"Why are you always such an asshole to me?"
I move to sit on the edge of the couch. This conversation is boring me. We're just retracing the same old arguments we have before. I want to get rid of her and move on with my life. At least, she is just calling now and not arriving at my front door anymore. She's the one girl I should've never brought home. Having her know where I lived was the biggest mistake.
"You think I’m being an asshole?" I ask, laughing. "This is me being nice. You don’t want to see what I’m like when I’m an asshole."
"Don’t you believe in love at first sight?" she asks, ignoring my answer.
I scratch my head. "Love is an illusion. Lust is just chemistry. Put friendship and lust together, and people call it a relationship. It’s a waste of time. Do me a favor. Fall in love with someone else. And don’t bother me again."
"You’re such a dick," she says, as she’s told me so many times.
"Yes, that’s the point I’m trying to make," I say. "A dick is all I'll be. That’s never going to change."
"You have no heart."
"You already said that. Now you’re just going in circles."
Jessica has been one of those girls who played hard to get. I liked it. Most girls fall into bed with me the moment I ask. It's my face that does it. I never tell them who I really am. I’d never get a moment’s peace if women knew whom I was.
"You’re really just going to tell me off like that?" Jessica asks. Her voice quivers.
"Goddammit, Jessica, you better not be crying."
"I’m not!" she says, clearly crying.
This has escalated way too quickly for me. I'm done. I don't want to play these stupid games anymore. Time to get serious. Again.
"Jesus, Jessica. Show some self-respect. I never told you I wanted anything more than sex."
"You never told me I was just going to be a booty call, either."
"Look," I say. "You’re a good-looking girl, and you’re a wildcat in bed." I have to be careful with the number of compliments I lay on this one. She takes everything to heart. But she's really been fantastic in bed. She has a body to die for, hourglass figure, tight ass, and selfless attitu
de, so she's given me everything I wanted. "There’s someone out there who will appreciate you."
"I don’t want someone else," she says.
"Well, I do. So get your shit together and deal with it. I have to go, Jessica. I have a call on the other line. Don’t ever call me again."
"Can’t we just be friends, then?"
"No Jessica. If you don’t stop calling me, I’m going to have your number blocked."
"You can’t do that to me!" she cries out.
"I can, Jess. And I will." It would be easy for someone of my stature to make it happen. I don't have to pull strings. I have people who pull strings for me. I hang up the phone before she says anything else. A great couple of nights in bed isn't worth all of this drama. Did she think she could guilt me into loving her?
I get up and walk to the bedroom, leaving my phone on the coffee table. I’ve had enough of people for one day.
In the bedroom, I strip off my clothes and put them in the hamper. Someone always comes to collect my laundry. I walk naked to the bathroom and turn on the shower. The spray is hot when I step under it, hitting my skin like thousands of pins and needles. I let it run through my hair and over my back and shoulders.
I think about Elanda, the kingdom where I grew up. I go back every Christmas to be with my family, but it isn't my home. Not even with me being the crown prince. I’ve been in schools and universities in New York all my life. I was given nothing but the best education, all in preparation for me taking over one day.
I'm next in line to take the throne. Most people would be excited about being king someday, but not me. I didn’t choose this path for my life. Through sheer luck, good or bad, I’ve been born into this. Nobody asked me what I wanted for my future, and nobody cared. It was probably better that they didn’t ask me. I would've told them to go fuck themselves.
How am I supposed to rule a kingdom I don't give a shit about? If my father wants me to love my homeland, he shouldn’t have sent me away for most of my life. Worse than that, my father wants me to settle down and produce an heir.
I don't want that life. Any of it. Not ruling, not marrying, not settling. Would I be forced into an arranged marriage, like something out of the Middle Ages? Would my father try to pair me up with German or French nobility? Anything could happen, and I have little to no choice in the matter.