My Dark Prince: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Dark Prince Road)

Turned out, I had absolutely no reason to worry about Briar settling in.

She made herself right at home.

Literally.

As soon as Sebastian and I returned, I spotted a trail of soaked beach towels, popcorn kernels, and sticky neon alcoholic drinks strewn across the pavement. They snaked in a long, winding path leading straight to the pool.

Laughter, smoked barbecue, and the blaring surround system guided me to the perpetrator. “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” by Artemas rattled the deck beneath me. A great song. I wondered if it was Briar’s choice.

I found myself wondering about a lot of her preferences. Food, playlists, men. What type she liked to date.

Not ones that fucking ruined her life, bastard.

A spark of excitement surged through me. It felt like stepping out from a shadow into the sunlight. This – the thrill of rediscovering Briar – liberated me. A welcome distraction from worrying about Sebastian’s wellbeing and managing the Grand Regent.

Snatches of conversation drifted toward me from the pool area around the bend. I inched closer, just shy of the cabana.

“… you sure he won’t mind you throwing a party over here?” I didn’t recognize the feminine voice. “I mean, you barely know the guy.”

“It’s fine,” Briar reassured her. It was definitely not fine. Seb would have my hide any minute now. “He loves parties and women in bikinis. He’ll be thrilled.” She paused. “I would advise against getting into the pool, though. God knows what he and his hookups have left there.”

I bit down my lip, stifling a laugh. The curtains hid me from view. I could waltz out the double doors and confront her, but I didn’t. Not yet.

I surveyed the so-called party. The deck consisted of a sunken pool, an attached jacuzzi, and rows of sun loungers flanking either side. It stood opposite from the lake, at the far end of my home, just beneath my master bedroom.

Eight women scattered across the area, all in bikinis. Unfinished drinks littered the pavement, burgers and hot dogs smoked up the air, and Briar manned the grill herself, flipping brioche buns and skewered onions.

She wore a green bikini with her hair pulled up in a messy high bun.

My mouth watered – and not because of the food.

“Everyone’s already in the pool.” The raven-haired woman beside her laughed. “Plus, I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

Briar started plating burgers in my well-equipped outdoor kitchen. “Oh, he’s worse.”

I watched in fascination as she effortlessly remembered all her friends’ food preferences. A burger with no lettuce. One rare, and the other well-done. One with extra tomatoes. The double patty across it with mustard on the side.

She was right.

I wasn’t mad at her. Not because letting the Spice Girls 2.0 invade my home was okay – anyone with a functioning brain would consider it a gross violation of privacy and hospitality – but because I couldn’t fucking get mad at Briar, even if I tried.

Someone cannonballed into the pool, splashing the nearby bushes with treated salt water. A pair of twins gossiped on the tanning ledge loungers, partially submerged and matching cocktails in their fists. Two others invited themselves on a tour of my property, disappearing around the corner.

Time to crash your party, Cuddlebug.

I blasted through the doors, plastering a cocky smile on my face as I descended the upper deck stairs.

“Ladies.” I crossed the lawn, strolling in my roommate’s direction. “Briar.”

The dig landed.

Her friends plastered hands over their mouths. Briar’s beautiful smile dropped. I hated that everybody else got her smiles while I got her scowls. It used to be the other way around.

“Hey, roomie.” I kissed her cheek, showing her that I didn’t mind the party – and also proving that she was definitely affected by me. By the time I withdrew, her whole body was one big goosebump. “Taking advantage of my many amenities?”

“Yes, I invited some friends from LA.” She squirted ketchup onto a plate. “Hope you don’t mind.”

Translation: I hope you mind with every fiber of my body.

“I can see that. Hi, I’m Ollie.” I offered my hand to her nearest friend. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hazel.” She twirled a thick curl around her finger, fighting what had to be disdain. “I was Briar’s roommate in college, so I know all about you. No need to spend any effort winning me over. You won’t succeed.”

“Fair enough.”

Briar scanned me up and down, her expression clouding over. “Did you just go hunting?”

“Pigeons,” I confirmed. “Clay pigeons. Speaking of hunting, where do you think the burgers and hot dogs you’ve been grilling came from?”

“Oh, I know this one.” She snapped her fingers, pretending to think. “The storks, right? Or was it the babies?”

“You’re a vegetarian,” I reminded her. “You don’t eat meat.”

“My friends do. Live and let live. Ever heard of this expression?”

“Yes.” I pinned her with a glare. “Didn’t realize you live by it, Miss No-Private-Airplane-For-You.”

“Clearly, I do.” She handed Hazel plates, ladling truffle fries into the empty space. “I’m feeding my friends slaughtered animal corpses.”

“Hmm. Appetizing. Thanks so much.” Hazel took a bite, side-eyeing Briar. “I’m going to deliver this other plate to Katie and leave you two to try to off one another.”

We were now alone.

A buzz of excitement zipped through me.

I was a big fan of being alone with this woman.

“Oh, by the way. They’re going to stay the entire weekend.” Briar pasted on a sweet smile. “That’s cool, right?”

