Page 22 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

“Ladies.” An arm drapes over my shoulders at the same time one falls over Lily’s. A split-second later, Finn pushes his way between us with a cheeky grin. “Wren, how lovely to see your bright and cheery face this morning,” he teases.

With an unimpressed look, she lifts her hand and gives him the middle finger.

“You know, I’d take offense to that, but in Wren language, that basically means hello, sexy.” His smirk widens as Wren’s eyes narrow.

“Finn,” Lily warns, slipping out from under his arm and aiming a dirty look at him. “Don’t start with her.”

“What? I’m just teasing her. It’s our thing. Right, Wren?” he asks with a twinkle in his eyes.

Wren stares at him blankly, unamused.

Finn blows out a dramatic breath. “Fine, I’ll direct my lovely energy toward someone who can appreciate it.”

I expect him to walk off, but he turns to me and blinds me with his pearly whites.

“Maddison, so nice to see you again.”

Great, he’s learned my name.

“I think we established the first time we met that your pretty boy smile doesn’t work on me.”

“See? You think that’s an insult”—he wags his finger at me—“but all I hear is that you think I’m pretty.”

I target him with a hardy-har look, but I’ll admit, I almost laugh. He’s kind of funny, and maybe if I’d met him in middle school, I’d have tried to become friends with him. But I’m older now and know that’ll never work. Sure, I’m attending school here, but northside and southside don’t mix. We’re too different.

“Finn, what’re you doing?” a familiar voice floats from over my shoulder.

Finn twists around, and since his arm is still around my shoulders, I have to turn around with him.

Standing behind us is none other than River.

His dark gaze sweeps across me from head to toe, as if he’s checking me out. But I doubt it since he hastily narrows his eyes on his twin brother. He likely doesn’t approve of what I’m wearing.

“You’re supposed to be with your team,” he reminds Finn in a glacial tone.

Finn rolls his eyes but removes his arm from my shoulders. “Whatever.” He glances at me. “Sorry, Dad’s here to ruin our fun, but we’ll pick up on this later.” He winks at me then basically skips off through a doorway a few steps ahead of us where other people are wandering in.

River fixes his attention on me. “I see you decided to change. That’s probably a good idea.”

“And I see you decided to be the same grumpy asshole,” I quip with irritation. “It might be a good idea to change that. But what do I know? I’m just northside trash who doesn’t know how to dress.” With that, I swiftly walk toward the doorway Finn disappeared through, crossing my fingers it’s the room where orientation is happening. The moment I step foot in the room, though, I become painfully aware it isn’t.

The room consists of a long table with chairs, each occupied by a guy around my age. Standing in front of the table are three men, and I can tell right away they are coaches.

“This year will be brutal, but we’re going to state,” the tallest one is saying as he points to a digital TV in front of him.

Crap, this is a football meeting.

Back out of the room, Maddy, before anyone sees you?—

My boot squeaks against the floor, and suddenly, all eyes are on me.

“Can I help you?” the coach asks me, sounding annoyed.

Finn is sitting at the table, and a confused smile breaks across his face. Then his lips part—who knows what the guy plans to say, but thankfully, he’s interrupted.

“Sorry, Coach Prescot.” River appears beside me and snags a hold of the sleeve of my leather jacket. “She’s new here, and I’m supposed to be showing her around, but I got distracted for a second.”

“It’s okay, River,” the coach says while eyeing me over in annoyance. “Just make sure she understands this room is off-limits to everyone except for members of the football team, just like the sign outside there says.”

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