Defiant Princess (Boys of Oak Park Prep 2)

Maybe in pushing them away, trying to destroy all thoughts and memories of them, I had pushed that girl away too.

Maybe there was a way to get her back, even without the Princes. To find that place again, but to find it on my own.

“Hey, girl. You okay?” Leah leaned around Maggie to look at me as we walked across the quad at the end of the day. The blonde-haired girl was in her now usual place as buffer between me and Leah.

“Yeah.”

I blinked, hauling my thoughts back to the present. The last thing I wanted to do was admit I’d been thinking about the Princes. They were what’d come between us last time, and things were only just starting to get better for the two of us.

“Huh.” She narrowed her eyes at me before sharing a look with Maggie. “That’s a freakin’ lie. It’s the Princes, right?”

“What? No! I—”

“Ugh, you’re such a liar.” She scoffed. “I mean, I’m not dumb, Talia. I know that whatever fucking weirdness there was between you and those guys, it’s not over.”

I opened my mouth to deny it, then snapped it shut again. She was right. I’d said the same thing to myself more than once. I was connected to all four of them in a way I wasn’t sure I’d ever truly be free of, bound up in a mess of anger, vengeance, lust, and obsession.

“No,” I admitted softly, glancing down at the paved path in front of us. “It’s not over.”

“Honesty is a good first step,” she said archly. “Just don’t let them fucking brainwash you again, okay?”

“I won’t.” My voice was fierce, and Leah chuckled.

“Good. And if you need any help, say, wrecking any of the other Princes’ cars or anything, I’m always game. I’ve got a clean record, so I could afford to get arrested once.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, um, we were gonna go to a party at Julie Summer’s house tonight,” Maggie said, glancing between me and Leah. “You wanna come?”

My footsteps slowed, and it was on the tip of my tongue to say “no”. I hadn’t really done much at all outside of school since I’d been back, and since one of the few people I’d hung out with earlier in the semester had turned out to be a disgusting bastard, I hadn’t really wanted to.

But I knew what Maggie’s invitation was. An overture of peace.

And when Leah added in a causal voice, “Yeah, you should come,” I found myself nodding.

The happy, wild, and free Talia was still inside me somewhere. It was time to start trying to dig her out.

We split to head back to our individual dorms, and I get a couple hours of solid studying in before we left in the evening to head to Julie’s place. I hitched a ride with Leah and found myself missing my old car, as ugly as it’d been. Part of the reason I hadn’t been off campus much at all this semester was because I didn’t have an easy way to do so.

California was built for cars, and not having one made me feel a little stranded sometimes.

I guess I could buy one.

There was enough money in my checking account from the trust fund disbursement that I could afford something nice—not that I’d get another fucking Bentley.

Maggie and Dan were in the back seat, kissing without trying to make it obvious, which of course only made it more obvious. Leah caught my eye and made a gagging face, and I chuckled. The two of them really were disgustingly cute. But I liked it. They reminded me that love could exist without manipulation, lying, and backstabbing, that it could be something that was good for you. That lifted you up and gave you strength when you needed it most.

Most of my encounters with love hadn’t been like that at all.

Julie’s house was three stories tall and futuristically modern, with odd angles, glass surfaces, and shiny metal everywhere. Music blared loud, the bass thumping hard in my body before we even stepped through the front door. Once inside, we worked our way quickly toward the kitchen for drinks. Maggie and Dan grabbed beers from a keg, and Leah mixed up something with cherry vodka, but I just filled a red Solo cup with soda.

When Leah noticed and raised a brow at me, I shrugged.

“Trying to mak

e better life choices.”

She grinned and stuck her tongue out. “Atta girl! Oh! And that means you can drive me home, so guess who’s got two thumbs and is gonna get shit-faced?”