The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 195

“Well, kind of!” he replies, laughing louder now, freer. “I mean, I just didn’t let my mind go there before. You were just…another guy. A little shrimpy one who I liked hanging out with, and who I worried about sometimes. But…I didn’t think of you that way.”

I narrow my eyes at him, leaning a little closer, inspecting his face for lies. “That’s not how attraction works, Jackson. You can’t just decide to turn it on and off.”

He stares at me stoically for a long moment before his mouth twitches in the start of a smile.

I gasp, pointing at his face. “You totally were!” I whisper, thrilled. “You were into the Shrimp! You had a crush on me!”

He laughs, snatching my finger out of the air and wrapping his hand around mine even as he leans closer. “Fine, I thought…I thought you had a nice smile, okay?”

I grin, leaning into him, making him say more.

He groans, sighing and rolling his eyes. “And nice skin and…and pretty eyes. But! I thought you were my mate’s twin, okay? That was my best guess. So, I was just imagining what she looked like, which was probably a lot like…you?” His face twists up now, getting all muddled in the truth.

I laugh with him, leaning back against him, pleased. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t find me totally repulsive.”

“Not totally,” he murmurs, lightly tracing his fingers down my arm and then around my back, settling me cozily against him again. “What about you?” he asks, his voice a little wicked.

“Oh,” I sigh, leaning my head against him. “It was terrible.”

“What?!” He’s laughing now.

Jackson releases a long sigh and drops his eyes from mine.

My heart drops along with his gaze, and I worry that I’ve said too much, or the wrong thing –

“No,” he murmurs, reaching out and taking my hand, wrapping it in his. “It’s fine – I want to tell you. It’s just…I have been taught, all my life, to keep it a secret. So, it takes a little bit of…unlearning, you know? To muster up the courage and tell you everything.”

I bite my lip, worried for different reasons now, and press myself against him, hoping to communicate my support, my genuine interest, my faith. He raises his face to mine with a small smile, and I give him mine in return.

“Honestly, Ari, it’s probably better that I didn’t know you were a girl when we first met, really,” he murmurs, smirking a little, “or else I’d never have been able to talk to you. Not at all.”