with a capital R. We’d been thick as thieves the moment we met, all five of us, but God was Raven cheeky. It must be the trait she inherited from her father who we knew nothing about. In fact, that was one thing we all had in common. Absent fathers.

Initially, I thought Phoenix and Athena would say Raven was too much, but to Isla’s and my surprise, we all clicked. Phoenix claimed Raven balanced our group out. Whatever the fuck that meant.

But I knew she had a penchant for mischief. At Athena’s birthday last year, Raven brought home brownies and had us all tripping on mushrooms. I woke up in the bathtub, naked and with blue hair. Not blonde—no. Blue. Fucking. Hair.

For Phoenix’s last birthday, we got stranded on the side of a road in the fucking Black Forest mountain region of Germany. How we got there, I had no idea. But there we were because Raven had the brilliant idea to follow some hotties we’d met at a bar. To this day, I couldn’t comprehend why she didn’t just turn around when she realized they were taking us beyond Paris’s city limits. Anyhow, long story short, her car broke down. We had no cash on us and fought fatigue as we hitchhiked like goddamned backpackers, minus the backpacks.

Luckily, we got back home in one piece.

So yeah, thank you, but no, thank you. I didn’t need trouble today or tomorrow. I was ready to get laid, be fucked senseless, made love to, whatever other phrase might exist for this.

“Come on, we have a long ride ahead of us,” Athena said, her tone taking on a secretive edge.

I was on alert immediately as goosebumps broke over my skin. I threw my pillow down, letting it land at the foot of the bed. I pulled my knees to my chest, taking in my sister and friends. All four of them wore summer dresses, and by the looks of it, bathing suits underneath them.

“Where are we driving to?” I questioned suspiciously.

Athena chuckled. “We’re not driving. We’re riding.”

“What?”

“A dick?” Raven snickered, driving a round of chuckles.

“My sister won’t be riding a dick today,” Phoenix scolded. “I’m going to pretend she doesn’t ride one at all, and that she’s still my innocent baby sister.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d yet to ride a dick, much to my dismay. I got close last night though. I sighed dreamily while a throbbing ache pulsed between my thighs. Everything with Amon felt so good. His words. His touch. His affection.

Maybe he was right. There was no need to rush it.

I slid out of bed, and for the next five minutes, the girls ran around my room, making it look like a tornado swept through while they searched for something for me to wear. It started with a long beach dress and ended with a short pink one and a white bikini with pink polka dots.

“Do I need a change of clothes?” I asked them all, my eyes roaming the mess in my room with exasperation. I hated a mess and I could feel anxiety boiling inside me at seeing it in such disarray. Damn them. They were lucky I loved them, or I’d seriously consider murder.

“Nah, we’re just staying for the day,” Athena answered. “Slip on a pair of flip-flops and let’s go.”

“Sunscreen,” I reminded them all as I rearranged my closet and tried to fold the clothes they messed up. “Otherwise, Isla will look like a tomato by the end of the day.”

“You’re going to be a good mom one day,” Phoenix teased. “But not anytime soon.”

“Not with the condoms I supplied her with,” Raven croaked. “Or the birth control that she’s taking.”

I winced, but luckily my back was turned to all of them. I forgot to pick up my prescription and therefore hadn’t started the pill.