Her Mischievous Prince (Book 3)

Four

Riley

Sometime late last night, I was awakened by a loud humming sound of an engine and a flash of bright light coming in from the window. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to get out of bed to check who or what that was, but once I heard Xavier and another man’s voice, I was suddenly compelled to stand up and quickly tiptoe my way towards the window to take a quick peak assuming that it’s the eldest son since he was the only one missing earlier today. Okay fine, I was absolutely curious. I don’t know much about this family and to be honest, if the youngest looked like a GQ model, then surely the first son would probably look just as handsome. I know that sounded creepy or twisted but let me just make this clear, I’m aware that they’re my stepbrothers so my interest in them is purely out of curiosity and not attraction. It’s about my fascination and not being able to handle the truth that such beautiful and rich people exist which is why I’m both drawn to them as much as they irritate me. It’s like the Kardashians, I don’t particularly find them interesting, honestly speaking, I’m not a fan of any of them, but I’m somehow stuck watching even the mundane things they do. It’s just really hard to explain.

I sightly pushed the curtains open, making sure that I’m still well hidden behind them intending to eavesdrop of course which was a total epic fail because I couldn’t hear anything plus their conversation didn’t last that long. And when Xavier came back inside, instead of heading back to bed, I found myself staring at the man leaning on his bike. It’s dark out, so I can’t see his face clearly, what I could gather from my vantage point though is that he’s wearing a dark ensemble. Perhaps a black leather jacket that’s zipped or buttoned all the way up, black distressed jeans, and black boots. I must admit, he looks stylish in a rugged kind of way. He lit the cigarette he took out from his jacket’s pocket, then he inhaled deeply and puffed out a cloud of smoke. Again, that action wasn’t anything special, but his relaxed demeanor mesmerized me and had me glued on the spot. Part of me wanted to know more about this guy, the other - the cynical part of me, wanted to find out what his flaws are. I don’t intend to make an enemy out of them, how could I when Xavier and Lee have been nothing but very welcoming. I just feel like it’s better for me to be prepared for anything and maybe it’ll make me feel better to know that they’re not entirely perfect.

I squinted and leaned closer to the glass hoping to be able to take a closer look, but then he suddenly tilted his face up in my direction which had me dropping to the floor as fast as I can. Holy crap! I scrambled towards the bed on my knees and hands hoping like hell that he didn’t see me because I don’t want to be the weird girl who gets caught ogling some guy, especially in his own home even though it was kinda what I was doing. I quickly hopped on the bed and covered myself with the blanket. And when my heart slowed down to its normal pace, soft uncontrollable giggles erupted from my mouth. It stemmed from the realization of how ridiculous everything has been so far and yet this is only the first day. Day one and already I’ve been acting like a total lunatic around Xavier and his family.

Day two. I huffed and groaned as I tried to tie my black hair to a neat ponytail, but to my dismay, it’s one of those days where it decided to troll me instead. Finally giving up, I placed my brush down and quietly made my way to the kitchen knowing that my mom will be there most likely busying herself with making breakfast for everyone and I was right. “Do you need help?” I asked as I entered the massive kitchen. “Good morning honey, I’m just about done, so can you help me set the table instead?” was her answer, and so I turned to the cupboards, drawers, and cabinets looking for plates and forks. I’ve found most of the stuff I was looking for except for the coffee mugs, so I turned back to my mother to ask, “Hey mom, do you -” I stopped dead in my tracks totally confused at what I’m seeing. I blinked a couple of times not knowing exactly what’s happening because coming inside from the backdoor of the kitchen was a tall, dripping wet, shirtless guy covered in tattoos from his ripped chest down to his athletic arms.

None of us talked at that moment as I stared directly at two pairs of green eyes belonging to none other than the famous drummer of Lucid Mantra, Jaxon Prince. The silence must’ve made him feel awkward because Jaxon’s head tilted to the side at the same time his brows furrowed. My mom, who was now standing between us looked from me to him a couple of times, clearly wondering why we’re having a staring contest in the first place. “Oh, honey! This is Jaxon. Jaxon, this is my daughter Riley,” my mom cheerfully exclaimed. “Right. Hello,” Jaxon answered his lips quirking into a small smile. “H-Hi, how are you doing?” I asked not knowing what to do with my hands exactly. It was a toss-up between waving at him or putting my right hand between us to shake his hand, but I was too star-struck to even dare to move. “Hot,” he said slowly and this time it was my turn to mimic his head tilt brows furrowing look. Hot. It didn’t register what he was referring to with that word, but how he said it urged me to let my eyes travel south even though I was trying my best not to, but much to my dismay, they briefly did and I swear I wanted to slap myself for doing that. Yup, hot.

“Join us for breakfast?” My mom asked him breaking the silence once more. “Uh, yeah. Sure. I just need to change,” he answered smiling at her before walking towards the kitchen entrance. “Oh, and nice to meet you, Riley,” he said, briefly glancing back at me before retreating somewhere inside the house. “Yeah, me too. I mean you too!” I embarrassingly called out after him while looking at my mom with eyes as big as saucers. “That’s-” I started pointing my thumb to where the gorgeous rock star disappeared to. “The first son, Jaxon,” my mom cut in wanting to finish my sentence, but obviously failing since that wasn’t what I was going to ask. “No, I meant he’s-” I tried once more. “Oh. oh! Famous? Right, he is,” my mom interjected once more and this time she hit the nail on the head. I couldn’t even begin to understand how I missed that part. I mean not that the last name Prince is unique, but I just didn’t think that Xavier Prince and Jaxon Prince are father and son. What in the actual f**k?