Never Have I Ever Land: A Sweet YA Romance (Fall in Love Like a Princess Book 3) Read online

  Never Have I Ever Land

  Fall in Love Like a Princess

  Maggie Dallen

  Copyright © 2021 by Maggie Dallen

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Image © Shutterstock - Idutko

  Cover Design © Designed with Grace

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  About the Author

  One

  Maverick

  My football coach was always telling me to unleash my inner beast on the field.

  I stared down at the top of Beauty’s head as she gave the fur-covered glove another tug. She was trying to force it onto my hand to complete the Beast costume.

  Somehow, I didn’t think this was the beast my coach was referring to.

  The thought made me laugh. But apparently Callie—the girl who was playing Beauty to my Beast at this kids’ party—took the sound to be a grunt of pain because she glanced up with a wince. “Sorry. Am I hurting you?”

  I laughed again at the thought of this little slip of nothing hurting me and her wince turned to a look of real concern as her eyes narrowed in thought. She bit her lips as she cast the ill-fitting furry gloves another look. “Maybe we can do without the gloves.”

  I gave a little grunt of agreement and she responded with a brilliant smile. Why? I didn’t know. Smiles seemed to be this girl’s default setting. It was weird.

  And nice.

  But also weird. Because unlike other girls I knew, the girls who hung out in my crowd, her smiles weren’t the slightest bit flirtatious. She just seemed happy. Like, all the time.

  As I’d said before—weird. And nice. And pretty in a ridiculously adorable kind of way. And sweet. And...currently losing all interest in me.

  Her hands lingered on the furry glove that wouldn’t quite fit over my large hands, but rather than teasing me about having such big hands, this girl ducked. She was using my body as a shield, peering around me at someone or something in the distance.

  “Callie, quit stalking and go over there and talk to the guy,” Isla said. The new girl was currently dressed up as Snow White with an ugly brown helmet that was supposed to be hair, and she was talking to my Beauty with an air of exasperation.

  Stalking? Who was Callie stalking?

  I stayed as still as possible.

  Honestly, I wasn’t used to being so blatantly ignored, but I wasn’t offended. I was a quiet guy, and while that normally didn’t stop me from being the center of attention at school, I’d discovered that nothing was normal when it came to this Princess Troupe.

  And yeah, I was officially part of the Princess Troupe. Football came first, obviously, but on the nights and weekends when I could help Mrs. Messner out and make a few bucks for spending money, I was one of their on-call princes.

  No one in his right mind would give me crap for being a ‘prince.’ It was one of the unspoken perks of being the biggest guy at school and a star of the football team. No one gave me crap for anything.

  Another perk? Girls noticed me. Not to sound like a cocky jerk or anything but it had always been this way, ever since junior high. I’d never had to flirt or charm or even talk, actually, because girls were just there. Friends too. Friends sort of just came with being on a team. But girls? They noticed me. They flirted with me.

  Normally.

  I stared down at Callie’s brown hair which was currently being held off her face with a big blue bow. She was looking between Isla and whoever it was she was supposedly stalking.

  “I can’t just talk to him,” she said, her voice all high with panic.

  Who? I wanted to ask. But I also didn’t really want to break the moment. Was it wrong to eavesdrop on a conversation when they were literally right there?

  I didn’t think so.

  I hoped not.

  “He’s not an actual rock star, you know that right?” Isla teased.

  Who wasn’t a rock star? I wanted to crane my neck to see who they were talking about, but again—they seemed to think I was an inanimate object. I wasn’t ready to startle them by revealing the fact that I wasn’t deaf or made of marble. So I stayed put.

  “He might as well be,” Callie said. Her soft sigh did something odd to my chest. It tightened and swelled at the same time.

  What the—

  What was that feeling?

  “Dude.” Isla said the word like it was a statement in and of itself.

  Maybe it was, because Callie seemed to know what it meant.

  “I know,” she said with another sappy sigh.

  This time the sigh made me angry. This was a sensation I knew well. To clarify, I wasn’t angry at her, just at whoever it was that had her sighing.

  I didn’t know Callie well. We’d been going to the same small school since I’d transferred as a freshman so I knew her, but we didn’t hang out in the same crowd. The extent of my interactions with her up until I’d joined the Princess Troupe had been limited. Mainly just being in the same classes. I wasn’t sure we’d ever actually exchanged words until we’d started working together. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t ready to kick someone’s butt for her.

  But, just like there were perks that came with being the biggest baddie on the football team, there were unspoken rules that went with it too. Like, I could be as loud and aggressive as I wanted on the field, but if I acted like that off the field, I’d just be a bully.

  And I was not a bully. My mom raised me better than that.

  Beating up some dude I didn’t know for making a girl sigh was a big no-no. I knew this, but it didn’t stop my hands from clenching into fists at my sides.