No. Not at all. Our other roommate – the one you do not know exists – will literally string me up from the balcony and livestream it the second he finds out.

“Cool?” I gave her my best outraged face. “That’s fantastic. Half-naked women in my realm are nothing new. Feels like a homecooked meal.”

I sent her a playful wink and strolled over to the industrial fridge, fishing out a veggie patty. A few times a year, I made them from scratch in bulk and vacuumed seal them before storing them in the deep freezer.

Every now and then, my cousin Flynn came into town to ask about Seb’s whereabouts, bumming a meal off me before fucking off into the sunset. He was a vegetarian on the grounds of pissing me off and complaining that I never prepared for his visits.

Now I made it a point to be prepared.

“Sit down.” I tore open the individual pack and threw it on the grill. “I’m going to make you the best veggie burger of your fucking life.”

Briar didn’t budge. “No, thank you.”

“Your mouth will have an orgasm. It’ll be good preparation for the rest of you when we finally consummate our engagement.”

“Not gonna happen, but okay.” She crossed her arms, eyes glued to me, nonetheless.

“The secret is in the spices.” I slid open a drawer, plucking them out by the bottle. Cumin. Chili. Paprika. Thyme. Roasted garlic. Lemon pepper. Celery salt. “They take it from nothing burger to everything burger. You’ll see.”

She finally claimed the seat nearest to me, nursing her pink cocktail. “I emptied your drink stash, by the way.”

She was desperate to make me mad.

It was so adorable.

“Good.” I grabbed the tongs and snapped them in the air. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

“We made an entire mess of the house. Not sure if you saw.”

“This is what I have housekeepers around the clock for. I pay them extra after parties, so don’t worry.”

I threw a bun on the grill and sliced the onions into thin circles. The rest of her friends crowded the table to grab their food. I introduced myself, told them they were welcome, and watched them scurry away to give us privacy, herded by a cunning Hazel, who obviously did think I was worthy of a second chance.

They ate on lounge chairs by the pool while I cracked open the fridge, selecting white cheddar, heirloom tomatoes, jalapeño cream cheese, and mushrooms. Earlier, I’d noticed that Briar hadn’t made anything for herself. Always so selfless.

She tapped her lips, watching me as I sautéed the mushrooms.

I transferred them onto the warming plate. “When did you become a vegetarian?”

“Eighteen.” She swallowed hard. “Right after I graduated high school, before I started college. I couldn’t afford meat, I was so poor. It wasn’t just that. I decided I wanted to be harmless to all beings. I’ve seen so much pain in the world and suffered so much of it that I didn’t want to contribute to more.”noveldrama

I nodded, sliding her patty onto the toasted bun and layering on the veggies. I went extra hard on the chipotle mayo, swirling it on the top bun. When I handed her the plate and claimed the seat beside her, she didn’t complain.

Briar opened the burger and examined it as if it were a jewelry box. “You remembered I’m a mayo girl.” She managed to sound disappointed.

“I remember you’re a mayo girl.” I smiled at her. “I remember a lot of things about you, Briar. Just because I failed you once doesn’t mean I didn’t try my best. Unfortunately, my best wasn’t enough at the time.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened that summer?” She sank her teeth into the burger, closed her eyes, and groaned. “Ugh, this is good.”

“I will.” I watched her, mesmerized by how fucking pleasurable it felt to see her enjoy something I’d made. “When you are ready to hear it. You still have a few weeks of hating me to death to go through, I think.”

“Tack on fifteen years to that, and you’d be right.”

But she didn’t sound angry.

Sauce dripped from her lower lip to the plate as she bit into the burger again. I loved that she ate a juicy burger in her bikini. I loved that she was unapologetically herself. That she never tried to impress me.

She paused, set the burger down, and stared off into space. After a moment of silence, she glanced up again, fighting tears. “Did you really mean it – that you remember everything about me?”

I nodded. “Try me.”

“Okay.” She picked up the burger again, thinking about it. “What’s my favorite Disney soundtrack?”

“Mulan. Hands down. Followed – and this is not a close second by any means – The Little Mermaid and the ’90s Beauty and the Beast. But The Little Mermaid is also far from Beauty and the Beast. The hierarchy is very clear.”

“Favorite indie crush?”

“Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko.”

“Favorite blockbuster crush?”

“Tie between ripped Dev Patel and Michael B. Jordan since his Friday Night Lights era.”

“Worst rated Batman?”

“Too easy.” I rolled my eyes. “Val Kilmer. I would’ve known that if we’d literally never met.”

She giggled around another bite, melting my fucking heart. “Why is he so bad, though?”

This.

This was what I’d missed. I’d take her wrath over her indifference, but I was really shooting for her affection.

I didn’t know what inspired me to keep trying to win her over. This wouldn’t work out.

I was too damaged. She was too guarded.

I didn’t do monogamy. She didn’t do me.

We grinned at each other like two idiots.

Despite the odds stacked against us, I still wanted a chance. I’d spent the last fifteen years ensuring I had a plan before I began anything, but just like that, I’d started pursuing this woman, who I knew would break my heart.

Or worse – set it on fucking fire.