HEIRS: THE PRINCESS AND THE HUNTER

Chapter 5 - Not Interested

Ashton Varnat

The f**k! I looked at Killian, Daniel, and Carl.

They all shrugged.

In three years of college, this has never happened.

A f*****g group of girls turning us down, cold, brutal…

“What was that?” I mumbled, and Killian blinked twice.

“How the f**k would I know?” he mumbled.

I looked at Daniel, and he gulped down. He was a player. He was used to picking a girl and getting laid in the same sentence.

“I'm so confused…” Daniel said, and I sighed.

“Were they playing hard to get? Don't they know who we are?” Carl said, and I shrugged.

“I'm not in the mood,” I mumbled.

My friends looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

“What? There are plenty of fish in the ocean,” Killian said, and I nodded.

“Yeah, but I thought I would have salmon; I'm not settling on trout.”

“Got a point there, brother,” he said. “In fact, I'm done, too…” he said.

Carl and Danny agreed.

We made our way to the door.

Several girls jumped in our way. All of them feigned interest, even caressing our necks and arms… all of them opening with a line similar to "Those girls are stupid, you should put your eyes on someone who will really please you…”

I extricated myself from every single stop, and kept walking.

My mind was trying to catch up with what had happened.

None of it was normal.

The plan was foolproof. Pick a girl, buy her a drink, flirt, and hopefully end the night together.

It should have worked, except… It didn’t.

Without a blink, they refused the drinks, and that was the end of it.

Rejection didn’t suit me.

As soon as I climbed into the driver’s seat, I slammed my hands on the steering wheel.

Killian looked in my direction.

“Man, get over it. It’s been a while, but it happens to the best of us.”

He took a sharp inhale. He knew I was not doing alright.

“At least this time, it happened to all of us,” he chuckled.

He had a point. It had happened before, one of us getting rejected… never me, though.

Somehow, this group rejection felt personal.

We were the cream of the crop on campus. Either people will start laughing at us, gossiping about us losing our touch with the ladies, or… worse, the willing girls are going to make those girls' lives miserable.

I drove back to our apartment, and on the way there I saw it, clear as day, even though it was past the middle of the night.

A silver car parked out of Carhill Residence Hall.

The beauty that walked away said something to the driver, probably thanking him.

The other three girls were there.

All of them beautiful; all of them were at ease and laughing.

I slammed on the brakes.

Two of the girls were close to the door.

A third one was midway, and the one who started it all… she was removing her shoes close to the sidewalk.

The silver car drove away.

I switched gears to reverse.

“What the f**k, man?” Killian protested.

I didn’t care. I moved in a straight line close to her.

My hands trembled with anger.

Before I could stop myself, I stepped out of the car.

“Why?” I said aloud.

The girls froze.

Her eyes met mine. There was no fear or anger in them, but shock.

“Man, let's go…” Killian yelled from inside the car.

The other three girls stopped dead in their tracks.

The beauty looked up and rolled her eyes.

She f*****g rolled her eyes at me.

“I don't have to answer.” She straightened her back, and I saw red.

I had been irritated before.

Now I was furious.

She had rejected me, embarrassed me, and somehow decided I wasn't even worth an explanation.

She turned around, heading towards the building, but I was mad, riled up.

This time she was not going to get away.

She would have to explain.

Without thinking, I caught her wrist before she reached the stairs.

The inertia of the move forced her to turn around, slamming her body against mine.

My hand held her arm, skin-to-skin contact, and it was… electrifying.

She blinked twice and pushed me.

It was not a gentle shove, but a hard shove.

She was pissed, too.

“Let me go,” she gritted her teeth.

“At least tell me your name,” I said, and she shook her head.

“I told you, I'm not interested. I don't care if you own the whole campus… I don't care if girls fly into your arms willingly… I'm NOT interested…” She shoved me harder, forcing me to let go.

