Book 1 || Finding Prince Charming || Harry Styles

Chapter 16

Her view.

There's silence for a moment, and I lay there pretending like I'm falling asleep before I slowly open my eyes to see if he went to his room. I nearly jump out of my skin as I see his eyes peering down on into mine.
"What are you doing?" I sputter as I sit up.
"Coming to see if you were really sleeping."
"Well, I am." I glare at him again, trying to ignore the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs inside.
"Should we call it a truce?" He sits down on the couch next to me.
"I suppose." I shrug and then look over at him. "Though I'm not sleeping with you. That train has passed."
"Well, that's regretful." He grabs the remote control. "Let's just watch a movie. Then you can leave."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"How did you like the art show yesterday?" He peers at me thoughtfully.
"It was fun. I enjoyed it a lot."
"Oh, you like art?" His eyes are shining. "I don't meet any girls who enjoy art."
"Kinda," I mumble, not sure why I don't tell him that I'm actually in London because I'm taking an art history course as part of my college degree. Maybe it's because I don't want to draw attention to the fact that I'm still in college.

He looks like he's in his late twenties and I'm sure that he won't be interested in someone in her early twenties.
"Or were you there to find yourself a rich man?"
"Yeah, that's it," I huff, annoyed that he's seeing me as a gold-digger. First I was a prostitute and now I'm a gold-digger.
"I go to art shows to meet rich men for a night of hot sex."
"Very funny, Cassie." He chuckles and sits back.
"Do you like art?" I look at him curiously. I assume he does because he's been at the show, but who knows why he's really here. Maybe he and Liam go to art shows to pick up girls.
"Or were you there to find a young impressionable girl to hook up with?"
"Touché" He laughs and then pauses. "I think that art is as important as the air we breathe."
"Oh?" I look at him in surprise. His voice becomes alive as he talks about the subject.
"I don't suppose you'd understand, but many do not understand what it is to live and breathe creativity."
"Yeah, I suppose I don't." I think about Anna and how bored she looks when I talk about Monet and hi Impressionist paintings.
"I can see I'm boring you." He jumps up from the couch. "Let's watch a movie."
"Okay, thanks." I peer up at him and try to avoid staring at his lips. I'm not sure why I lie about loving art. It just feels too personal and too intimate for a subject to discuss. I don't want to find out that we have things in common.

This is just supposed to be a night of fun. I don't want to fall for him.
"I'm feeling a bit sleepy."
"Then I'll let you sleep." He nods an stands there, looking at me with a blank expression.
I feel oddly disappointed and sigh as he leaves me alone, and I lay back and look at the ceiling, wondering what on earth I'm doing. I stare around the room and I actually can't believe where I am. I'm just a regular girl from Palm Bay, Florida. I've never been abroad before, yet here I am in London, with my best friend Anna, having the time of my life. And I've only been in London for a little over a week. Everything in my life seems different and better, though there's still a dull ache and pain that throbs through to the surface when it thinks no one's paying attention.

I close my eyes and try to picture Harry's face. I don't want to think about what I've left back home; it's not worth it. This is my life now--or at least it is for the next nine months. I'm no longer Cassidy Franklin, nerd and boring girl next door. I'm now Cassidy Franklin, a free girl who's up for any and everything. Only maybe I didn't change as much as I thought... If I did, would I be sleeping on a couch in a hot guy's hotel room?
Wouldn't I be in the bed with him? Yeah, so he's a bit of a jerk. What does it matter? Am I not trying to do something different now?
"Night." I look at him and watch as he walks back to his bedroom. I close my eyes and wonder what went wrong so quickly. Part of me wants to go into his room and pick up where we left off. The other part of me just wants to leave and go home.