The Heir and the Spare Read Free

love it, you git.” Edmund grinned and elbowed Preston.
    “Riiiight, sorry, must’ve forgotten.” Preston rolled his brown eyes.
    “I take it you must like museums, too.” I eyed Edmund.
    “Absolutely, I love going.”
    He’s a geek like me!
“Well, if you ever want someone who won’t be miserable, I’m your girl. Any museum, any time.”
Oh. My. God. Why did I say that?
I fought the urge to bury my face in my hands.
    “Deal.” He chuckled. “What are you specializing in?” He leaned closer.
    Lordy, he smells delicious.
“Um, history of art.”
    “Brilliant, we’ll probably have classes together. I’m specializing in history, so I tend to take a lot of the art history courses as well.”
    “That’s great; it’ll be nice to see a friendly face in the crowd.” I glanced over at Suzy, who was turned around, talking to a guy on the couch next to ours.
    “Well, technically I’m a history and economics major, but I really only enjoy the history.”
    “Then why not just major in history?”
    “I would, but economics comes in handy with the family business,” he said with a dry laugh.
    “What’s your family business?”
    Edmund’s brows drew together and he leaned back to study me.
    My heart fluttered nervously in my chest.
Was that a stupid question?
    His face softened and the corner of his mouth curled up. “Well—”
    “Edmund! You’re looking gorgeous, as always. How was your summer?” A blond girl rushed him.
    It looked like she was going to plop onto his lap. Instead, she stopped a few steps short and bent over so they were eye-to-eye. Well, nearly. She positioned herself to give him a direct view down her filmy white tank top. So, really, they were eye-to-boob.
    Edmund smiled tensely, his gaze focused on the girl’s face. “It was good, Chloe. How was yours?”
    “Splendid.” She ignored everyone but Edmund as she described her summer. I zoned out, listening to the music thumping in the background.
    Suzy sat behind Chloe, imitating her. I stifled my laughter.
    Next to me, Edmund squirmed as Chloe placed her hand on his arm. When she reached out to brush hair off his forehead, he moved away, eyebrows raised.
    “Hi, I don't think we’ve been introduced.” I smiled and extended my hand. “I’m Evangeline Gray; most people call me Evie.” I wanted to give Edmund a breather by claiming her attention.
    The blond straightened and gave me a slow head-to-toe once-over. “Oh yay.” She sneered, ignoring my hand. “Another little
American
. Chloe Saunders.” She scoffed at me before focusing back on Edmund.
    Wow, rude much?
Clearly Miss BitchyBoobsInYourFace wasn’t going to join my fan club any time soon.
    “Pleasure to meet you, too.” The words rolled in a sarcastic tumble from my tongue.
    Chloe turned on me with a glacial stare. “Do you have a problem?”
    “No, but I can see you sure do.”
    Chloe narrowed her eyes. “Americans are all the same. Arrogant, self-entitled trash.
You
are evidently no exception.” She looked away.
    “Huh, and here I assumed you had the corner on self-entitlement. Then again, I guess it complements that elitist attitude you’ve got going on.”
    “How dare you,” she snapped at me.
    “You know what?” I stood and checked the time on my phone. “I have zero tolerance for small-minded bigots. I’m going to call it a night. Catch you all later.”
    I waved and walked off. At the stairs I looked back, wanting one last glimpse of Edmund. My shoulders slumped. Chloe now sat in my vacated spot, blocking my view.
    Sure screwed that one up, Gray.
    Tonight had turned into a disaster. In my room, I flopped onto the bed and buried my face in a pillow.
Why do I always let my temper get the better of me?
I may have told Chloe off, but I’d also proved her point. I’d be a social pariah now. She looked the type to exact revenge.
    This meant I’d probably have to make friends from scratch.
Damn my big mouth.
    I inhaled a shaky breath. I needed Mom. My