“Let her go, or should I call campus security?” the tall brunette yelled, and my girl… wait, what?

She wasn’t my girl.

She was just a pebble in my shoe; why the f**k am I referring to her as my girl?

That was something I should think about later.

With that threat, I took a step back. The girl who had defied me rushed towards the steps.

I jumped into my car.

“f**k!” I groaned, and Carl looked at me.

“What was that?” he said, and I looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“I don't have a f*****g idea, but if she thinks I'm backing off, she is delusional…” I smirked. “I'm a King, and I have found the most exquisite and enticing target.” I chuckled.

“Man, this is going to be a very interesting senior year…” Killian smirked.

“She is the one who is clearly saying she is not interested. The other girls just followed her…” I said, and they nodded.

“Maybe we should make this a group challenge,” I smirked.

“Oh, no, we are not going to do it…” Daniel said, and I nodded.

“Exactly, let's see if she can run away from me…” I smirked.

She was the one setting the tone, but I had the feeling that maybe one of her friends would cave into my friend's charms.

I just needed an opening.

A small crack in the armor.

It was either through her friends or through another way, but I would get her.

I drove to our apartment.

The night’s events kept replaying inside my mind.

A million ideas coming and going.

I was going to make her pay for the humiliation, for the rejection, but most importantly, make her fall for me.

The next day, it was our first day of classes.

I walked into my first class.

The odds of sharing a class with her were slim.

“Hey, Ash…” Kimberly leaned into my desk, cleavage exposing her boobs close enough that, with a wrong move, I would end up burying my face in them.

“I heard what happened last night in Heaven,” she said, and I nodded.

“Yeah. There’s always one that gets away,” I grunted. Gossip traveled fast, and I hated it.

“You know, I'm always available,” she said, and I took a deep breath.

Kimberly loved attention. Casual flings were her thing.

Mine had been too.

At least, until last night.

“Well, I'm not interested…” I smiled. “If anything I learned from last night's situation is that I need to learn to be more selective in my company,” I said, and she pouted.

I was sure she thought I was talking about the girl from Heaven, when, in fact, I was talking about her.

“That is a shame,” she said, and I chuckled.

Suddenly the entire room went quiet.

“What is a freshman doing in an advanced course?” I heard the girls in the back row mumble.

I forced myself to stay in my place.

I won’t look.

Then I saw the beautiful girl from last night descending the classroom’s steps.

She handed a paper to the teacher.

The teacher read the paper and smiled.

“Well, welcome, Miss Smith…” he said. “The seats are designated,” he pointed at the empty seat beside me.

“That is you,” he said.

She then looked up and froze.

I smirked.

This was going to be very, very interesting.

She slowly sat beside me, and I smirked, not looking at her, but just feeling her close.

“Alright everyone, settle down. I have placed you in your seats.

Those are going to be your seats for the next six months,” the teacher said.

He continued.

“The advanced business program will help you develop not only business skills, but also you will learn how to get along, work in multifunctional teams… We will focus not only on theory but also on practice…” the teacher scanned the classroom.

“So, without further ado…” he passed around some sheets of paper.

“This is the syllabus for the course, and the guidelines for the final team project…” he said, and everyone grunted.

The girl beside me took her piece of paper and started writing things around.

She was new on campus and already taking advanced classes.

Either she was a transfer student or a genius.

I tucked the syllabus into my notebook.

Then I waited.

An opportunity would come.

“Now take a look to your left…” the teacher spoke again.

“The person on your left is your partner for your final project…”

I looked to my left.

She was sitting there, staring into the empty hallway.

Gotcha.

Her head turned in my direction.

She looked at me.

“I guess we are partners, sweetheart.”

My lips curled up in a smirk.

“f**k me,” she mumbled.

She looked horrified.

I couldn't remember the last time a woman had looked disappointed to be sitting next to me.

I laughed.

Thank you, Universe.

This just went from being interesting to being f*****g amazing.