The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 80

And a Princess, I think to myself, opening the flue to the chimney with a little smirk on my mouth. But, at least some secrets have to be kept tonight, right?

Ben and Luca stay late, but not too late – walking a fine line between knowing that they’re not going to be able to sleep tonight for the sake of excitement, and wanting very much to get a lot of sleep tonight so that they’re fresh for tomorrow.

Plus, our little room is very cozy at night, it turns out. We spend a couple of hours laughing and chatting around the fire, the oil lamps that Rafe lights around the room giving everything a particularly comfortable glowing ambiance. The coffee cake really is very good, and I think we all over-do it a little bit on the sugar and snacks after two weeks of eating the bland suppers that the barrack cafeteria provided.

As the hours pass I relax, wrapped up in the fuzzy green blanket Rafe gave me, warm and calm, a little unable to keep my eyes from drifting back to Luca’s laughing face. I let myself fall quiet, allowing the boys take over the conversation, and instead I just…listen. As their words fade to a steady hum I drift away into my own thoughts, thinking about how much I like my life right now, how lucky I am to be here.

How much I want to tell my mom everything, all about it.

My hand drifts to the hair ribbon in my pocket, and I doze off a little while I stroke the soft velvet with my thumb.

“Hey,” a soft voice says I don’t know how long later, and my eyes slowly drift open.

It takes a second for me to focus on Luca, leaning towards me a little, but then I gasp with guilt as I realize that in my sleep I stretched out and my feet have drifted into his lap. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I gasp, starting to pull them back, “I’m hogging the couch –“

“No,” he says, laughing, putting a warm hand on my calf, letting me know I don’t have to jump away. Slowly, liking the feel of his hand on my leg a little too much, I relax. “I’m just leaving now.” He murmurs. “But I wanted to say goodnight.” Slowly – almost like he doesn’t realize it, Luca’s thumb drifts across my calf, slowly pressing the soft muscle there.

It’s almost the sort of thing he wouldn’t notice that he was doing. But when I move my eyes back up to his, and find his intense stare already on me?

Yeah. He knows what he’s doing.

“Oh…” I say, kind of at a loss for words, but when I glance up at the clock I startle. “Luca!” I gasp, leaning forward to smack him on the shoulder, “You have to get up in seven hours!”

“Eh, I’ll be all right,” he says, shrugging and ignoring my weak blow. “Besides, it was very relaxing listening to you snore just now – almost meditative –“

I gasp, sitting up straight. “I did not –“

“You did,” Jesse calls over his shoulder, heading to the bathroom.

I look around, seeing that Ben is already gone, and Rafe is carrying the tray full of empty plates over to the dumbwaiter.

“Good night, Shrimp,” Luca says, laughing softly at as I move my feet from his lap and let him stand up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I say, yawning and watching him pull his boots back on. “Sleep well.”

“Oh, I will,” he says, glancing over at me. “I just hope I have some…good dreams.”

I go still, pink creeping over my cheeks as I look sharply up at him, trying to figure out…

But he just smirks at me, shaking his head a little as if I just confirmed something. He stands up straight, putting his hands on his waist, studying me.

“Oh, go away,” I sigh, standing up too, “I’m too tired for this.” I wave a dismissive hand at him, tossing my pretty throw blanket on the couch.

Luca laughs, but I just give him a shove towards the door and head for my little nook.

My mate calls his goodbyes to us and closes the door behind him as I jump into my little fluffy bed, snuggling down into the pillows and pulling the warm blankets over me. I’m very pleased to find that the bed is already toasty warm – probably due to the way the nook is nestled in next to the fire place.

“Night, little sister!” Rafe calls to me from across the room.

“Night, Rafe!” I mumble back. “Jesse!”

But honestly? I’m basically already asleep again as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Because tomorrow is a big – big day, and I can hardly wait for it to get here.

Presuming, of course, there are no nighttime interruptions that get in the way…