Page 60 of Ruthless Prince

He smiled faintly. “I wish that weretrue.”

“What do youmean?”

“Nothing. It’s fine,” he muttered. He straightened his shoulders. “You should go and have fun with the other new members. It’s your last chance to be free and let loose like this before you turn twenty-one.”

A-ha.His strange behaviorwasrelated to my upcomingbirthday.

I grinned. “It’s not like I’m going to turn into a wrinkled old pumpkin atmidnight.”

I thought he would laugh at that, but he didn’t. “There’s your friend,” he said, glancing over my shoulder. “Go enjoy your night with her. I’ll see you soon,okay?”

He strode away, and I turned to see Simone wandering around nearby with wide eyes and parted lips. When she spotted me, she hurried over. “You made it!” she squealed. “No offense, but I thought you might choke on the gravetest.”

I gave her a wry smile. “Thanks for the vote ofconfidence.”

She playfully slapped my arm. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I just know you get freaked out really easily,” she said. “Anyway, how cool is this festival? There’s awesome stuffeverywhere!”

“I know, right? I want to check out the mazelater.”

She snickered. “Trust you to pick the most boring thing,” she said, rolling hereyes.

“Well, here’s something less boring for you.” I pointed over to the west. “Did you see the red velvet tent overthere?”

“You mean the one that sounds like abrothel?”

I giggled. “Yes. I was too scared to go in, but I’m pretty sure it’s actually some sort of sexdungeon.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. This place is wild. I checked out the hot spring to see if it was real or not, and there were two men and a woman having a threesome in it.” She leaned closer. “The woman is a friend of my mom’s, and she’smarried.”

I arched a brow. “Was her husband one of the twomen?”

“Nope. It’s not like we can tell him, though. Not unless we want to get kicked out of theOrder.”

“True.”

She twisted her lips. “I really want another one of those honey shots. Do you wantone?”

I shook my head. “I’m okay fornow.”

“All right. As soon as I find one, I’m going to check out that red tent. I’ll come and find you again in a bit,okay?”

She darted away before I couldrespond.

Some fireworks started up in the distance, near the island’s shoreline. I went and sat on a stone bench near the bonfire and watched the rainbow of sparks burst through the night sky, utterly mesmerized by thedisplay.

When the show was over, I looked around and spied a familiar face nearby.Logan.Dread gnawed at my stomach as I accidentally caught hiseye.

His stony gaze swept over me. Then he curled his lips into a sneer and lifted his drink in a mocktoast.

I usually ignored his little digs, but this time I got up and headed toward him, itching for a confrontation. I wasn’t sure if my newfound attitude was due to the alcohol I’d consumed or the simple fact that I was tired of his shit, but either way, my legs didn’t stop moving until I was standing right in front of him. “Hey, Logan,” I said, putting my hands on myhips.

Firelight danced over his face, casting shadows that made his handsome features look downright malicious as he lifted his chin to meet my gaze. “Willow,” he replied in a stifftone.

“Can wetalk?”

He stared at me with a skeptical expression. Then he gave me a curt nod and patted the seat next to him. “Fine.”

I remained on my feet. “I meant in private. Maybe we could check out themaze?”