Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
MELINDA
It felt like a dream.
I didn’t know how to explain what I was feeling.
How was he a prince?
I began to fall for a prince.
I was glad Alex left when he did because I was way too confused.
A huge part of me wanted to hide in this bubble we had, but I knew that was silly.
We had to face the outside world eventually.
Well I definitely had to, I guess. Alex could technically hide as much as he wanted.
I had to go back to work and university soon.
“Well, that was not the Halloween night I had in mind.” I turned around to see Megan walking in with a bag in her hand.
I snorted. “You’re telling me.”
Megan flopped down next to me.
I reached over, slapping her leg. “How could you not tell me?”
“Hey, I tried,” she protested. “Multiple times. You didn’t want to listen. Do you not remember that whole rant when he knocked you over?”
I rolled my eyes. “Megan, what am I going to do?”
“It’s simple, Mel. Do you like him?”
I sighed. “You know I do.”
“Well then…” Megan trails off. “You stay with him and by his side.”
“What about everything else? The paparazzi, his title, his legacy, his family. His parents are the King and Queen of the country and how am I meant to fit into that? I’m just Melinda. How am I meant to fit into that world?”
Megan headed into my bag and pulled out a bottle of cherry sours, “We are way too sober for this shit.”
I took the bottle from her and took a swig of it before handing it back to Megan.
My best friend was right on that front.
We were way too sober.
Was getting drunk the answer to all my problems? No.
Was being drunk right now a good thing? Yes.
I grabbed the bottle from her and took another swig. I loved this.
“Anyway, the other stuff is just stuff, Melinda,” Megan said. “If you like the man, then stay with him. Explore this world that he is going to open your eyes to.”
I reached for the bottle taking another swig of it. “There’s so much I don’t know.”
“Mel, nobody is expecting you to marry the man. You’re just dating,” Megan said. “He’s not proposing.”
I mean she had me there.
“Go with the flow, Mel,” she shrugged.
“I just can’t believe I didn’t fucking know,” I groaned throwing my head back. “Like how dumb am I?”
Megan stayed silent.
I reached for the bottle off her and took another swig of the drink. “Beating yourself up isn’t going to help the situation you know,” Megan said, stealing the bottle back. “You know what will help?”
“What?”
“More alcohol,” Megan said, handing the bottle back to me.
I took another swig and smiled.
She was right about that. Who was I to judge all of my life problems without a little bit of alcohol?
“The alcohol has arrived!” Alex shouted as he walked through the door. “Let’s ignore all of life’s problems and get drunk.”
Megan pulled me into a hug. “Amen!”
I laughed, reaching for the bottle and taking another drink.
The alcohol was finally beginning to hit and just like last night I wanted to make some questionable choices regarding a certain prince. A do-over so to speak. I could pretend today was Halloween.
I walked into the kitchen, grabbing some glasses. I headed back into the living room where Alex and Megan were staring each other out. I wondered if she had said something whilst I was grabbing glasses.
He poured us some vodka in a glass and handed it to me.
“Cheers,” he said, tapping the glass.
We both downed the shot before pouring some more and that’s how the next few shots went. We sat in silence, drinking away.
I thought back to all our previous conversations.
How well did I actually know him? Was he right that it was just the title he didn’t tell me about?
“Your favourite colour,” I said. “You said it was gold and began to say it matches and then you stopped. Were you going to say crown?”
Alex smiled sheepishly. “Yep.”
Megan scoffed. “Unoriginal Prince, unoriginal.”
Alex stared at her, not saying a word.
I pressed my lips into a thin line to keep myself from laughing. I didn’t want to get into whatever they were disagreeing about.
“If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” I asked curiously, taking a sip of the cherry sours and coke.
“I’d really like to travel to the Maldives. It would be like my own little island. It’s stunning. Where would you go?”
“I’d really like to go to places like Rome, Barcelona, and Greece. You know. They’re places with history, and The Lizzie McGuire Movie got to achieve those dreams.” I laughed.
“Lizzie McGuire?”
Megan gasped.
I sat up shaking my head. “Right, the streaming service that has the movie.” I reached for the remote and loaded onto the service and pressed play on the film. “This film is like a comfort film for me. Although, most of those films tend to be.”
“I think that might be my cue to leave, so you can watch the movie and chill.” Megan pulled a face. “Doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
I laughed, agreeing with her. “Thank you, Megan.”
“Welcome bestie, see you later.” She took one more shot before standing up.
“How are you getting home?”
“The Prince here got me a car to send me home,” she said.
“Text me when you’re home.”
She nodded, walking out the ranch.
I reached for the blanket covering us, “Thanks for organising her to go home.”
“Anything for you and your friends,” Alex said softly.
We held up our drinks and watched the film. Something so simple healed a little part of me that was unsure about us.
“So, when you first watched this, did you have a crush on Pablo?” Alex asked curiously.
