White Girl Problems (21 page)

A woman with dark hair, pale skin, and the reddest lips ever approached us from the top of the stairs. She smiled, but I could see her scrutinizing me. She looked like Snow White, but in dress pants and a beautiful sweater. She was dressing down for us probably. She had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I could tell she was in her forties or fifties, but not from her skin. She looked thirty-five at the most, but her eyes were wise and cold.

Everything about her was cold. She scared the shit out of me the moment her frozen stare landed on me. “You must be her.”

I shuddered. “I am. It is wonderful to meet you. Thank you for inviting us to your home. It’s beautiful.”

She paused, smiling, but only with her lips. The rest of her was evil. “You are welcome. I have long awaited the moment we would meet, having heard so many things about you.”

I smiled, swallowing bile and trying not to shake. Aiden wrapped his arm around me. “This is my Finley. Finley, this is my mother, Queen Estelle Dumont Windsor Rey.”

I curtseyed, just as Mary had taught me.

The queen smiled wide and her eyes lifted. “You are not what I expected.”

“Thank you.” I took it as a compliment. She offered Linna something resembling a smile. “You must be the friend.”

Linna nodded, “I am. I’m Linna Barlow.”

The queen gave her a subtle nod just as a man with dark hair and a dark beard came bounding down the stairs. He came right to us, too close for my comfort. Aiden smiled at him. “Father, I would like for you to meet Finley Roze.”

The man gave me the exact charming smile that all his children had. “It is so lovely to finally meet you.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it. I didn’t even know what to do. He was hot in that ‘old guy with a beard’ way. I would have swooned had he not been the father of the guy I was madly in love with. “Finely, this is my father, King Andreu Abello Agramunt Sorenson Rey. The ruler of Andorra.”

My cheeks were flushed as I did the perfect curtsey bow.

His dark eyes narrowed. “You do that flawlessly.” His gaze darted to Mary. “Shopping in New York?”

She blushed. “It’s quite close to Washington.”

Their father nodded, clearly not sure of where it was I came from. He smiled at Linna. “And you must be the friend.”

“Linna Barlow, pleased to meet you.” She botched a bow.

The king laughed. “Welcome to our home. If you should need anything, please, the staff is here for that. I am certain Aiden and Mary can also assist you in anything you should require.” He kissed my hand a second time. “It was lovely to meet you, but I am needed in the city. I shall dine with you all tomorrow, once the girls are more rested. I am sure you are exhausted from your travels.” He nodded at his wife and turned and left through the front doors. Men followed him constantly. That had to get aggravating.

The queen gave Aiden a look. “Show them to their rooms.” Her eyes landed on me again. “It was lovely to meet you.”

“Thank you.”

She turned and left. Linna sighed. “Oh my God. Dude, your parents are intense.”

Mary folded her arms. She looked worried but tried to smile it away. “They have their moments.”

Aiden took my hand in his. “I think it went well.” He pulled me to the stairs and to the right. There were several hallways once we got up there. I would get lost at least once, for sure. Linna stood staring into the room when Mary opened her door. “This is your room.”

Linna gave me a look. “This is totes cray.”

Mary scowled. “Is the room not to your liking?”

I laughed. “You know, like Fifty Shades of Cray? Or cray-cray?”

Mary looked at Aiden, who was shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

Linna rolled her eyes. “It’s crazy good. Okay, I’m gonna peace out and see y’all in the morning. I need some beauty sleep. I’m scared of what’s under my erase paste.” She closed the door.

Mary looked at me. “It’s like a whole other dialect.”

“Yeah, pretty much. It means she’s super tired and sleepy. She knows she probably has bags under her makeup.”

Mary gave Aiden a look. “I will leave you to the next room. I’ll tell mother you’re hiking if she asks.” She winked and walked away. She did it so it looked like she floated. I had noticed their mother walked that way as well. It wasn’t sexy; it was feminine and dainty.

Aiden kissed my hand and pulled me down the wide hallway to a door at the end. He opened it and I felt like Linna had when she saw her room. It was a fantasy room. White furniture, canopy over the four-post bed, fancy fireplace, a view of the lake from the massive windows, and beautiful linens.

