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Skidding to a stop, Luna shrugs, anything but innocent. “I took lessons when I was a kid. Had a big crush on Tessa Virtue.”
“For how long?”
“Five years, give or take.” The little shit cracks a smile. “It was more like an obsession.”
Of course.
Luna holds her hands out, wiggling her fingers until I take them in mine. Slowly skating backwards, she tugs gently. “Bend your knees a little.” I follow her instructions but it does nothing to help the unsteadiness of my skates.
Luna does all the work, pulling me along like I'm a child as I grip her hands for dear life. “Well, well, well.” Luna's slightly smug voice has me looking up from the patch of ice I'm staring a hole into. Graceful as anything, she guides us back to the railing, a slender hand on my hip keeping me stable while the other brushes my cheek. “I think we finally found something you're not good at.”
“Shut up.”
Happiness incarnate, she laughs and brings my mouth to hers, her joy a palpable thing as she kisses me, and I greedily swallow it all.
A loud squeal breaks us apart. “Oh my God!”
Luna stiffens in my arms, and I glance down to find her looking over my shoulder with a rigid expression. Following her line of sight, I find two girls leaning against the railing, gawking at us. “Oh my God,” Luna repeats in a monotone voice before pasting on the world’s fakest smile. “What're you doing here?”
I’m not sure the girls hear the question; they’re too busy staring at me.
“You were telling the truth,” one of them says, surprise lacing her tone.
I frown. “Excuse me?”
“We all thought she was lying about having a boyfriend,“ the other girl chimes in, a smile on her face that's almost as fake as Lu's but decidedly sneakier. “No, sorry. Not a boyfriend. Just a boy. Right, Lu?”
Suddenly, it clicks.
The nasty smiles, the snooty voices, the ability to look down their noses at us despite the fact both Luna and I are taller than them. It's got to be those'friends.’The reason I spent Thanksgiving here.
“Eva. Bea.” Luna spits through gritted teeth, confirming what I already knew. “This is Jackson. My boyfriend.” I notice how she enunciates that last word. I also notice how she clings to my arm desperately. Slipping an arm around her waist, I cling right back, offering the two girls nothing more than a somewhat polite nod.
Politeis not the word I'd use to describe their reactions to me.
Predatorywould be more accurate.
I feel like a piece of meat on display as their eyes drag over me, lingering on the arm wrapped around Luna, and on my lips where there are probably traces of her lipgloss. The pair exchange a look that I don't understand but Luna clearly does because she becomes even more rigid, her grip tightening, and I pull her closer. “Hate to rush away so fast,” I lie, ‘but we've got to go. Lunch reservations.”
“Oh, that's too bad.” Eva, I think, fakes a dejected expression. “We were hoping we'd be able to get to know you. You know, while you're still around.”
I smile, trying not to grit my teeth. “I'm sure I'll be back soon.”
“Hm.” The one I think is Bea hums, unconvinced. “We'll see.”
Yeah, I hate them. I've only known them for a handful of minutes but I hate them. And that's not a word I use lightly, or often.
Five minutes ago, I didn’t think I’d be the one dragging Luna off the ice and guiding her towards the nearby bench, eager to change and get the hell out of here. We almost make it, too, but a grating voice and a godawful offer stop us in our tracks. “Hey, we're going for dinner tonight. Why don't you join us?”
“I don't-”
“We insist.”
“We have-”
“Luna!”
“Fine!” Luna practically screams as she relents, casting me apologetic eyes.
