Twisted-Games

but he cared about Ava. He was just either too stubborn or too stupid to act
on it.
I made a mental note to pay him a visit before I left for New York. I was
tired of waiting for him to pull his head out of his ass.
After one last round of hugs, my friends drifted off with their families
until it was just me and Rhys.
My grandfather and Nikolai had wanted to come, but they canceled their
trip at the last minute because of some diplomatic crisis with Italy. They were
both distraught over missing my graduation, but I’d assured them it was
okay.
And it was. I understood the responsibilities that came with the crown and
the heir. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t wallow in a bit of self-pity.
“You ready?” Rhys asked, his tone a shade gentler than usual.
I nodded, tamping down the flicker of loneliness in my stomach as we
walked to our car. Graduation, moving cities, saying goodbye to everything
I’d loved for the past four years…it was too much change in too short a time.
I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice we were heading into the city
instead of home until I spotted the Washington Monument glowing in the
distance.
“Where are we going?” I straightened in my seat. “You’re not dragging
me to some warehouse so you can butcher me, are you?”
I couldn’t see Rhys’s face, but I could hear his eye roll. “If I wanted to do
that, I would’ve done so the day after meeting you.”
I frowned, more insulted than reassured, but my tart reply died on my lips
when he added, “Figured you wouldn’t want to stay home and order takeout
on graduation night.”
I didn’t want to stay home on graduation night. It seemed so sad, but it
seemed sadder to eat dinner by myself in some fancy restaurant.
I had Rhys, but he was paid to be there, and he wasn’t exactly a chatty
conversationalist. And yet…he knew exactly what I needed without me
uttering a word.
Another butterfly escaped in my stomach before I shoved it back into its
cage.
“Where are we going, then?” I repeated my question, intrigue edging out
my earlier melancholy.
He pulled up in front of a strip mall. There weren’t many of those in D.C.,
but this one contained all the trappings of a suburban outpost, including a