It was too much. I walked in and he closed the door behind us. The bathroom was off to the side. It had a huge soaker tub beneath a window, also overlooking the lake, and a walk-in shower that was so large there was no door, just a tiled wall to walk past. There was a toilet and a bidet and double marble sinks.

“Wow.”

He smiled from the doorway where he was leaning and watching me. “It is the best guest room.”

I nodded. “It is the best. I have never seen a room this nice.”

He pulled me to him, sweeping me into his arms. “I am ecstatic you are here. I keep wanting to pinch you to see if you’re real.” He lifted me off the ground, carrying me to the bed. He laid me down and walked to the curtains, drawing them, making the room dark. He walked to the door and clicked the lock. My stomach tingled. I crawled up the bed and laid my head on the pillow. It hit then. The exhaustion and release of stress and nerves all hit at once. I yawned as he climbed onto the bed and wrapped himself around me. “I love you, Fin.”

I smiled and nodded.

“You’re sleepy, aren’t you?” He nibbled at my ear. I shook my head, but my eyes wouldn’t open and my head wouldn’t turn. I was passing out mid-thought. “Then sleep and I will stay and hold you.”

I relaxed into the bed as I felt a blanket pull over me.

Do you ever just want to shout out to the entire hallway, “It’s a high school, not a petting zoo?”

Chapter Sixteen

I will Never be Royyyyyallll…

I woke to daylight. It wasn’t intense, but it was filtering through the gap in the curtains. I was alone in the bed and stripped to my underwear and tee shirt. I remembered nothing but coming into the room. I didn’t even know how I had gotten in bed. It came back slowly. Aiden had carried me. Where was he?

I stretched and smiled. I was in Andorra, a real country where the guy I was dating was a real prince. It was real. I lifted a hand, dragging it to my arm, and pinched, just in case.

The pain of the pinch made me smile more.

How had I gotten so lucky? Was it luck? After meeting his mom, I was slightly less scared of her. She was intense, but I was sure I had made her at least stop hating me. The door opened. I smiled, expecting Aiden, but a girl came in. She might have been my age or a little older. She was beautiful the way the queen was. She smiled when she saw me though. It was a genuine smile, unlike the queen. “You must be Finely.” She had tanned skin and dark hair and eyes.

I sat up. “Hi.”

She beamed and motioned for the people behind her to bring in a tray of food and start opening curtains. The girl sat on my bed. “I’m Alexandria. I’m married to their eldest brother, Geoffrey. How are you?”

I rubbed my eyes and stifled a yawn. “I’m good, thank you. How are you?”

She clapped her thin hands. “Excited. I can’t believe you’re finally here. It took forever for you to arrive. Mary is wonderful, but she is so young and naive. I’m excited to have a girl closer in age to me.”

I didn’t know what the deal was. Mary was only a year younger than me. Didn’t she have friends in the city? “Thanks, me too. You must have loads of friends here though.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m from England. I don’t know anyone here and we don’t really leave the manor that often. The king does business in town, but the queen stays here most of the time. Leaving requires an entire troop of guards. It’s almost not worth it.”

I scowled. “You stay with her?”

She swallowed hard. “It’s a different life, Finley. Hence the reason I am over the moon you are here to divert my attentions. It can get a bit tedious. Now I understand why royal females always do so many charities and things. You go from being a normal girl to being a kept woman.” She placed a hand on the covers where my leg was. “I am not trying to scare you. Sorry. I just miss having my friends, you know?”

I shook my head. “No. I brought mine. Trust me, if you want a diversion and some entertainment, she is three doors down on the right and completely crazy.”

She laughed. “Oh, I do hope she gets on with my friends who are arriving tomorrow. I feel like they’re ladies in waiting together.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “Is it really that intense here?”

She sighed. “They’re such a new monarchy that they’re trying to ensure certain customs aren’t lost. It is very formal, similar to our cousins in England.”

I winced. “You’re related to the Windsor family as well?”

She laughed. “Of course. I am related to the queen. We are very removed, obviously. But all royal couples share some blood. Even the peasants. You know William and Kate are related to me, both of them. They are twelfth cousins once removed from one another. I am an eighth cousin once removed from Geoffrey.”

