Casey Anderson isn't expecting much from her Mark - but when her soulmate turns out to be Prince August, the boy next in line for the throne, everything changes.
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In a world much like our own, Casey Anderson is trying to navigate her senior...
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My father is currently the epitome of 'if looks could kill'.
"It's - It's not what it looks like," I say, rubbing my forehead in an attempt to rid myself of the vicious headache I'm currently sporting.
"It looks like you snuck out, went to a party, got drunk, and ended up splashed all over the tabloids." My father's voice is icy.
I wince. "Yes, sir. That is true. But the girl - she fell onto me. I caught her. It wasn't anything - "
"For god's sake, August! Don't you understand? It doesn't matter if it was something or not. What matters is what it looks like. Surely even you can see what this looks like!"
My stomach sinks. He's right. He's right, and I know I messed up, I do. I really messed up.
Oh god, I really messed up. My gaze goes to my phone, lying on my bedside table. It's gotta be the middle of the night for Casey. She's probably asleep, happy, thinking we've got a chance.
Thinking we'd figured something out. She was going to come here, and I messed everything up. I make an aborted motion towards my phone. "I have to - "
My father steps past me and grabs it, sliding it into his pocket. "No. You don't do anything, you hear me? You are waiting here, and god help me not moving an inch, and I am going to try to figure out damage control. She is not important right now. More than that, she probably doesn't want to hear from you right now." He shakes his head. "You snuck out, August. We let you keep your phone, mostly unsupervised. We listened to you about that girl. And this is what you did."
I can't look at him. He's disappointed in me, and the worst part is, I actually did something wrong.
"I hope you realize the gravity of what you did," he says. "You didn't just mess up here, August. This is going to affect her as well."
Okay.
Yeah.
If even my father is telling me I've messed stuff up with her, then I really have. I've probably ruined everything before we even had a chance to really begin.
He turns to the door, looks back at me. "We are going to figure this out," he says, but it's more threatening than comforting. "We are going to come up with a plan, August, and you are going to follow it if you ever want to meet your soulmate. Do you understand?"
I swallow. "Yes sir."
He smiles, the tiniest twitch of his lips, cold and disdainful. "Good." The door slams shut behind him.
"Well, fuck," Kinsey says behind me, voice rough with sleep. I turn, meeting their eyes.
"Yeah." I sigh, running a hand through my hair, and sit on the edge of my bed. "Not that at you were helping much. Why are you even in my bed?"
