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CHAPTER 1

THE ANGELES AIR WAS QUIET, and for a while I lay still, listening to the sound of Maxon’s breathing It was getting harder and harder to catch him in a truly calrateful that he seemed to be at his best when he and I were alone

Ever since the Selection had been narrowed down to six girls, he’d been more anxious than he hen the thirty-five of us arrived in the first place I guessed he thought he’d have uilty to admit it, I kneas the reason why he wished he did

Prince Maxon, heir to the Illéa throne, liked o that if I could simply say that I cared for hi me back, this whole competition would be over And so hoould feel to be Maxon’s alone

But the thing was, Maxon wasn’t really irls he took on dates and whispered things to—and I didn’t knohat to make of that And then there was the fact that if I accepted Maxon, it nore if only because I wasn’t sure what it would mean for me

And, of course, there was Aspen

He wasn’t technically my boyfriend anymore—he’d broken up with me before my name was even drawn for the Selection—but when he showed up at the palace as one of the guards, all the feelings I’d been trying to let go of flooded my heart Aspen was my first love; when I looked at him … I was his

Maxon didn’t know that Aspen was in the palace, but he did know that there was soraciously givingto find someone else he’d be happy with in the event I couldn’t ever love him

As hejust above my hairline, I considered it What would it be like to simply love Maxon?

“Do you knohen the last time was that I really looked at the stars?” he asked

I settled closer to hiht “No idea”

“A tutor had o If you look closely, you can tell that the stars are actually different colors”

“Wait, the last time you looked at the stars was to study them? What about for fun?”

He chuckled “Fun I’ll have to pencil in soet consultations and infrastructure co, which, by the way, I am terrible at”

“What else are you terrible at?” I asked, running ed by the touch, Maxon drew circles on my shoulder with the hand he had wrapped behind my back

“Why would you want to know that?” he asked in mock irritation

“Because I still know so little about you And you seem perfect all the time It’s nice to have proof you’re not”

He propped hi on my face “You know I’m not”

“Pretty close,” I countered Little flickers of touch ran between us Knees, arers

He shook his head, a small smile on his face “Okay, then I can’t plan wars I’ I’d be a terrible cook I’ve never tried, so—”

“Never?”

“Youyou up to your neck in pastries? They happen to feed me as well”

I giggled I helped cook practically every meal at home “More,” I demanded “What else are you bad at?”