Royal Dilemma

Chapter Thirty-One

(Caleb's Point of View)

Colin comes to a stop a few yards away from the front of the restaurant.

"Okay, let's go over the rules again," he says, raking a hand through his hair.

I roll my eyes.

"No embarrassing childhood stories, no teasing, don't talk about the video game, no saying weird shit—"

"Colin," I cut in. "I get it. Let's go."

Colin sighs very dramatically and turns toward the restaurant's entrance, yanking open the doors.

Inside is brightly lit by the front and back wall which are taken over by windows. Wood tables are scattered around and everything looks clean and bright.

Colin and I are seated in the back by one of the large windows. The smell of bacon in the air is already making my stomach gurgle.

"Do they have cinnamon rolls?" I ask him, opening my menu.

Colin ignores me, opening his own menu and seeming to stare at it without reading it.

I sigh. "You need to relax."

Colin's eyes snap up and fixate on something behind me. I turn my head just in time to see a pretty redhead approach our table. She pulls out a pad of a paper and a pen and smiles down on Colin.

"I see you brought your body double today, Princess," she says.

I'm a little impressed she was able to tell us apart right away. It takes most people quite a while to get the hang of that.

Then the nickname registers. I try to hide my smile. Princess?

"This is my brother Caleb," Colin says, gesturing to me.

She turns her eyes on me and her smile gets a little bit bigger. "Finally, someone who can give me all the dirt I need to blackmail you."

I smile and shake my head. "I am under strict orders to keep my mouth shut."

She raises an eyebrow at Colin. "Well I'm Piper, I'll be your waitress today. Can I get you something to drink?"

Piper raises another eyebrow when I order chocolate milk and then she's gone, red ponytail bouncing.

"She's cute," I say, turning to Colin.

"You weren't supposed to tell her I told you not to say anything," he hisses.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't in the rules."

He leans back in his chair and sighs.

Piper comes back and takes our order then she disappears again and I find myself wondering when Colin had the time to talk to her enough to be this interested.

It's not until after we've eaten and the restaurant has emptied out a little bit that Piper comes over to our table, pulling out a chair and plopping down with a sigh.

"Okay, I'm on my break." She turns her attention on Colin. "Tell me you played that new shooter game."

Colin perks up. "The one with the robots?"

She nods.

"Yeah, it was fun."

"Could've fooled me," I drawl. "You raged every ten minutes."

Colin glares at me and Piper turns to me with a smile.

"How did he do?" She asks me.

"I'd say mediocre."

"Shut up, Caleb," Colin snaps.

Piper reaches over and squeezes his cheek. "Take it easy big guy." She turns back to me. "I keep telling him he needs to make the switch to PC."

"We like console because we can play together while actually being together," I explain. "If we play together on PCs we have to be in separate rooms."

"Is it some freaky twin thing you have to be attached at the hip?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Colin cuts in.

"We don't really have any friends," I tell her. "So it's nice to spend actual time with a human person."

"Princess too good for us regular people?" She coos at Colin in a mocking baby voice.

"Just tired of getting treated different," he says.

Her mocking smile drops and she actually looks like she might feel sorry for us for a second. She shifts in her seat and then she's smiling again.

"I heard you payed my friend a visit," she says to me.

I freeze and Colin looks over at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, playing dumb.

"My best friend works at The Pearl. She said you've been coming in once a week."

Colin is studying me and I try to seem as innocent as possible.

"They have good food," I say casually. "I've been in the seafood mood lately."

"Who's your friend?" Colin asks, turning his attention from me to Piper.

"Her name's Charli." She reaches back and takes out her ponytail, then begins redoing it. "She's awesome. Way cooler than both of you combined." She smirks at Colin. "It's not hard to be cooler than Princess over here, though."

I feel it's safer to say nothing so I just nod. Her and Colin go back to talking about video games and I chime in every now and then to tease Colin even though that's against the rules. When Piper announces her break is over Colin's face falls a little bit then he pays our bill and we leave.

"Why have you been going to The Pearl every week?" He asks as we walk back to his car.

"They have good seafood." I shrug.

"So does the place right down the block. Why are you really going there?"

I shrug. "It's just nice to have a change of scenery."

Colin rolls his eyes but doesn't press the subject any more.

Piper's nice and from what Charli's told me about her she's great, but I really wish she hadn't brought up Charli. The last thing I need is for Colin to be asking questions about that.

Colin puts his car in gear and begins backing out of our parking spot and I study his face for any signs he might be suspicious. I don't see any, but you never know.

I really don't want my weekly visits with Charli to be ruined. It's the only time I get to see her. I miss her so much.