The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 164

“Honestly, Ari, you did kill yourself studying for this test,” Rafe says, looking at me seriously, “and I know you know the material up and down. He must have included trick questions –“

“Rafe,” I sigh, leaning back against the arm of the couch, “I don’t need the Prince going to yell at my professors for me, that’s not going to make a man like Neumann be any nicer or give me better grades.”

“I don’t want him to be nicer, I want him to be fair,” Rafe corrects.

“Well, at least we’re all doing shitty in Chemistry,” I sigh, “not just me. So. He is technically being fair.”

Rafe shifts uncomfortably in his seat, unhappy to not be able to do something to help me, I know. And my heart warms more to see him like that, to know that I have a big brother who’d tear the world to pieces to make it a cozier place for me.

But still, I want to prove myself here – I really do. I don’t want to cut corners and get special treatment, and I know Jesse and Rafe get that.

“Well, we’ll burn an effigy of him on midwinter,” Jesse says, his eyes on his own textbook, studying some kind of military theory. “That will make us all feel better.”

Rafe nods sagely, smirking at Jesse, but he gets up when the dumbwaiter bell rings, heading to the little door to get our dinner.

Luca gives me a little nudge with his toe and I turn to see him give me a little smirk and a wink. I smile, biting my lip and leaning my weight against his leg a little more, pleased to see him.

Because while these past few weeks and months have been absolutely grueling?

Luca has been…absolutely the best part.

Every day we meet at breakfast and I’m absolutely buzzing to see him. We eat with our legs pressed together beneath the table, and I kind of forget that anyone else is around, so lost do we get in our conversations. Luca heads off with Jesse and Rafe to do their warrior stuff all day, and I either head to Chemistry or Marksmanship or study with Ben.

But nights? Nights are where Luca and I really shine.

Dinner in our suite is always the best end to these long and grueling days, with my little group of friends all cobbling together to study, and eat, and make each other laugh as much as we can. We’re all stressed, I know – the program makes us that way. But with Jesse’s wild sense of humor, and Rafe’s wry quips, and Ben’s clever observations and Luca’s bold willingness to say whatever damn thing comes into his head?

God, I spent most of my evenings stretched out on the couch, holding my stomach because I’m laughing so hard.

Luca, I know, delights in this, and he’s figured out precisely the things to say that make me laugh the hardest, pushing those buttons expertly like a scientist whose singular job is to make me laugh so hard my ribs ache. We spend most of our nights stretched out on the couch together, beaming at each other, just…so incredibly pleased to be in each other’s company.

Jesse and Ben smile happily at Luca and me, I think pleased to be able to watch our relationship develop, but Rafe…

Well, perhaps predictably, he’s less pleased.

“You need to be careful with him, Ari,” Rafe says one night after Luca, Ben, and Jesse head down to the gym to do a little boxing practice. Rafe, to my surprise, stays back with me, sitting on the couch with me, studying me carefully.

“What?” I ask, sitting up straight and not bothering to pretend that he’s talking about Ben. “What’s wrong?”

Rafe just slowly shakes his head at me. “You have a mate, Ariel,” he says softly, like he doesn’t want to have to be the one who says it.

I bite my lip, not really knowing how to respond to that. Because, of course, Rafe thinks that he’s talking about Jackson – but really, he’s talking about Luca too.

“Look,” Rafe sighs, glancing at the door where the three boys just left, “dad had this chat with me a long time ago, and so now I’m going to have it with you. But…can you promise to keep this between us? It’s personal.”