Savage Little Lies (Court Legacy 2)

Dorian swung smoky irises in my direction. “What does she do?” he asked, laughing. He directed a thumb toward the door. “Uh, Brielle is the mayor of Maywood Heights.”

Um, what?

“Wolf didn’t tell you?” His chuckle hit the air. “You both spent all that time painting, and he never, not once, mentioned his mother was the mayor of our city?” His eyebrow arched. “Fucker gloats about that shit. Thinks it makes him king of the world.”

Or at least the prince of the city.

These boys really were royalty. I frowned. “We painted more than talked.”

“I guess so.” He weaved our fingers together. “Anyway, Brielle is here because she’s babysitting. After everything with Charlie, she wants to make sure we’re all okay, but she doesn’t have time at all to be here.” He shook his head. “But that’s how she is. She’s stubborn, and though my buddy won’t admit it, the apple doesn’t fall far.”

He didn’t need to admit it. He showed that shit. Once Ares put his mind to a thought or belief, that tended to be what stuck.

It had benefited me recently.

Dorian ran his hands down my shoulders. “You really haven’t thought about college or anything? What were your plans after you graduate?”

I was kind of focused on his hands on me. They made it hard to think, and I was definitely aware we hadn’t spent time in close proximity together since this last weekend. It’d been on purpose, excuses on my part. We had a lot of weight between us right now and…

My knuckles touched his chest. “Like I said, Bru and I moved around a lot. Didn’t think college was possible. We were poor. At least before Callum.”

Even then, his money wasn’t ours.

He checked in with my brother and me a few times a week, and t

hough he was moving closer to us, we couldn’t forget our place. The man wasn’t our father, and regardless of how he’d been good to us.

Dorian’s hands left my shoulders after what I said, and his jaw shifted before he tipped my chin. “Well, I’d start thinking about it. This is your home, Noa Sloane, and you’re not going anywhere.”

He leaned in, and I thought he’d go for the lips. I hoped he would.

They were easier.

His lips on my mouth wouldn’t allow me to think. I could just be with him and not think about other things between us. Things like what I did or did not say the other night.

That wasn’t what Dorian did, though, and his mouth brushing my check did terrible damage. He lingered there, his breath heating my skin. He let me think in that position.

You’re not going anywhere.

I didn’t want to. I wanted to just be, but my rogue thoughts wouldn’t let me. I kept remembering what it was like to not be with him.

I kept remembering how it was when he’d left.

That wound stayed open, and though I wished to forget, it was so hard.

If Dorian saw that in my eyes, he didn’t say. He simply kissed my cheek, then pulled back. He told me I’d see him later. He had to get back to class, and I was happy he once again hadn’t pushed me. I wasn’t ready to tell him I loved him yet, but it was almost worse he didn’t push. It meant he was willing to wait.

I hoped secretly he wouldn’t always be.

I preferred lunchtime with the dark prince. Lunch with him, Bow, and the rest of Legacy was filled with general boy debauchery and with little to no time for direct conversation with Dorian himself. He was usually engulfed in conversation, and I just blended in.

My brother actually joined the group for lunch today. He was finally starting to get caught up, and to celebrate, Wells and Thatcher suggested we all go to Jax’s Burgers. The two made good on their promise to bring me food. When we ate at school, a bag of greasy goodness was always there for me at our lunch table.

The two jocks were well on their way to getting me to forget about what assholes they’d been, and it was kind of hard to be annoyed by them when they were so fucking goofy. They had me roaring in laughter most of the time. Especially because their antics constantly pissed off the two older boys. Ares and Dorian may only be a year older than them, but their lack of patience when it came to the two definitely showed. Dorian was pretty laid-back about it, but Ares spent more time knocking their heads together than anyone else. He always had a short fuse in general, but since Dorian had left, I hadn’t noticed it as much. He seemed more at ease whenever I saw him.

“Wait. The fuck?”

Which was why his voice elevating on the other side of the booth caught me off guard. He had his hand raised, his finger shooting in Dorian’s direction. “You took my mother to what?”