“Well,” Rafe says, glancing between Luca and I and clearly intuiting that a little distraction might be necessary, “leave it to the Academy to get Ari out of bed, through a run, and then through a royal meeting before seven in the morning.” I turn my attention gratefully to my brother, and he gives me a surreptitious wink.
“Are you implying that I’m lazy, Rafe Sinclair?” I counter, raising my coffee to my lips and lifting a challenging eyebrow in his direction.
“Oh, I wasn’t implying that, Ari,” he says, training his innocent gaze on me. “I was blatantly stating it.”
We all laugh at the easy joke, but it does its job, allowing conversation to restart at the table, letting us all relax a bit. Even Luca unwinds, though I think he forces himself to do it – to smile broadly and turn to Jes
