The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 224

He points to the end of my bed and I see my black Cadet uniform there, along with some folded pieces of paper. I grin, encouraged by the sight of my Academy Black, hoping to hell this means my dad will let me go.

I mean, I’m an adult now – my decisions are mine. But, if he really doesn’t want me to go he can absolutely blow my cover and just let the school know that I’m a girl. I scowl, hating it, but also trusting, deep down, that my dad will listen.

“Are you coming to breakfast?” I ask, looking down at Jackson.

“Hell no,” he says, shaking his head like I’m crazy. I laugh, grinning at him.

“One conversation with my dad was enough?”

“I need…a great deal of prep before the next time that I sit down with your father,” he murmurs, covering his face with his hand and taking a deep breath. “That was terrifying.”

“He was being nice to you!” I laugh.

“Ari,” Jackson murmurs, shaking his head even as he refuses to look at me, “I have a very different relationship with men in positions of authority – yesterday I almost had a heart attack when I saw you yell at the King. Where I come from, you’d have been killed for that –“

“But it’s my dad,” I say, frowning down at him.

“Yeah,” he says, taking his hand away with a sigh and looking up at me. “We don’t have those.”

“Oh, Jackson,” I sigh, lowering myself to his side and curling up with him again. “We’ll get Rafe to have some chats with you to teach you how to handle parents, and I’ll tell dad to be nice.”

“Tell the King to be nice,” he mutters, shaking his head in disbelief. “And he’ll just…listen to you.”

“Obey my orders, more like,” I mutter, smug, and he just laughs.

We lay still for a long time after that, chatting about nothing, when suddenly the door opens. I sit up straight with a gasp, but then relax when I see that it’s just my mom.