Chapter 34
34
T he first night of the retreat, Royce complained so much about the floor—it was hardwood rather than carpet—that I let him share the bed with me. Then he instantly made me regret it by joking around that I needed to keep my hands to myself and building a pillow wall between us.
At the time—in the dead of the night—I had been less than impressed with his teasing and kicked all the pillows off the bed. In the morning, when I woke up to find myself snuggled up against him and my leg literally draped over his body, I had to admit maybe the pillow wall wasn’t a bad idea.
By some small miracle, though, I managed to extract myself from what was a very compromising position—that Royce would honestly never let me forget— without waking him. Which really was a stroke of luck because he usually woke up way earlier than me.
I tiptoed out of the room to shower and dress, and came back to find him scrolling his phone in bed like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Good morning, Squirrel,” he greeted me with a lopsided smile. “How’d you sleep? I didn’t take up too much space, now did I?”
I rolled my eyes, mainly to avoid meeting his gaze and blushing. “Um, nope, totally fine. Barely even knew you were there.” Liar . “So what are we doing today?”
“I was just checking the schedule,” he replied, patting the bed for me to join him. “Looks like breakfast and brunch runs through until eleven, then it’s Jurassic Croquet on the south lawn.”
I perched on the mattress, peering at the event schedule on his phone without sitting too close. “What the fuck is Jurassic Croquet?”
Royce put his phone down and grinned up at me from the pillow. “You’ll see. Are you sure you don’t want to sleep in a little longer? We could cuddle.”
I stiffened, then second-guessed myself. He wasn’t referring to how I’d slept…I didn’t think. He was literally just making a suggestion, and not a serious one at that.
“Tempting offer,” I replied sarcastically despite the truth to my statement, “but I already texted Carly to meet for breakfast. You can sleep, though. I’m sure no one will try kidnapping me again here with all these people around.”
He scoffed, climbing out of the big bed. “Yeah right. Have you forgotten Carter’s little stunt last night? All he did was prove how easy it would be to snatch you away.” He tugged his T-shirt over his head, revealing his washboard abs and that deep V line above his boxers as he hunted through his bag for a clean shirt.
“Why are you so dedicated to protecting me, Royce?” I asked with genuine curiosity. “Just a few weeks ago, I was little more than gum on your shoe.”
He shrugged, pulling on a new T-shirt. What a shame. “It’s not all about you , my dear. Someone tried to frame Nate for kidnapping and attempted murder. I intend to see that doesn’t happen again, while he investigates who might have really done it.”
I nodded slowly. “I see. So…it’s not about my safety at all. It’s about saving Nate’s reputation?”
Royce grinned. “Exactly. But if it makes you feel better, I think you’re pretty hot and I like hanging out with you.” He winked, then pulled on his jeans. “Come on, let’s go find Carly then.”
I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, so I said nothing and followed him down the grand staircase in search of the dining room. There were a lot less people floating around, which wasn’t a huge shock considering how hard some people partied the night before.
Within the dining room, a huge buffet was laid out like they were catering a royal feast. Every single possible breakfast food had been provided, and then some. Royce chatted casually with some guy he introduced as Chad while filling his plate, but I didn’t pay attention. I was all tangled up in my head about Royce’s motivation for becoming my full-time shadow.
Was I an idiot for thinking he cared about me ?
Yes. Probably. That seemed to be the running theme with these guys.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” Carly greeted me with a side hug. “How are you this beautiful morning? How did you two sleep?”
Royce shot her a suspicious look over his shoulder. “You seem…cheery. Did you get laid last night, Carly Briggs?”
Her smug smile said it all. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell, Roycey.”
He snickered. “Good thing you’re not a lady then, huh? So who was he?”
“None of your business,” she replied, zipping her invisible lips shut.
Royce took that as his invitation to start guessing every single person Carly had interacted with before we’d gone to bed, and I carried my plate over to one of the vacant tables to eat.
A waitress came by to take coffee orders, and conversation shifted to the Jurassic Croquet.
Heath joined our table when I was almost finished eating and greeted me with a borderline inappropriate for public kind of kiss. It was easy to lose myself in his kisses…even if things hadn’t progressed any further. Yet.
“So…are you guys dating now?” Carly asked across the table when Heath pulled me into his lap. I liked it there, he held me so tight and warm.
Royce scoffed. “Surely not. Otherwise Carter wouldn’t be dragging Squirrel into dark closets during parties. That’d be asking for trouble.”
Heath stiffened with tension. “Carter did what?”
“Royce,” I snapped, “You are such a shit stirrer.”
“Okay, um, so are you playing croquet today, Heath?” Carly asked quickly, making a weak attempt at changing the subject. “I heard Jenkins vomited so hard he had to go to the hospital last night, so Nevaeh will be down a team member.”
Heath shook his head, adjusting his hold on my waist so his thumb stroked my hip. “No, not this time. Nate will be, though.”
“Ugh. Hate him, but love that for our team. We should make sure we get good seats, Ash.” Carly stuffed the last of her breakfast pastry in her mouth and washed it down with coffee. Apparently she meant right now.
Heath and Royce accompanied us as Carly looped her arm through mine and led the way outside to the South Lawn where the croquet game would take place. It was cold outside, though, and thanks to my new permanent state of frozen I found my teeth chattering in no time.
“Give me your room key?” Heath asked Royce. “I’ll grab Ashley a coat.”
Royce handed it over without complaint, then nodded approvingly as his friend disappeared back inside. “Points to Heathcliff. But points will be deducted if he returns without a hoodie for me too.”
