// Best YA Romance in the Romance Fiction Awards 2021//
Thrill Hawthorne, keeping up to his name, lives his life on the edge. Or so people think.
Ignatius Rookwood is the darling son and the sole male heir to a gigantic business corporation. Or so...
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"I love burgers!" Ignatius said for the sixth time as he and Thrill got into the latter's car. "How can something that's so unhealthy taste so good?"
Thrill laughed. "Dude, that's the whole point of fast food."
"Shit." Ignatius shook his head, smiling. He couldn't believe he had been missing out on something so insanely delicious all his life!
Thrill shot him a smirk before starting the engine. "You're welcome."
Watching the small, shabby fast-food restaurant through the rear-view mirror, Ignatius felt the familiar pang of jealously creeping in. Thrill could go to such places, eat such food, whenever he wanted. He could walk into a public place without a shirt and wink at strangers. He could jump from cliffs and roller-skate through the city. He could befriend whoever he wanted, or... kiss whoever he wanted.
Subconsciously, Ignatius raised his right hand to look at the silver ring on his fourth finger. The gesture caught Thrill's attention and he raised a brow, "Don't tell me!"
Ignatius turned to Thrill. "What?"
"Don't tell me you're engaged or something." Thrill chuckled. "Your family's so crazy, I won't even be surprised at this point."
Ignatius pursed his lips and looked down, tucking his hands on his lap, trying to hide the ring.
Thrill turned to gape at him, no longer smiling. "Oh my god, for real?" he gasped.
Ignatius said nothing. He did not know what to say.
"But you're like... fifteen," Thrill cried.
"I'm eighteen," Ignatius snapped, finally looking up. "And we're not getting married anytime soon, it's just a formality to get engaged – why are you looking at me like that?"
Ignatius thought Thrill would laugh and make fun of him, but what he got instead was a look of surprise and... concern? "That's messed up! You should run away from home, dude."
It took Ignatius a few moments to digest those words. He agreed, and that thought terrified him. "I love my fiancé," he said instead.
Thrill shook his head and focused his gaze back on the road. "Sure, that makes it less messed up," he said drily.
The rest of the way was filled with silence. Thrill stopped the car a little away from the Rookwood Mansion so that no one would see them together and for that Ignatius was grateful. It even gave him hope that Thrill wouldn't tell his family about the... incidents from earlier that day. If his mother somehow caught wind of it –
Ignatius did not dare finish the thought.
"Don't worry," Thrill said as Ignatius unfastened his seatbelt. "No one will know."