  “Just go over there,” Isla insisted.

  And then Savannah was joining us, but she at least acknowledged my existence. “What’s up, Beast?”

  “Hey.”

  The one word seemed to startle Callie and then she was grinning up at me as if I’d just won the state championship right then and there. All I’d done was say ‘hey.’

  “The gloves don’t fit?” Savannah asked. I couldn’t tell if she was asking me or Callie, but Callie answered on my behalf.

  No, they didn’t fit. Like the rest of the outfit, the gloves had been made for someone of a normal size. Luckily the beast’s head fit, otherwise I’d just be walking around in an ugly blue jacket that was threatening to rip at the seams every time I moved a muscle.

  Savannah nodded with pursed lips. She was Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or something. I hadn’t been doing these gigs long enough to know the difference between the princesses.

  I had a feeling Callie would be horrified if I told her that. Don’t ask me why, but she and Savannah took their roles very seriously. Even now, Savannah was pursing her lips and eyeing me from head to toe critically. “Luckily, his size alone makes him a good fit for the part.”

  Huh. Now even Savannah was talking about me in the third person
like I wasn’t here. Savannah was one of the girls that hung out in my crowd, so I knew her better than Callie, and definitely better than the girl who’d only moved to town a few weeks ago. It wasn’t like we were close or anything, but we went to the same parties and sat at the same lunch table. We’d never hooked up, though. She had a stuck-up vibe about her and a reputation for being kind of a diva. Rumor had it she thought she was too good to date a high school guy, or whatever. Which was fine by me. She was hot, but I’d never had a thing for her.

  Isla turned to Savannah with arched brows. “Would you please tell Callie to go over there and talk to Roman?”

  Roman. A surge of rage shot through me so quickly I almost didn’t catch the growl before it slipped out of my mouth.

  I stared at Callie whose cheeks had turned pink.

  She had a thing for Roman? I didn’t have to turn around to know he was one of the guys setting up the catering station on the far side of the lawn. He worked with Flynn at that restaurant on Main Street, and he’d graduated the year before.

  The guy was bad news, that was pretty much all I knew about him. Always in trouble when he was at Lindale High. A player and a slacker and...

  Apparently Callie here thought he was a rock star.

  I glared down at Callie, but she’d gone back to ignoring my presence. An impressive feat since I towered over her and was about double the width of the girl.

  “I don’t know what to say.” Callie was chewing on her lip and Isla braced her by her shoulders.

  “Remember what we talked about. It’s all about perception.” Isla shrugged. “Act hot and he’ll think you’re hot.”

  My glare should have burned a hole in the new girl’s head. Callie didn’t have to act anything. She was hot. No, she was better than hot. She was sweet and kind and sincere and yeah, also hot in a cute girl-next-door kind of way.

  I turned my glare to Callie because she was nodding, like this made sense, and I wanted to ask her if she’d ever looked in a mirror.

  “Come on,” Savannah said, already walking away in the direction of the catering station.

  “Wait! I can’t.” Callie was still protesting as Isla moved her grip from Callie’s shoulders to her elbow and started steering her along in Savannah’s wake.

  I found myself following too. I mean, why not? They didn’t seem to care that I’d just been part of their private conversation. And besides, Callie might need me around if Roman got ideas.

  I couldn’t stop my growl this time, but none of the girls seemed to notice. Of course not. I was just the giant in a Beast costume walking two steps behind, a stuffed animal head tucked beneath my arm. Nothing to see here.

  When the girls drew close, Flynn looked up first from where he was stocking a bin full of ice and sodas, and he grinned at the sight of his new girlfriend. “How do you make Snow White look freakin’ hot?” he asked as he came around the table to pull her into his arms. They were already making out as they stumbled back for some privacy behind a row of trees that lined the Harper family’s backyard.

  Roman finally took notice that he had two hot chicks standing in front of his table and he wiped his hands off to face them with a slow smile. “Ladies,” he said in a flirty tone that made me want to punch him.

  Savannah looked to Callie but when it became clear she was just going to stand there and blush, the tall blonde started up a conversation about Roman’s catering job and the people who were throwing this party—apparently, they were good tippers.

  On my very first day, Savannah had informed me of two things. One, she was in this to make money. Not that I’d thought she was dressing up as a princess on the weekends for kicks, but whatever. And two, she’d prefer it if I didn’t tell my buddies at school about what went on at these parties.

  By the way she’d said it one would think that ‘what went on’ at the kids’ parties involved drugs and strippers, not birthday cake and Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

  But again, whatever. I got it. Her business was her business. I could respect that.

  And right now, she’d apparently made it her business to help ease the awkward silence that was Callie right now.

  I’d never seen her so quiet or blush so much. She was normally animated and chatty, making her friends laugh and throwing out compliments and spreading good cheer like it was her job.

