I let her talk.
But I didn’t look at her.
Not once.
My eyes stayed on Luna.
Watching the way her smile slowly faded into thought.
Watching the way she kept glancing toward the water.
Watching her tuck her hair behind her ear like she didn’t know she’d caught half the bonfire’s attention without even trying.
She didn’t know she was dangerous.
Not yet.
The girl beside me kept talking. Touching my arm. Laughing like she was auditioning for the role of my next mistake.
I finally shifted my gaze to her.
“One of us is bored,” I said quietly. “And it’s not you.”
She blinked in confusion, then caught on and laughed like I’d complimented her.
Annoying.
I stood, shrugging her hand off, and made my way toward the cooler for another drink. People talked to me, briefly, then moved on when they realized I wasn’t in the mood for entertaining them.
My mind was somewhere else entirely.
On the girl with the stubborn eyes and the too-fast heartbeat and the fire in her throat.
On the kiss that hadn’t gone anything like I expected.
I reached the cooler, grabbed a water bottle, and cracked it open.
Behind me, the wind carried the girls’ voices.
“…he deserves it.”
“…make him work.”
“…you didn’t lose.”
Luna didn’t answer.
Not out loud.
But when she glanced toward me again, just a flick, barely a second, I saw it.
Resolve.
The kind that could burn.
The kind that could hurt.
The kind that made me grin before I could stop myself.
