Page 52 of Ruthless Prince
I looked over at her again. Like Willow, she was tall with dark red hair, but that was where the similarities ended. Willow was pale with a dusting of freckles over her nose, and her hair was a natural shade of auburn. The dancer was deeply tanned with obviously-dyed hair. Her face was also relatively plain despite her heavy makeup, unlike Willow with her treacherously beautifulfeatures.
I returned my gaze to Teddy. “Notreally.”
“I guess it’s just the hair,” Teddy said, sliding a twenty to the girl. She trapped it under her platform heel and bent down to grab it. “Hey, what the hell happened to you and Willow, anyway? You never actually toldme.”
I lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing totell.”
He snorted. “Bullshit. I remember you used to talk about her nonstop. Willow this, Willow that. You wereobsessed.”
“Hardly.”
“You were.” He fixed his eyes right on my face, pin-pointed pupils a testament to the drugs rushing through his system. “I remember one day Chloe told us some guy was going to ask Willow to the school dance. You wanted to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him, even though he was just some sixteen-year-old dweeb.” He chuckled. “Fuck, that washilarious.”
I grunted in response. That was a very long time ago. Things were differentthen.
“What happened after that?” Teddy tipped his head to the side, brows drawn in a curiousexpression.
“Nothing.”
He chuckled. “Wait, I remember now. That kid didn’t even ask her out in the end, did he? But then you went to the dance anyway, just to spend some time with your forbidden lover.” He blew a big fake kiss at me in a taunting gesture. “It’s like a fucking rom-com. I should go to Hollywood and pitch it to them. The Romeo and Juliet ofWashington.”
“Oh, fuck off.” I rolled my eyes, wishing he would drop the subject. Unfortunately, I knew he wouldn’t. When he was high, he tended to fixate on things. First it was Quinn Rhoades, and now it seemed to beWillow.
At least he’d cheered up, I suppose. Better than him moping around and talking about so-called assassinations all thetime.
“C’mon, I’m just messing with you,” he said, leaning back. “It’s only funny because you hate talking about it somuch.”
“Yeah, because who the hell cares about that shit? We were practically kids,” I said. “It’s not like you didn’t have any stupid infatuations when you were a teenager. Remember AlisonMartin?”
“Yup.” Teddy laughed mirthlessly. “That bitch gave mechlamydia.”
“Hey, at least you fucked her. Silver lining, Iguess.”
This time he laughed with real amusement. “Fair point.” He arched his brows and leaned forward. “You never fucked Willow, didyou?”
“Nope.”
“She rejected you,right?”
I shook my head. “No. I just wasn’t interested inher.”
“Not what I heard. Not what I’ve seen, either.” Teddy waggled his brows atme.
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talkingabout?”
“I’m talking about the way you stare at her whenever we run into her. Seriously, what’s your deal with thatgirl?”
“Nothing. She’s just someone we know. That’s all.” I had another sip of my drink and swirled it around in my mouth, wishing he would shut the fuckup.
“Yeah, right. You still want to slam her.” His lips curved into a smirk. “How cute. Logan reliving his teenage days with his little off-limitscrush.”
“Fuck off. I can’t standher.”
His grin widened. “Bullshit. I’m not blind. If she walked in here and begged you to screw her brains out, you’d ditch every one of these hotties in a heartbeat.” He motioned around us at all the dancers. “You just can’t stand that she rejected you unlike every other girl you’ve evermet.”
As he spoke, I watched the redheaded stripper out of the corner of my eye. She was dipping into a low squat to collect money from another nearby punter, but her eyes were on me. For a second, I saw a flash of Willow, like her face and wide blue eyes had replaced thedancer’s.
I blinked and it wasgone.
