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“So it’s my fault?”
Kellyn leads us out into the hallway, takes us up a level of stairs. “Most definitely, but I loved every second of it.”
With a smile, I say, “Me too. Attending a meeting sounds less fun.”
“If you want, we can go back to kissing when the meeting is over.”
“No!” I say.
“That’s a strong response.”
“I mean, we can’tplanwhen we’re going to kiss.”
“Can’t we?”
“No. Because if I know it’s coming, then I’ll overthink it. I’ll be stressed and panicking until it happens. I won’t be able to focus on anything else.”
“Why?”
“I’ll worry over all the ways I’ll do it wrong.”
“You can’t do it wrong,” he says confidently.
“But my mind will worry that I might. I can’t control it. It just is.”
“Fine, we won’t kiss after the meeting. Is that better?”
“… No.”
He laughs so hard, we have to stop in the middle of the hallway. When he’s done, he purses his lips, as though he wishes to say something. Then, thinking better of it, he simply tugs me after him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The meeting room consists of a large oak table with elaborate carvings running up the legs and sides. The Southern Mountains are depicted in perfect clarity, the table legs showcasing streams and trees. The chairs have hand-stitched cushions, each with a native blossom in exquisite detail.
When we admit ourselves into the room, Petrik stands from where he’d been sitting. “About time! Kellyn, I told you to wake her if she wasn’t up by four o’clock.”
“She was up.”
Petrik hisses between his teeth, “Then why are you both so late? I think we can agree the situation is grave enough to warrant some seriousness.” Petrik cocks his head to one side. “Why are your arms covered in dust?”
Kellyn notices the gray streaks on himself and tries to brush them away with his fingers.
“And, Ziva, it’s all over you, too. What have you been doing?”
I swallow, feel my cheeks heat.
But, like usual, Temra rescues me. She’s suddenly there. “Why don’t you stop embarrassing them and resume the meeting?”
“I thought you weren’t speaking to me,” he says. “And I’m not embarrassing them. I’m asking a perfectly valid question.”
“They’re both covered in dust, Petrik. What do yousupposethey were doing in a secluded, abandoned area?”
Petrik’s eyes widen, and he stammers a bit before retaking his seat.
“Idiot,” Temra mumbles.
“What did we miss?” Kellyn asks.
