Page 24 of Tall, Royal Hater
I pulled a sheepish grimace. “Because, uh…I helped Pierre steal Esmeralda away.”
I swore his head nearly screwed straight off with how quickly he turned to find them.
And damn, quiet and awkward, where?
TRG was a jealous, fire-breathing dragon.
Chapter 7
Mariyah
The next morning, with much groaning and regret, I forced myself out of bed at seven a.m. and washed my groggy face in the ensuite of the guest bedroom I was occupying for the duration of our vacation.
It was decorated in gold, red, and cream with dark wood furniture like the rest of the palace, the doors of my bathroom and walk-in wardrobe opposite the bed. My suitcases were still lying by the velvet chaise before the wooden bedframe, but I’d taken my coats and shoes and toiletries out last night and placed them around. I’d just been too tired to unpack all my clothes.
After some digging in my suitcase, I was fully dressed in a hoodie, gym leggings, and white trainers. Then I picked out a hairband from one of my clear makeup bags on the vanity and tied my hair in a low ponytail, the wolf-cut bangs I’d recently got done sliding free against my temples. Once I grabbed my phone and headphones, I made my way out of the bedroom…
Only to have the displeasure of finding Shehryar standing in front of me across the corridor as he closed his bedroom door.
Because there were eight hundred plus rooms in Chaukham Palace, and for some fucking reason, he had been given the room right opposite me to stay in.
Worse yet, one up-and-down glance of his hanging black T-shirt, matching workout shorts, white tennis trainers, and an empty protein shaker in his hand told me he was going to the same place as I was.
Goodbye to any possibility of an enjoyable workout.
My tiredness from earlier bowed under the weight of annoyance as he turned to face me, running a hand through his soft brown locks. The weight sank low all the way to my belly.
He was already ridiculously tall and wide as it was, but his stupid need to wear oversized T-shirts made him look like a fucking brute ogre. If only his face looked like it belonged to one too. I couldn’t even be grossed out by the fact he was the kind of gym freak who didn’t wear proper socks, or any for that matter, because I could see his socks clearly above his trainers.
His eyes narrowed, and an irritated crease formed between his brows. I responded by curling my upper lip before rolling my eyes as I angled to close my bedroom door. When I rotated around, he was already several ogre-sized steps down the corridor and I had no choice but to head in the same direction, though I kept a minimum three-step distance.
It was only two corridors down, when my annoyance settled, that I realised I didn’t actually know where the palace gym was,and I needed to head to the kitchen first for water and something to eat.
If the world had been coming to an end and Shehryar Dickhead Timur was the only person who knew where the safe room was that would have guaranteed my survival, I would rather have died than have asked him for its location. The same applied to the palace kitchen. I didn’t trust that he would have sent me in the right direction if I’d asked anyway. Neither did I want to give him any sort of opportunity to have one up on me and piss me off even more.
So, I followed him silently down to the ground floor until a member of palace staff passed by us.
“Good morning, Tris,” I heard Shehryar say as he walked past her.
I just about stopped the scrunch that wanted to take over my face as she replied brightly.
He knows her name? Why does he know her name?
And why the fuck is this Tris girl blushing?
Said girl, Tris, smiled at me when she reached me, and I had no choice but to smile back as I came to a stop. “Good morning, Miss Mariyah.”
“Morning—Tris, right?” She nodded happily. “Could you perhaps show me where the kitchen is?”
“Yes, I—”
“You can go, Tris.”
My lashes lifted, and I nearly growled.Why was he listening and butting into my conversation?
Shehryar smiled—sure fucking not at me. “I’m heading there now, so she can follow me.”
The poor girl had hearts in her eyes as she grinned at him. I should’ve warned her not to waste her time. Though if I poked her in the eyes…that would have got rid of the hearts too.
