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What the hell was going on? He was like something straight out of a sex dream—tall, broad, gorgeous smile…and I was about to get my hands all over him. I needed to get my shit under control, or this would get me fired.
“Ashley, this is Royce D’Arenberg and Heathcliff Briggs—oh, wait, you already met Heath, didn’t you? Intimately.”
“I wish I could say it was lovely to meet you all, but frankly I’ve had more pleasant experiences stepping in dog shit.”
“I’m irritated, Jade, that’s how I am. Get the fuck out of here and stop picking fights with my little Spark.”
“Callum Buckingham the Fourth thinks I have a bad attitude? Whatever will I do? Gosh, this will make me lose sleep, for sure.”
“I wouldn’t make it quiet or easy.” Heath chuckled, a delicious sound that I really wanted to hate. “I’d expect nothing less. You look like you’d be a screamer.”
“I’m so flattered, Royce, but I’d rather jump into a pond of starving piranhas while wearing a suit entirely made of bananas. Oh look, there’s my friend.”
“Are we inducting Ashley?” Carter asked and I needed to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping. “She’s an Essex now, after all, and legacy dictates—” “She is not an Essex,” Nate spat with palpable venom. “Neither is Carina, no matter what the marriage certificate says. She doesn’t get a free pass into the DBs just because my dad is cuntstruck.”
“I’m not leaving you out in these woods alone, lost, and inebriated, Ashley. Think what you want of my friends, but I’m not an asshole.”
“I’d rather lobotomize myself.
What’s wrong with these guys? They all have erectile dysfunction that they’re too embarrassed to seek help for so instead just make shit up?”
“That one was for free, brother, since you could never afford me. Now get the fuck out of my room and don’t come back again.”
“Yeah well, can you really blame me?” Royce blew out a long breath. “Fuck.” “Language,” Mom scolded, and Royce shot her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Carina. I meant fork.”
“Hey roomie!” He grinned his shithead grin and grabbed me in a hug. “This will be fun. How do you feel about bunk beds?”
“Well, well, well,” Royce crooned, leaning against the bookshelves beside our table. “I am shocked at you, Ashley Layne. This is a library. A place of learning and here you are—” “Fuck off, Royce,”
I spluttered while he grinned and smacked him with the back of my hand. “I do not want to fuck you. And no one is challenging anyone to a duel in my name, you fucking dork.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Did you know that a dork is actually a whale’s penis? So I think that’s a compliment. Thanks, Squirrel, I do have an above-average dick but I’m a little uncomfortable to hear you’ve been looking. Creep.”
“So you were a fucking prick to me because your mommy said she doesn’t like my pedigree?”
“Please,” he whispered in that sexy, husky voice of his. “Give me something to cling to as I suffer in silence while you fall in love with Heath.”
I found Royce standing there. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. The smell of whiskey on his rumpled shirt was intense, but I didn’t hesitate when he stepped forward and grabbed me in a hug so tight it nearly cracked my ribs. “Can I sleep with you tonight, roomie?” he mumbled into my hair, lifting me off the ground with the intensity of his hug. “I don’t like being alone.” My heart cracked right the fuck open. “I don’t like being alone, either.”
