Beautiful Prince (Van der Borne University Book 1)

by Dakota Lee

  "Jordanna. What are you doing here? Are you back?" He checks his clipboard. "I don't have you on my dorm assignment, but shit, we can make room."

  "I'm not back. Not yet. I'm just here for the weekend visiting Robbie." I smile at the girl behind the desk and pick up the pen to sign in. Turning back to Jason, I ask, "How've you been? I thought for sure you were giving up the RA job this year."

  "I was, and then I remembered I’m getting free room and board to babysit. Why give that up?"

  A crash behind us interrupts our catching up. "Time to go sit on the babies. You and me, drinks sometime this weekend, to catch up?" He asks as he walks backward down the hall.

  "Absolutely." I continue up the stairs and inhale. The smell of this building is both familiar and foreign since my nose is getting used to thousand dollar bottles of perfume and cologne. I knock on Robbie’s door, rocking back and forth on my heels, waiting for him to answer. I smile imagining his face, when I yell surprise.

  The door opens and a non-masculine person opens the door, in a cute turquoise and pink bra and panty combo. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I must have the wrong room."

  I step away, pulling up our text thread when I hear his voice saying, "Simone, the shower's ready." Followed by, "Who was at the door?"

  When I shove the door open wider, I'm confronted by something I've never seen before. Robbie's dick. I'm in shock, which has to be why my first thought is we should've been meeting under different circumstances.

  "Jordanna. It's…"

  My eyes snap to his. "If you, tell me that tired ass line, that it's not what I think it is, I swear to God I'll slash your tires." His car is his pride and joy next to me. Well shit, before me, because I've never seen him with another car in his garage.

  "Come in, we're drawing a crowd."

  "Oh? Are you afraid they're going to see you standing here butt ass naked? Now you wanna be discreet? Looks like you were all for sharing it with Simone a second ago."

  He pulls me into the room, closing the door behind him, and hurries to snatch his shorts from the bed. No boxers. Guess those would be a waste of time when he's probably going to get naked as soon as I'm gone.

  "Why are you even here?"

  "It's my weekend to come visit. Did you forget?"

  "I expected you later."

  No, he didn't forget. It’s so much worse than that. “Wow. You thought you had time to fuck her and get straight before seeing me too."

  "Jordanna, you know-,"

  "What I know is that now it makes sense why waiting was never such a chore for you. How many other people around here have been graced with the sight of your dick?"

  "Maybe if I hadn't of been waiting this wouldn't have happened."

  "Right. That's right. It's my fault you're a cheating bastard." I rip the door open with so much force, it bangs against the wall.

  "Jordanna, I'm sorry. Jordanna." He follows me into the hall. "Let's talk about this. I never meant to hurt you. Baby, I love you."

  "Well, you have a funny way of showing it."

  I run down the steps and out the door and make it halfway down the block before I slow down to catch my breath. Thankfully, the shuttle is waiting and I take it to the bus station. I’m pissed that I'm going to be stranded here for three hours waiting for my return trip to VDU. How could I have been so stupid? All these years bragging that my man loved me so much, he was willing to wait. How many people knew I was being made a fool of and never said anything?

  My phone dings, and out of habit I check it, expecting it to be Robbie. It's not.

  Logan: I know you're in the middle of your happy reunion, which I hope is leading to a happy ending, but here's the final block from that last page that didn't come thru. I won't bother you again until your ride back on Sunday.

  Me: It's not a bother, I'll be around to discuss tonight

  Logan: I thought you caught an early bus out. Were you delayed this whole time?

  Me: There's been a mix-up with Robbie, so I'll be around this weekend after all

  Logan: Where are you exactly?

  I ignore the text, reading through the last few pages of our project. My phone rings seconds later. "Hey, so the data looks good, I'll do my calculations for future earnings and we should be ready to build the power point."

  "Jordanna, what are you doing?"

  "I'm sitting down talking to you."

