Page 138 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

“Oh, definitely not,” Caleb agrees, sliding his hand around my hip, his fingers slipping underneath the hem of my thermal top to circle over my skin. “You are going to be ravished tonight even if they are standing right outside the door listening in.”

“Okay, then even though they are idiots, they haven’t ruined anything.” I reach up and stroke the dark stubble on his chin.

Caleb turns his face into my hand and kisses my palm.

“I just wanted tonight to be romantic. Perfect.”

“Nothing is ever perfect. You and I know that better than most people, I think.”

“Which is why I wanted tonight to be perfect,” Caleb says.

For the first time, I can sense nervousness in him.

I’ve never known Caleb to talk much about romance. He oozes it even when he isn’t trying, but he doesn’t make a lot of grand gestures. Our romance is unspoken, and I’ve never much minded, but I can tell Caleb had other plans for tonight, even if I don’t understand what they were.

We fall into a long silence where I stroke his cheek and his neck, and his hand inches higher and higher on my waist.

The feeling of him touching me is enough to make me not care much what he has to say, and I’m seconds away from stretching up on my toes and kissing him again when Caleb releases a shaky breath.

“I wanted to tell you that … I love you, Haley.” Caleb’s hand trembles on my hip before he steadies it by clutching my waist. “I wanted tonight to be perfect so it would be special. So you’d know how much I meant it. Because I do mean it. I love you so much.”

At the sight of the tent, I lost my words.

At the sound of those words coming from him, I lose my mind.

My entire brain goes blank, and my hand goes still on the back of Caleb’s neck.

I replay the words over and over in my head, trying to make sure I heard him clearly.

Trying to make sure I’m not daydreaming or imagining things.

He really said he loves me? Me? Caleb Wilson loves me, Haley Cochran?

I mean, we have had a lot of amazing sex, and I know he is very fond of me, but I didn’t expect him to voice a feeling like this for a very long time. Years, even.

Caleb never sugarcoated his past with women. I’ve always known that he was once a player, so I didn’t expect him to completely change his colors just because he’s monogamous now.

“Haley? Can you please say something? I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

My eyes are better adjusted to the darkness now, and I can see him looking down at me, waiting for a response that I still don’t have. The only thing I can manage is a single word.

“When?”

Caleb’s mouth turns up into a soft smile. “At brunch.”

I furrow my brow, trying to sort through the muddled thoughts in my head to find the moment he’s talking about, and when it hits me, my mouth drops open.

“When I punched Penelope LaFevre? Are you serious? I know you said it was the sexiest thing you’d ever seen, but that can’t really be what did it.”

He laughs. “It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t then. It was after, when we were in my truck eating burritos. You leaned across the console, kissed me, and stole my tater tots. And I knew I loved you.”

My heart flutters.

“Is that better?” he asks.

My throat is thick with emotional tears. Happy tears. I swallow them down.

“Yes. It’s perfect.”

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