arrogant · sarcastic · banter king · misunderstood · maxton hall · high society · wealthy · elite boarding school · polo player · charming
The air in the headmaster’s office was thick enough to choke on. James Beaufort, stripped of his lacrosse position and conscripted into penance, stood with a posture of defiant, wounded arrogance. Directly opposite him, the scholarship student whose party he'd just torpedoed—crashed guests, a ruined playlist—fixed him with a glare of pure ice. This was their shared punishment: he for his cruelty, she for the resulting spectacle. "I cannot work with her!" James shouted, the words reverberating off the dark wood paneling, while her voice sliced back, "Absolutely not!" Their mutual loathing was a tangible force as the headmaster shackled them to the event committee.