I laughed. “That’s not his name. No actually, Gordo all the way. He was literally trying to save Lizzie’s arse. Like if that isn’t a man waiting for a girl to notice him, I don’t know what is.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t win the girl? He got a little tiny kiss at the end of the film,” Alex rolled his eyes. “So, was it worth it?”
I grinned. “Let me know after you’re finished chasing me.”
He pressed a hand onto my chin, turning me to look his way. He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me softly. He pulled away resting his forehead against mine. “Ella, you will always be worth it to me. I’d travel to the ends of the earth if it meant I could spend time with you.”
I took another sip of my drink.
I didn’t really know what to say to him. In my heart, I knew he was right about his feelings, but I didn’t know if I could deal with his world and everything else that came with him.
I reached for the bottle of vodka and took a swig. “I think it might be time for more drinking.”
Alex gently pushed me back and lifted up my top, pouring some alcohol into my belly button. He bent down, sucking it up. I giggled, squirming as he sucked. “Would you be comfortable taking the top off?”
I smiled a little and pulled my top off. “If you wanted me naked, you just had to ask.”
“Are you attached to this bra?”
“No,” I whispered.
He poured the alcohol on my chest and let it drip down. As it did, he began to lick it up again. “This is definitely my new favourite way to enjoy alcohol.”
I sat up, pushing him back and pointing at his shirt.
He didn’t have to be told twice. He took it off, throwing it onto the floor. I poured the alcohol onto his chest and watched it drip down before I started to lick him.
“Is this a case of you licking me so I’m yours?” I asked with a laugh.
“Definitely, Ella.” He laughed and stood up, reaching for the TV remote. “We’re doing karaoke. I need to know your karaoke song.”
I laughed a little. “My karaoke song?”
“Yes, Ella. Everyone has a song that they sing for karaoke, and I need to know yours.” He reached for his shirt and pulled it over my head pulling me up off the sofa. He began pressing buttons on the remote as he was searching.
I raised an eyebrow as my eyes landed on Barbie Girl. “Don’t judge.” Alex stood up and put one hundred and ten percent into his performance of the song.
I clapped as he finished.
“Woohoo!” I cheered.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said. “Karaoke song.”
I looked up at the ceiling pursing my lips together thinking, what would I say my karaoke song was. I had favourites but I wasn’t sure which one I would say would be my go to.
Alex sat back on the sofa and stared, “I’ll wait.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “What?”
“You just reminded me of secondary school when people don’t shut up, so the teacher stands there and says: ‘I’ll wait.”
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
“Ah, of course not a pretty boy like you though. I bet you went to some fancy private school where they wouldn’t say boo to a goose.” I rolled my eyes.
Alex batted his eyelashes. “You think I’m pretty?”
I ignored him and decided on I Will Survive. For the next three minutes or so, I put my all into singing the song. Terribly, might I add. By the end of it, Alex was on the floor, crying with laughter and tears streaming down his face.
“And that my friend is why I don’t do karaoke,” I told him matter of factly. I reached for the alcohol, taking another drink. I let out a yawn. “I think I need a nap.”
Alex reached over, picking me up and carrying me princess-style through the house. He entered his room laying me on the bed. He climbed in next to me covering us both with the blanket. “I wish our first sleepover happened in better circumstances,” he said, pulling me into his arms.
“Technically, our first sleepover has already happened.” I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of being in his arms. Tonight, I could forget. I found myself falling asleep easily.
“Night, Ella,” he whispered.
I felt him brush my hair away from my face, but I didn’t have the energy to move or even open my eyes. “Ella? I love you. No matter what happens, I will always protect you.”
If I had the energy, my eyes would have widened.
A moment later, I heard a soft snore, so I cracked open an eye to see Alex fast asleep. Maybe I had heard him wrong. It had to be the alcohol. I was drunk. Yep, that seemed to be a good idea. I was drunk. My ears didn’t work.
I sat up, and his arms loosened straight away. “Alex,” I said.
He let out another soft snore. Clearly the man was a sleep talker or a drunk talker. I slipped out of bed and reached for my phone on the desk, sitting down on the floor and staring at the bed.
He loved me.
I unlocked the phone and pulled Google up.
I guess it was time to see the stories about him. I knew the good and the sweet parts of him, but I wanted to know the bad.
If I was to go all in, I didn’t want to be taken by surprise with anything.
I typed in his name, pressing the search button. Almost immediately, the results appeared. My eyes widened as I saw pictures of us. I clicked on the images spread across the first four rows. There were pictures of Alex and I not just from last night, but pictures from the diner and the university.
How did I not notice any of these other ones being taken?
I smiled a little as one from Halloween caught my attention, and the pictures looked as hot as it felt when Alex pushed me against the wall and devoured me.
Would it be wrong to save them?
I shrugged.
Eh, what the hell. I was saving them. We did look cute. I went back to my search and started to read some news articles.
He had a reputation. That was for sure.
The more I scrolled, the more I realised the press loved painting him out as a bad boy. And that was what was wrong with the media. They loved to build people up just to tear them down.