Page 40 of Royal Fling
“Should I call us a cab, Luke?” someone asked behind us, startling the both of us, and we turned to find Paul standing at the balcony door with his own tumbler in his hand.
Luke’s hand came off mine in a rush, and I felt the hit of its absence like a boot on my chest.
“I… uhm, I think I’ll stay here for the night, Dad. Fisayo wanted to show me London today, but I kinda…”—He glanced at me and then back at his dad—“Flaked. So I thought we’d do it tomorrow. If August doesn’t mind, of course.”
“Of course not. Leah and Tina are more than capable of taking care of things. Besides, I’ll hardly be at home tomorrow, so she’s really not needed. Even if she was, I can survive without her. It’s not every day you’re reunited with your long-lost son.”
Paul straightened his neck and nodded.
“Okay then. I’ll just hitch a ride myself.”
“You can stay here, too, if you’d like. We’ve got plenty of space,” I said.
“I… I don’t think-I wouldn’t want to impose—”
“Nonsense. You’re not imposing. I’ll let the girls know to prepare the guest rooms,” I said and walked back inside.
“You can come with us tomorrow if you want, Dad,” I heard Luke say behind me, and I left the two men to it to find the girls and ask them to prepare the second guest room.
“Hey, Nonny, have you seen Tina or Leah?” I asked, walking into the kitchen.
Fisayo smiled at me and with an eye roll replied, “You dismissed them earlier. Did you forget? What do you need?”
I told her about Paul staying over, and she ironed out her dress, closing the dishwasher.
“It should be all ready. I’ll go check,” she said and tried to bypass me.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked her.
She stopped and turned to look at me.
“Of course I am.”
“I’m sorry for springing Paul on you. I would have told you—”
“Don’t worry about it, Auggie. It was going to happen sooner or later. Besides, it went well, didn’t it?”
I nodded, and she left the room.
Later that night when everyone was in bed, I snuck out and went to Luke’s room.
“Hey,” he said, wearing the same robe from yesterday, and I made a move to go inside, but he put his hand on my chest and pushed me back out.
“Did you change your mind?” I asked, already feeling the disappointment spread through my extremities and the weight of it in my chest.
“No, needy prince. You know, for a prince, you wear a lot of your emotions on your sleeve,” he said, also coming out of the room and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t change my mind. But I’m not having sex with my father next door, so we’re going to your room.”
I couldn’t hold back the sigh that escaped me, a fact that Luke noticed and teased me about by ruffling my hair.
“Lead the way, Your Highness,” he whispered, and I did, taking him to my “chambers.”
“I thought your room was going to be, like, three times the size of the guest room,” he said.
“Don’t be silly. What would I do with such a large room?”
“You tell me, my prince. You’re the one that grew up in a castle.”
I raised an eyebrow, and he grabbed me by the lapel of my robe pulling me back towards the bed.