  "Sitting where? Why aren't you going to the Fairview to see Mr. Puritan?"

  I snort at the nickname. There's nothing pure about him. "I did. Something's happened, and we had to cut our visit short." My voice cracks on the last word.

  "Where are you?"

  I take a deep breath, getting my emotions under control. It'll be an even bigger embarrassment to be out here crying. "So, like I said, I'll be back this weekend."

  "Jordanna, I asked you a fucking question. Where are you?" He asks, infusing a little more authority in his tone. Heaven only knows why I answer.

  "At the bus depot." I say, forcing a cheerfulness into my voice.

  "I'm coming to get you."

  "Ha, good luck with that. You're like four hours away, and my bus will be here before then."

  "No, I'm not."

  "What do you mean, you're not?" He disconnects the call without answering. Forty minutes later a car pulls in front of the depot and I watch as Logan climbs out of the back seat. "I don't know why or how you're here, but this is ridiculous."

  "I'm supposed to have dinner with my dad in the city, so I flew down after my last class. I had the pilot divert here after we talked.”

  "Oh."

  "So you wanna tell my you're in the middle of the bus depot looking like your world just ended?"

  I don't even like this guy, yet he's here to check on me, and my boyfriend, correction, ex-boyfriend, sent two texts and that's it. I avert my gaze, so he won't see the tears in my eyes. I never let people see me cry. Not even my mom. "No."

  "Fine. Let's go."

  "I can't go, I'm waiting for my bus."

  "No, you're not. You're coming with me." He grabs my bag and my hand, pulling me to my feet, and drags me along like he did the night he took me to his studio.

  "Don't you have plans? You just said…"

  "That I'm having dinner with my dad. Yes, but that doesn't mean, I can't make sure you get a decent meal, and put in a car back to school."

  "Logan,"

  He hands my bag to the driver, who puts it in the trunk. "Look Jordy, I'd take you myself, but this dinner is kind of important."

  "I don't want to be a bother."

  "You're not. You're a young woman, who looks like she's just had a pretty bad experience with her boyfriend." He pulls out his phone. "On second thought, I'm not sending you home in the car just yet. I'm booking you a spa day."

  "No, you're not."

  "A horrible first time is worth what? Three hours of pampering?"

  "It wasn't horrible."

  He looks over at me. "Well shit, Jordanna, it wasn't good or else you'd still be there with him. Only other time I've seen a woman bail on a man as quickly as you did is when my cousin caught her boyfriend banging his…" His voice trails off. "Son of a bitch."

  I lower my head, swiping at my eye. "Now, can I go back to waiting for my bus in humiliation, alone?"

  He pushes me into the back of the car, and climbs in beside me. "No Jordy, you can't."

  It’s a ninety minute drive to New York City, and Logan spends the day glued to my side. When I finally admit I'm starving, he takes me for brunch with mimosas and then drags me from store to store looking for a gift for his little sister.

  I feel bad that he feels like he has to babysit me, and to show my appreciation for him trying to be decent about my disastrous adventure, I help him pick out the perfect gift.

  He has the car drop him off at the restaurant and instructs the driver to take me back to campus. I fall asleep on the ride and have a nightmare about being locked in an ivory tower as I'm forced to watch Robbie mar
ry Simone. I back away toward the window trying to escape and lose my footing, falling through the window, plummeting to my death. Logan catches me seconds before I hit the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I couldn't have planned for a better outcome on the boyfriend front, I just wish I hadn't been stuck in the city all weekend. Sending Jordanna back to campus alone may have given her too much time to wallow, or time for the boyfriend to plead his case and win her forgiveness.

  Bella's waiting for me in my room when I get back to campus. "You never mentioned you were leaving town this weekend."

  "I didn't realize I had to run my schedule through you."

  "I had some people lined up to play this weekend, and you weren't here."

  "Frankie and Hal are more than capable of toying with whoever wore the same outfit as you. In fact, they live for the chance to do your bidding."

  She lowers her mirror. "What's with you?"

