The Valley of Kings and a Queen

Chapter 21

The next morning, we wake up early at seven in the morning. Our trip to the Valley of Kings would take almost two hours. The tourist bus we planned to take would be leaving shortly after eight, so we can arrive in the Valley by ten. As Annie and I get ready, I play some good jams so that we can be fully awake for whatever adventures today hold.

I'm dancing and singing out of our room when I bump right into Finley, who catches me as I begin to stumble and pulls me into the opposite direction leading me into an elegant dip into his arms. Before I can remark, he quickly undoes the move leaving me standing right in front of him.

"Someone's cheery this early morning," he chuckles quietly. That's all he's going to say? I can't seem to bring my tongue to unleash any words to respond to him. My head is all muddled from his smooth moves and his easy confidence.

I bite my lower lip as I fully take in Finley's presence. His muscles are straining through a white t-shirt that is tucked into a pair of black khakis pants that are held up by a leather belt at his waist. Finley has always been physically attractive to me while all the gents had been blessed with looks. But there was something different about Finley, something I could not quite wrap my mind around. Something that made the butterflies in my stomach when I played my first high school basketball game seem so tame in comparison.

"Just ready for more adventures today," I say excitedly. Thankfully, my mouth lets out words that are not as wild and disoriented as the thoughts running through my mind. Finley reaches for my hand, and I hold my breath wondering what was happening.

The door next to us slams shut as Annie enters the hallway, I had forgotten she was still in our room getting ready. Finley quickly releases my hand from his grip running it through his caramel brown hair.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Annie interjects apologetically.

"Oh, no worries you weren't," I promptly respond. There goes my tongue again a million seconds faster than my thoughts that are struggling to process everything that happened in only the past couple of minutes.

I then begin to stalk down the hall towards the elevators. We take the elevator to the main floor heading past the consigner desk and into the café set up with a breakfast bar.

"How was your night sleep Annie?" Finley asks politely. Annie's grinning ear to ear. I don't know if she will ever get used to the attention the gentlemen have started to give her on this trip. She had gone from believing that she had ceased to exist in their world to now being maybe one of their closest friends. I could tell she adored their attention, never being able to get enough of it. Though the gentlemen too enjoyed her company on the trip, her quick wit and easy ability to tell captivating stories always seemed to allure the boys into long conversations.

The three of us join Henri, Aiden and Olivier who had a table at the back of the café. Despite being the first to breakfast, they seemed the least awake. Henri's hair was a tousled mess on the top of his head, and Olivier was slowly shoveling some eggs into his mouth, somehow managing to not fall head first into his other plate filled with syrup drenched pancakes. Aiden's endlessly stirring the sugar into his coffee -hopefully, he is creating a concoction that will arouse them all from their slumbering states.

"Top of the morning," I remark saluting to the somnolent boys.

"Where's Grey?" Finley asks, putting his phone down in the seat next to Henri. I slid into a seat across from him, and accidently bump into his knees under the table. I look at him abjectly, as my face warms slightly. Aiden mutters something, and I have to strain my ears in order to attempt to make out what he is even saying.

"Went back to the room to read through some old books and spells," Henri translates for us.

Annie, Finley, and I head to the brunch bar and stack food on our plates. We eat our fill from fruit to omelets to cereal, and hearty pastries before Grey finally comes to the café in order to retrieve us.