“Over here!” Carly called out, waving us across to some grandstands set up beside the lawn. I wanted to comment that this seemed odd for croquet but then again, I’d never been to a croquet game so what did I have to compare against?
Heath returned with my coat—and nothing for Royce—and the seats around us steadily filled up with more spectators until the game was officially announced. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the formalities and over-the-top dramatics, but the moment the game itself started…I was confused.
“What are they…those aren’t standard croquet hammers are they?” Because although I’d never physically attended a game, I was fairly sure the stick was meant to be a uniform shape. These were not.
“Mallet,” Heath corrected. “And no, that’s why it’s called Jurassic Croquet. To play, you need to provide your own Jurassic period mallet.”
That really didn’t clear things up at all, until someone knocked their ball through a hoop close to us, and I got a better look. Then gasped.
“No. You’re kidding, right? They’re not seriously using?—”
“Dinosaur bones?” Carter finished my sentence, sliding into the gap between Carly and I…leaving me sandwiched between him and Heath. Not the worst place to be, had Carter not shown his true colors after Paris. “They are, actually. It’s an old DB tradition, so much so that legacy families have taken to collecting bones simply so their children can play this game.”
My jaw dropped. “But why? That’s so…excessive.”
Carter shrugged, slouching back in his seat and propping his elbows on the tier behind. “That’s kind of the DB’s whole premise. Bored rich kids doing obscenely excessive things simply because they can.”
Heath scoffed a bitter sound. “Don’t act like you’re above it all, Bass. I seem to remember a certain society fete where you?—”
“Ancient history, Heathcliff,” Carter snapped, cutting off whatever his friend was about to say.
I folded my arms, sitting rigidly between the two of them. Suddenly the croquet match was way less enjoyable. The fact that I didn’t understand the rules, half the players seemed drunk from the night before, and the uncomfortable knowledge that they were potentially damaging and destroying actual dinosaur bones definitely didn’t help matters.
Nevaeh’s team won, apparently, and the guys climbed over the grandstand seats to congratulate Nate with hearty slaps on the back and whoops of excitement. Carly just gave me a knowing look and shook her head.
“You get used to it,” she offered weakly, and I wrinkled my nose.
“I’d rather not, to be honest. What’s next?”
Unsurprisingly the rest of the day consisted of much of the same. Typical rich people sports, with an over-the-top excessive twist to them. Polo? Not on horses, don’t be ridiculous. No, the players for that burst out of the stables riding emus.
Target shooting involved destroying what were probably once priceless paintings, and of all things a gladiator race with miniature ponies and the competitors all dressed up like insane Romans.
That night, I built the pillow wall without explanation, but somehow when I woke the next morning I was back in Royce’s arms once more. Thankfully, like the day before, he was still asleep and I could extract myself and rebuild the wall before he noticed.
I justified it to myself by deciding I must have been cold and sought out his warmth while I slept.
The morning followed a similar pattern of stupidly expensive, wasteful amusements, then the afternoon and evening was meant to be a casino party. Carly had helped me choose a black dress from my less than inspiring closet before we came away, but I stuck out like a sore thumb dressed in the finest Tarjay had to offer amongst a sea of couture.
“You look beautiful, Squirrel,” Royce murmured in my ear as I fidgeted and tried to ignore the stares of other women. “They’re just jealous because clearly you didn’t need a Portia Levigne dress to snag a date with a fucking catch like me.”
I laughed, despite my nerves. “You’re so full of yourself,” I muttered. “No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend.”
He just shot me one of those arrogant smiles. “Nah, it’s because I’m just waiting for you to admit you’re falling in love and drop Heathcliff like a sack of bricks.”
“Uh-huh, because you’d never seduce a girl with a boyfriend. Oh. Wait.” I snapped my fingers, smirking, and his eyes narrowed.
“Low blow. Foul on the play. Rude. What are you drinking?” He guided me over to the bar with a hand on the small of my back, and I asked the bartender for a glass of champagne. I didn’t really intend to drink much, but it was nice to have in my hand for something to do.
We spotted Carly at the poker tables and made our way over, watching her clean up with another heavy pouch full of diamonds before she called it quits.
“I need to pee,” she announced, taking a quick sip from my glass before lowering her voice. “And dispose of the extra cards.”
I chuckled, somewhat impressed that she was such a cheat. “I’ll come too.”
Royce started to follow, but Carly poked him in the chest. “We don’t need you shadowing that hard, friend. Chill a minute.”
“I can’t let Ashley out?—”
“I know, I know,” Carly snapped. “We are literally going to pee, though, and nothing has happened all weekend, right?”
Royce ran a hand through his hair, torn with indecision. “Carly…”
“Roycey…” she replied, mimicking his tone. “This isn’t up to you.”
She had a good point. “I’ll be right back,” I assured Royce. “Go blow Carly’s hard-earned gemstones on roulette.” Before he could argue, I tugged on my friend’s hand, and we hurried out of the room in search of a bathroom.
“Sorry if I was being pushy,” she said once we were out of the noise. “I just got the feeling you needed five minutes without Royce breathing down your neck. But also I wanted to ask what is going on with Carter ?”
I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Your guess is as good as mine. Oh, in here.” I indicated a bathroom that I’d found earlier in the day, not far off the main atrium. It was just a single cubicle, more of a powder room, so I let Carly go first and thought nothing of it.
Like she’d said, nothing bad had happened all weekend. For that matter, nothing bad had really happened since my kidnapping nearly three weeks earlier. So in fairness, my guard was down.
That was probably why I didn’t see the sharply-dressed sleazebag with floppy yellow-blond hair sidling up to me until he quite literally grabbed my ass in both hands. And squeezed.