  "I just spent the weekend with my dad and his golf buddy's. Do you think I can get a minute before you throw your tantrum?"

  "No, you-,"

  I cut her off. "It wasn't a question, Bella. I let you have a long leash, because sometimes I don't want to get my hands dirty. But, let's not forget whose really in charge here."

  "What would you do without me keeping the games running?"

  "I'd find a replacement that knows when to shut the fuck up."

  "We both know if you do that, you'll never get what you want."

  She's gotten the last word in and thinks she's got me over a barrel. She's been dangling it as a prize for years and I've always thought the ultimate measure of my power would be in her finally conceding and giving it to me. But this weekend I saw hints that my father is pushing up his timeline and there may come a day when I no longer want the prize she's bargaining with. Once she's gone, I pull out my computer and delete my browsing history. Bella's on a power trip and will use anything she can to win.

  I take my usual seat in economics, book ended by Frankie and Hal. Jordanna gives me a small smile when she walks by. Her eyes are puffy behind her navy blue tortoise-shell glasses, like she's spent the weekend crying. Thirty-nine hours is long enough for her to be upset about not being able to give her virginity to the wrong guy. He didn't deserve it, anyway. There's no way in hell he was ever going to give her what she needs, which is a safe space to feel bold in her sexuality.

  I wait for her after class. Pulling the specs from her face. "Contacts?"

  "Since I was sixteen."

  "And you don't wear colored ones?"

  "I never really saw the point."

  "Neither do I. Your eyes are fascinating. Any artificial color would be bland in comparison."

  "Are you sure you're not a lit major? You sure like to spout flowery words."

  "I'm an artist and words are a form of art. But I also know beauty, when I see it, and yours deserves all the words."

  "You're trying to cheer me up because of this weekend. Thanks, but you don't have to say things like that. You've helped enough, and I'm already embarrassed that you felt like you had to come rescue me."

  "Are you kidding? I would've had to spend the day in my father's office. Getting you to help me shop, it was you rescuing me."

  She seems to be struggling with something. "Hey, you know this had nothing to do with you, right? You can't control what people do. Robbie made a choice, and it had nothing to do with your choice to wait."

  "He called me. All night Friday, Saturday, yesterday. I keep sending it to voice mail, instead of permanently blocking his number."

  "You want to talk to him."

  "I'm no better than him. I cheated first."

  I know what she’s talking about, and guilt will sabotage my plans. “It was a kiss in a stupid game, Jordy."

  “It was still wrong, and if he knew about it he'd be hurt, and I'd be the one begging for forgiveness. How do you flush eighteen months down the toilet?"

  I answer as honestly as I can. "I wouldn't know. I've never been in a relationship that lasted that long, and I don't know how women deal with break-ups, no matter how long or short the relationship is. I'll be no help to my sister, aside from breaking the knee caps of any boys that hurt her." I wink at her. "I need practice, you want me to break his?"

  She giggles, despite the grief she’s feeling. "I need to head to class." I tip her chin up so she's looking at me. "Keep your head up Jordy."

  Before she can correct me on the use of the nickname, she pretends not to like I say, "If you wanna paint, I'll be at my studio tonight."

  Jordanna skipped class, she's ignoring my texts, and she missed our meeting. I catch her coming out of her door room with her satchel over her shoulder. "You look underwhelming."

  "Go away Logan, I'm not in the mood to be criticized by you."

  "You missed our meeting about the paper."

  "I'm not in the mood to work on that either. I just need to paint."

  If she's not interested in working on our project, then she's in worse shape than I thought. "Come with me."

  "I don't have time for shopping either. Okay? I just- I just wanna be left alone."

  "Sorry, can't do that Jordy. You can come with me willingly or I can drag you out of here."

  "If you touch me, I'll scream and kick and bite."

  "Then I'll gag you and tie you down." I pause, rethinking my response. "On second thought, go ahead and fight me. I'll enjoy that."

