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“Yes, Lord Bentley was a fine fellow, Alarie. You are quite right.” High Lord Preston beamed at me with a smile. “But he doesn’t hold a candle to you, dear,” he retorted.
I resisted the urge to let out an audible, exasperated sigh. I glanced back at Rhett.Your turn, I signaled to him with my eyes.
“Grant, you’ll not get a fight from me on this one. Alarie isquiteravishing,” Rhett said, flashing me a rakish smile and shrugging his shoulders as if to say,if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
“Did you know that House Rein has already taken on one ward from the Golden Court? And we plan to take on another…” Rhett continued, skillfully picking up the mantle of our cause.
2
Luke
“How’d it go with Grant?” I asked.
I sat on a neutral-colored chaise lounge with Al, her legs thrown over my lap. We were outside on Rhett’s veranda enjoying the last few hours of the temperate day. Rhett was leaning against the railing, staring out at the town below the High Court with his back to us.
Al lived with Rhett in the Rein manor. After the Spring Ball, she just never vacated her room at House Rein, eventually moving all her stuff over from Jay’s. As a result, I found myself spending even more time than before at House Rein, usually in Rhett’s wing, since Al enjoyed the balcony and bar off Rhett’s quarters.
“Ughhhh,” Al bemoaned in reply.
“That good, huh?” I said with a sympathetic chuckle, giving her legs a squeeze before letting my hands rest on her calves.
“We’re making progress, Al,” Rhett said, turning toward us. “Once we get Grant on board, the rest will follow House Preston’s lead,” he continued, tracing a hand through the waves of his head of blond hair.
“I can put in a good word with Jamie,” I offered. We all knew that High Lord Preston’s husband, Jamie, harbored a soft spot, or perhaps something a little stiffer, for me.
“I know you’re right,” Al replied to Rhett. “I just hate how everyone looks at me these days like I’m a lost little girl who should just go back to flirting and looking pretty,” Al lamented.
“Fuck that, Al. You’re not lost,” I said, entwining my fingers with hers. “You’re a fucking trailblazer. These idiots are just too slow to tell the difference,” I said, gripping her hand tighter.
“It’s true, Al. Plus, everyone knowsI’mthe looks of this operation,” Rhett said with a grin, his bright blue eyes dancing with mischief.
No one could deny Rhett’s good looks. There was a reason every available lady, and a fair number of taken ones as well, at the High Court threw themselves at my best friend.
“I’m the one out of my element here,” Rhett said. “They should be tellingmeto do whatIdo best and go back to looking pretty. You’re the brains of the operation, Al. How did you trick me into doing real work, again?” he jested.
“If anyone was tricked, it was me, Rhett,” Al retorted. “You’re the one who asked me to speak to your father about all of this. And then he’s the one who stuck us with this task that neither side seems interested in,” she chided him.
“Oh, yeah! Guess I’m the looksandthe brains, then!” Rhett joked.
“No offense, mate, but I think she has you beat on both counts,” I chimed in.
I absentmindedly glided my fingers over Al’s smooth skin. Thoughts of how she’d come alive under my hands this morning filled my mind. I consciously stilled the movement of my hands before I ended up finishing what I had started earlier in the day.
“You’re just saying that because it’s true,” Rhett countered.
All three of us laughed.
“Hey, I know what will cheer you up, Al. Let’s go off campus tonight,” I suggested.
All of us, even Rhett, had been focusing so much on our duties at the High Court lately that it had been entirely too long since we’d spent a night away from the Court.
“Isn’t Stefan playing somewhere in town?” I asked.
Al let out an exasperated sigh, and something inside my chest growled with approval. Al was dating Stefan. Al dating wasn’t what I had a problem with. My issue was with her dating Stefan. But it was my own fucking fault that they were dating, I thought, not for the first time. When Stefan had come back from his tour of playing at the northern houses, I’d stupidly talked Al up to him, and he’d been interested ever since. I couldn’t blame him, but what Al saw in him was an entirely different story. He had the musician thing going, and I know girls are into that. But that was all he had going for him, as far as I could tell.
“Yeah. He’s playing at Lucky Heads or something like that,” Al replied.
“Lucky Hearts, you mean?” I asked, chuckling at her dismissiveness. Al just shrugged. “Rhett, are you and James in?” I asked.
