Surprisingly Royal

👸 Chapter 22 : Delusional

"Good morning, ladies. I can tell I'm already making your day," Carlos says with that smug grin on his face.

"Oh please, it's already afternoon, Jerk oh wait!, I mean Carlos," I shoot back. "And honestly, I'm not even mad at you for not knowing that. You probably had too many drinks last night. Must've messed with your head, because you'd have to be completely delusional to think I was actually checking you out. Right, Emily? ...Emily?"

I glance beside me to find Emily still staring at him like he's a dessert she's dying to eat.

"You've got to be kidding me, Em."

"Oh come on, Ciara. Look at him! He's hot," she says not even whispering—just loud enough for Carlos to hear.

And of course, that only makes his smirk stretch even wider. Ugh. I seriously want to slap that look off his face.

"You're impossible," I grumble, storming into the house before either of them can say anything else.

I mean, I can't just stand there looking like an idiot. Knowing myself, I'd end up ogling again. No thank you.

"Well, someone's clearly got her panties in a twist," I hear Carlos mutter behind me.

He follows me into the living room, still shirtless, while Emily trails behind him, basically still drooling.

"Don't you think barging into my house without an invite is a little rude?" he says, folding his arms across his bare chest.

Ugh, can he not go get a shirt? This has to be intentional. He's messing with me on purpose. And worst of all? It's working. My brain is mush and all I can focus on are his abs. I hate this.

"Well, standing shirtless in front of us isn't exactly classy either," I snap back.

"This is my house, remember?" he replies casually.

"Yeah, and your parents wouldn't exactly approve of your little outfit."

"Good thing they're not here, then."

"Would you two stop already?" Emily finally says, probably tired of our endless arguing.

"Agreed. I'm not about to waste my day on him. Just go tell Matilda and Rebecca we're here and get out of my sight," I fire at him.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Carlos says, clearly offended. "Do you even know who you're messing with? I'll—"

"Alright, that's it. I'm going to find Mat myself. You two can keep being dramatic," Emily huffs and storms upstairs.

Wow. What a supportive best friend. (Note the sarcasm.)

Just before she disappears up the stairs, she turns and asks, "Uh, which room is hers again?"

"Second door on your left," Carlos and I answer at the same time.

Seriously? Could this day get any worse? Now I'm accidentally syncing words with Jerk.

As soon as Emily vanishes into Mat's room, I turn to him.

"What are you still doing here? Go away," I snap.

I don't even know why I'm this irritated. Everything is getting under my skin today. Probably because of how I was dragged out of bed this morning. Not a great start.

"Alright, I've had enough of your attitude," Carlos says, suddenly grabbing my wrist and dragging me to the dining area.

Before I can say anything, he pins me against the wall. I try to push him off, but he won't budge. he's annoyingly strong.

And then it happens. I get completely lost in his deep brown eyes.

We're just... staring at each other, like we're in some kind of intense, silent standoff. I want to shove him away, but a bigger part of me weirdly doesn't mind being this close.

"Why do you always pretend like you don't care about me or what I do?" he whispers near my ear.

And just like that, a shiver runs down my spine. My stomach twists and turns, and okay, yes, it's cliché, but I feel weirdly warm and shaky all over.

I hate how nice this feels.

"I see you've got nothing to say," he mutters.

"What if I told you I'm not pretending?" I whisper, finally pushing him away to get some air. I didn't even realize I'd been holding my breath.

"Let's see how that goes then," he says with a smirk and oh no, I actually blush.

I can't believe this. Me, blushing about this.

I probably look like a tomato. No wonder he looks so damn smug.

Without another word, I spin around and hurry up the stairs, desperate to escape whatever just happened between us.

At the top, I glance back and there he is, leaning against the wall, still staring at me like he knows exactly what he's doing.

I shoot him a smirk of my own before walking into Matilda's room.

⸻

A/N:
Whaaat? Two chapters in under 24 hours?!
I'm proud of myself 😌

Thanks for reading, besties 🫶
See you in the next chapter 💕

Byeee
Love,
iamnanaserwaa8