I didn’t know what that meant so I nodded. “Weird. So how did you and Geoffrey meet?”

She laughed. “On a yacht after we’d been told we were to marry. It was in Marseille.”

“What’s he like?”

Her dark eyes sparkled. “The opposite of Aiden.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “He is about doing his duty.”

“You must be too though, huh?”

She laughed. “I am about as interested in the monarchy as I hear you are.” She flashed me a smile. “Aiden and I went to school together. We are old friends. When he told me about you, I had to laugh. Of course he would find a girl who was as far removed from this life as she could be. I like that you will never be what they want you to be.” She winked. “Makes me look better.” She snuck a grape from my tray and stood up. “I will leave you to get dressed, but hurry. We must have tea and gossip and make a battle plan.” She got up and left the room with a slight wave.

I didn’t know if I should hate her, like her, or love her. She was clearly normal and being forced to fit in. At least she wasn’t so different from me. But she seemed to have it down pat. She came in, she smiled and waved, made it seem like she was awesome, but really left me nothing I could use against her. She was a master. I needed to follow in her footsteps if I was going to make it through Christmas alive.

Linna came in, dressed like she was going out for the night. I sighed. “You can’t wear that. His whole family will be in sweaters and pants. Mini skirts and cleavage are not on the menu.”

She looked down. “I look sexy. I wanna dry hump Johan anyway. This is my dry hump skirt.”

I laughed. “Did you meet Alexandria?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Fake ass ho, if you ask me. She is trouble with a capital T and she likes Aiden. Kept asking me weird shit.”

That hadn’t been my impression at all. I opened my mouth and closed it. Linna was the bitch whisperer. She always found out the girl who was meaner than her, even the ones who were really good at being friends. She always managed to avoid them, all but Sheila. She never saw that one coming. But beyond that, she had the nose for smelling a scamming ho.

She pointed a finger at me. “TRUST me. That one is out for your man and to make sure you are ruined. That’s a fo sho ho!”

I laughed at her name for scammy ho’s. The last fo sho ho Linna had called out told everyone the video of her going down on a guy in the senior class last year had been me. I wasn’t even at the party. Luckily, my alibi had been solid: alcohol poisoning. We had the same hair, and from a distance, it could have been me, but the time stamp on the video ruined it and she got her ass kicked by the guy’s girlfriend.

“You better avoid her. I got the nose for this. Remember when you were all friends with Becca Johnson and she tried to tell everyone it was you having a meet and greet with Mark’s johnson at that party? Scammy ho.” She sat on the bed and stole my yogurt. “Your breakfast is better than mine. Can I have this?” She took my Danish.

I nodded and contemplated it all. “She did seem smooth. You know what smooth talkers are like.”

Linna raised her eyebrows. “Dude, I’m a smooth talker. You don’t have to tell me. I know.”

“That sucks. She seemed kinda awesome.”

“Oh, she is for sure awesome. She’s just also pissed you got the good brother.”

“Yeah, it did seem like that was the point she was making. Booooo. I hate it when I end up rope-a-doped by some chick.”

Linna took a bite of the Danish. “‘Kay, I’m gonna go change into my casual clothes. You need to look hot but like you aren’t trying too hard.”

“You mean don’t wear club clothes like you?”

She flipped me the middle finger. “I am going to dry hump him at some point this week.”

I grimaced. “He’s like sixteen.”

She held a hand under her chin. “You see the care on my face?”

“Dirty bitch!”

She bowed. “At your service, milady. Now hurry up and take a shower.”

I laughed and got up. I grabbed my shower bag and brought it in, but the shower was filled with yummy hair products from Oscar Blandi. I couldn’t believe they had his stuff in Andorra.

I grabbed my razor and soap and left my bag of stuff on the counter. The showerheads looked like screens in the roof or fans. But when you turned them on, the water dumped out like you were in a downpour. There were no steam jets, but the tiles heated when I turned on the light switch and it got steamy on its own.

I tilted my head back, letting the water beat down on me. I wished it could wash away my troubles.

I heard a noise and opened my eyes to see Aiden smiling down on me, completely naked. I jumped back. “What are you doing?”

He laughed. “I thought I would surprise you.”

I shoved him a bit. “You should have made a noise.”

“I did.”