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Cheeks pink, she shrugs.
“Luna?”
“Yeah?”
I bend so my lips hover over hers. “I know I love you.”
For the split second it takes her to hide it, I see that terrified look in her eyes. “Really?”
“Really.”
The first sniffle, I dismiss as being my imagination. The second one makes me frown. The third, I panic a little, alarm shooting through me at the sight of shimmering blue eyes, a single tear tracking a path down her cheek.
I’ve never seen her cry.
I’m not sure anyone has.
Wiping the tear away with my thumb, I cup her cheek, keeping my touch and tone gentle. “Why are you crying?”
“Because you love me and I can’t say it back.”
“You'll say it when you're ready.”
She lets out a watery laugh. “Sounding awfully cocky again.”
Leaning forward, I brush my lips against hers. “Just confident.”
33
LUNA
Everyone is happy.
It's weird.
Every single one of us being so completely content is downright weird. Kind of unnerving, too. I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to shatter our perfect little world. But I try not to dwell on that feeling of impending doom too much.
After a relatively rocky Christmas and New Year, the world has righted itself and Amelia and Nick are in an actual relationship. A somewhat secret one, but a relationship all the same. Kate and Sydney are as sickeningly happy and perfect as always. Ben's standard setting is happy so no surprises there. Cass has been in a perpetually pleasant state since he walked into his house months ago and found Amelia lounging on his sofa, so again, no big shock.
And I have Jackson.
The boy who loves me.
The first of his kind.
He's not shy about dropping those three little words and every time he says it, my stomach swirls with a mixture of guilt, nerves and excitement. He doesn't seem to care that I can't say it back. But I do. I want to say it, I really do. But I don’t want to say it when I’m not sure. I need to be sure. I want the first time I say those words to someone other than my mother or my friends to be real. I want to completely mean it with everything in me.
He deserves for me to mean it.
I can only pray he sticks around long enough for me to figure it out.
Sighing, I roll over in bed, his bed, trying and failing to get comfortable. Unfortunately, it's hard when you're slowly freezing to death. I swear the heating in this house is permanently on the fritz. I usually use Jackson as my main source of heat but he's missing this morning.
Actually, he's been missing every morning this week; long, early pre-season baseball practices are my nemesis. I'm excited to see him play and all, but waking up alone on deathly cold mornings is simply not worth it.
I groan when my alarm goes off, reminding me that I should get up soon. I'm supposed to be meeting the girls, but I want to say bye to Jackson before I leave. Maybe squeeze in a quickie too, if I'm lucky.
A little hopeful rush of excitement creeps up my spine when the bedroom door creaks open, only to be dashed by Ben's head peeking around the door. He's got his hand over his eyes, squinting through his fingers, an almost fearful expression on his face. The poor boy accidentally walked in on me naked one time and he hasn't quite been the same since. “You decent?”