  She steps by me, and I drop my shoulder, hoisting her over it. "Logan, I said, I'm not in the mood to study."

  "I know that. That's why I'm taking you somewhere where you can paint. In private."

  I study the angry slashes of red she's throwing against the canvas. That's the only way to describe it, because she's flicking her paint brush instead of gliding it along. I know my moods manifest in my art. Hers is showing too.

  "Okay." I say, taking the brush and palette from her. "I think you need a break."

  "No, I don't."

  "Yes, Jordy. You do."

  "I told you, don't call me that and don't tell me what to do. I'm tired of everyone telling me what the hell I should feel, or what I should do, or that it's time to forgive Robbie. He cheated on me. Why am I the one in the wrong, because I wasn't ready to give him what she could?"

  "Whoa." I throw my hands up to ward off her verbal blows. "Hey. I don't know who everybody is, but I'm assuming it's your mutual friends, and if you told them what happened and they still think you owe him a second chance, then they're shitty friends and you don't need them."

  "That's rich coming from you. You have the shittiest friends I've ever seen."

  "That's your opinion of them, but then again, I'm not blind to their flaws, and we all know and own the fucked up shit we do, and their consequences."

  I pull another stool over to face her. "Now do you want to tell me what happened or not?"

  "I told you, I'm getting calls and texts pleading Robbie's case."

  "And you're conflicted, because you miss him? Or because deep down you think it's your fault that he's a cheating bastard?"

  "Don't pretend to empathize. How many girls have you cheated on?"

  "None."

  She snorts and rolls her eyes.

  "You don't believe me, but it's true. I've never cheated on a woman, the girls I spend time with, we have an understanding. And I told you, I don't do the long-term thing. We go out. We fuck, we move on."

  "That's so cold and callous."

  "That's attraction, and I'm not ashamed of it. Neither are the women I've been with. We're physical beings, Jordy, and I don't know if anybody told you or not, but there's nothing wrong with giving and getting pleasure. Sex is another outlet for emotions. Letting go, of any emotion, is freeing."

  I hand her back her tools, crank up the music, a heavy rock number, and let her direct her frustrations at the canvas.

  It's hours later when she finally pops her head up. I nod when she points to a tarp, respecting her right to priva
cy about whatever she was painting. I brought her here to vent, to rage, to hurt, to purge this weekend out of her system. Because soon every thought she has will be of me.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I invited Jordanna to sit with us and stepped away to speak to one of the reporters from the school paper. I saw Jordy say something to Bella and I could see it didn't go well. She’s expressed her hesitancy about hanging out with me around my friends, and I know Bella is the sticking point. I corner Bella in the hall, on the way to her World Lit class, dragging her towards the wall so we can talk in private.

  "Ow, ow." She snatches her arm from my grip. "Let me go." She looks at the small red marks on her arm. "What the hell is your problem?"

  "Cut your shit Bella." I hold a finger to her lips before she can plead her innocence. "Your attitude towards Jordanna, I suggest you change it starting now. This bet won't get any traction if she's too busy avoiding you, to spend time with me."

  "You can't razzle dazzle her if she and I aren't friends?"

  "If she's as wholesome as she seems, how likely is she to hook up with me, if she thinks you're a jealous girlfriend? Especially when she just found out her boyfriends been fucking around on her."

  She considers my questions and says, "I'm not jealous and we both know, I'm not your girlfriend."

  "No, but you act like it, every goddamn time Jordanna comes near me. Resting bitch face and bitchy commentary included. Are you jealous? Or did you change your mind? Maybe you’re no longer interested in this bet, and you're too scared to tell me you wanna back out."

  "Hell no. I want you to take Miss Priss down."

  "Then stop being a bitch and start pretending like you support our spending time together. Or I might suddenly decide to take another bet and make it your life, I upend instead."

  I pull a strand of her hair to my nose. "Bella, we both know, it's way more fun when I step back and let you call the shots, but I'd be happy to take control of the game."