Royally Yours

Chapter 16

There were many things special about dating a prince.

One thing was that he rented out a whole mini-golf course so we could have a date night and then we were going back to his house so he could make me dinner.

It was cute to see both our competitive sides come out.

And of course, we ended in a tie.

"You know, Arch, that was pretty fun." I smiled as he drove back to his house in Hampstead, "We should do it again soon."

"Of course, I love seeing you be competitive." Archie squeezed my hand. I love that he always held my hand or thigh while he drove. "We're gonna make some pasta and some cookies then we can goof off in the pool."

"And we're gonna cuddle to fall asleep." I finished his sentence

He smiled, "Always."

Archie had the cutest smile that always reached his eyes and his face just lit up.

We made a baked rigatoni and then began to make our cookies from scratch while the rigatoni was in the oven.

We danced around the kitchen with flour all over our faces. He knew how much I loved chocolate chip cookies and he used his mother's recipe.

"Raw cookie dough is so good."I said to Archie as we waited for our cookies to cool down

Archie's nose crinkled, "My Mom said I would get sick, it's been twenty-six years and I still haven't."

"Your birthday is in a month and two days." he pointed out to me, "The big twenty-three."

I nodded, "I didn't know that you remembered."

Archie put down his spoon, "I care about you. Very much, Alena."

"I really do thank God every day for you. You make me extremely happy." he looked me in the eyes, "I could tell you all of this until you're blue in the face and it still won't serve justice."

I let out a small laugh, "You mean the world to me not even the world, hell, the universe!"

He's going to say it.

I just know it.

There was a twinkle in his eye, softness in his voice, and he cooked Italian food - there was nothing more romantic than Italian food.

God, I just wanted him to say it already.

I needed to hear it.

"I'll never love anyone more than I love you." Archie beamed as he held my hand. I was jumping up and down because he said it.

I was smiling from ear to ear, "Say it again."

"What?" Archie smirked, "I love you?"

I nodded my head, "Because I love you and hearing you say love me makes my heart beat so fast."

Archie put his forehead on mine, "I love you, Alena."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he spun me around.

We ate our pasta, changed into our swimsuits, and ate our cookies while we swam around in Archie's pool.

"Lainey?" Archie began as we laid on a float

I looked over at him, "Can you come to our annual Christmas tree lighting at the palace?"

"I really wanna show the tabloids that you're not some random girl that I was getting on a jet with. You're everything to me and I wanna let that be known. I'll be with you for every step of the way." he assured me

I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he was serious about this. Plus maybe if I did this the rumors and lies would go away.

"Yes, of course." I agreed

He kissed my cheek, "Perfect, I'm happy."

"What do you think the future will be like for us?" I ask Archie as he played with my hand

"I'd never wanna bullshit with you or beat around the bush. I do think there will be hard times with my Dad and the press but I know that my love for you will never fade. And you know if we do go all the way to marriage and it's just too much then I'll abdicate the title." he spoke

My eyes got big, "Abdicate? That's a big deal, Arch."

"I know but it was just a thought. It might not become a reality, we'll just cross that bridge when it gets here." he explained his stance to me

I looked over at him, "So you do think we'll get there?"

"I have a pretty good intuition and I know me. I definitely don't think this is temporary," he confirmed

"I don't either." I expressed, "I trust you — that means a lot more than love. I also really love you too."

Archie kissed my cheek, "Love is an action word and I'll prove to you that I'm not just saying shit out of my ass."

"I know you aren't." I responded