  If I still believed in Santa, I would have been one hundred percent certain this chick was an elf in disguise.

  But right now she was biting her lip and staring at Roman with wide eyes.

  Roman, meanwhile, only had eyes for Savannah as he told her about his new band and how they were still looking for a lead singer. “You should audition.”

  Savannah’s brows arched. “Why would I do that?”

  Roman eyed her from head to toe. “Because you look like you were born for the spotlight.”

  Savannah smirked and cocked a hip. “You’re right. But I definitely wasn’t born to sing.”

  She glanced over at Callie, who giggled at the inside joke. And then she walked over to my little Beauty and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “But Callie, on the other hand...”

  Roman blinked as if he were just now noticing Callie.

  As if she wasn’t glowing with that huge smile and rosy cheeks.

  “You sing?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Yes. I mean, sort of.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes and I did too. I hadn’t been doing these parties for long, but I’d been at a few now and I’d heard her sing. The girl didn’t ‘sort of’ sing. The girl was amazing.

  “She’s awesome.” Savannah said it like she was daring anyone to deny it.

  I was starting to like Savannah more and more. I liked the way she was around Callie, at least. And I liked that she wasn’t swooning over Roman like Callie was.

  My gaze narrowed on Callie. Yup. She had freakin’ stars in her eyes. And she still didn’t seem to notice that I was standing a few feet away watching her.

  Not in a creepy way. I didn’t think. I hoped not.

  I forced myself to look away, watching the party guests arrive as Savannah gushed over Callie’s singing skills.

  “Cool.” Roman didn’t sound as enthusiastic as Savannah, but he did aim that smile at Callie. “You should come to the audition. Friday night. I’ll text you the address.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Callie said. She fidgeted with her skirt as she glanced over at the staging area where Mrs. Messner was motioning for all of us to join her. “I should, um...I should...”

  She darted off before she could finish that sentence and I was left glaring at Roman.

  Why? I wasn’t entirely sure. But best to put the fear of God into him now. Just in case he got ideas.

  He took one look at me, his eyes widened in surprise at my glare, and then he turned to get back to his work.

  I let out a sharp exhale. My job here was done.

  I turned to follow Callie. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was supposed to do as Beast other than follow her around, to be honest. That was all I’d done when Mrs. Messner had made me be the Prince Charming to her Snow White last weekend and everyone had seemed happy with it.

  But when I turned I almost ran smack into Savannah and Isla, who’d apparently finished her makeout session. Isla had her phone out and was taking a picture of me in all my Beastly glory. “What was that for?” I asked.

  Isla eyed the picture and then me. “We saw the way you were watching Callie,” she said.

  Savannah took the phone from Isla to show me the picture. “Blackmail material. If you ever hurt my friend, this will be everywhere.”

  Isla crossed her arms. “And I’ll tell everyone this is how you get your kicks in the bedroom.”

  They both gave me a deadly glare as they shared a fist bump.

  I glared right back at them until they turned to walk away. When they were gone, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Yeah, Savannah was nuts. And Isla was probably certifiable. But if they wer
e willing to blackmail the biggest, baddest football player at Lindale High to protect Callie?

  They were all right by me.

  Two

  Callie

  My car was possessed. Some demon from another dimension had clearly taken possession of the stupid old lemon. Or maybe it was the spirit of some cruel and unusual old hag who had it out for me.

  “What have I ever done to you?” I hissed as I tried and failed to start the car for the millionth time. “Why do you hate me?”

  It didn’t answer. I climbed out, the gauzy green tulle of the Tinkerbell costume tangling around my legs as I struggled out of the low seat.

  I stared at the faded tan exterior as if I might be able to see what was wrong.

  It had never worked before, but maybe this time I’d magically be able to fix it. The problem with my car was—it could be anything. At some point or another, every single part of this car had broken on me, and always at the least opportune moment.

  Not that there was ever really a good time to have a car break down. But it always seemed to happen at the absolute worst times ever.

  Like right now, for example. When I was already running late for the most important date of a lifetime.

  Okay, not a date. An audition.

  Which was even more nerve wracking. I looked down at my costume with a little sob of despair. This could not be happening.

  Just once in my life I’d wanted to look cool. Every time Roman saw me I was either decked out in ugly wigs or some ridiculous scarecrow costume, and just once I wanted him to see me as a woman and not a little kid playing dress-up.

  I scowled down at the gauzy petal-shaped skirt. And now this.

  I’d planned to leave early enough so I could go home and shower off all the glitter before changing into something sexy—or, maybe not sexy. I didn’t really have much in my closet that screamed ‘sexy’ or ‘rockstar’, but I’d figured pretty much anything other than a Tinkerbell costume would suffice.