“I can’t lie, I was motivated by jealousy not chivalry. Why didn’t you tell me Clay tried to kiss you?”
“Because I thought Xander told you? You came to my cabin and said you were jealous,” she says, frowning.
“Yeah . . . that was about something far more petty than a kiss.”
“Never had you down as the possessive type.” There’s nothing hurt or sad in her tone. “It’s always the ones you least suspect.”
“You get that way when you know how fucking special someone is. How they have no goddamn idea how much brighter they make everything. You’re like sunlight, Rory. I want to bask in everything you have. And I absolutely don’t want to share that with Clay. Not even for a minute.”
Her body stiffens as she leans back, putting distance between us. “I’m not those things.”
I hate that she doesn’t see it. “You are.”
“I don’t want to be sunlight, Russ.” She shakes her head adamantly. “If you stand in the sun for too long, you get burnt. I don’t want to be another person who burns you. Let me be moonlight.”
The look of vulnerability on her face steals my breath away. “What if we get caught in the rain? You don’t get rainbows at night.”
“You don’t need rainbows when you have the northern lights,” she says softly. “And last time we got caught in the rain we did just fine. Incredible, in fact.”
I want to say something sweet and funny, but looking at her scrambles every thought in my head. Nothing seems good enough. Nothing quite tells her how mesmerized I am by her. “If you’re moonlight, does that make me the sea?”
I’m cringing at myself as she leans in and kisses me. Slow, soft, meaningful. “You want me to talk about sharks again, don’t you.”
Just like that, the tender moment slips away as we both begin to laugh, but I don’t mind. “We should probably head back before someone comes looking for us.”
Scooping the chairs under my arm, we walk hand in hand toward the door. Rory turns the lights off as I pull the door open and that’s when Jenna appears.
My voice hasn’t cracked since I was fifteen years old but it does now. “Jenna, hi!” I clear my throat a few times. “Sorry, dusty in here.”
“I wanted to check you weren’t lost, you’ve been forever. Where’s Aurora?”
There’s a split second where we have to telepathically decide which avenue to take.
Or more accurately, which lie to tell.
Thankfully, Aurora steps out from behind the door and huffs. “Maybe if the storage in this place was labeled or made any freaking sense we wouldn’t have to check everywhere for some chairs.”
“Okay, attitude,” Jenna snaps and it reminds me how like siblings these two are. “Sorry for caring about your wellbeing. What a terrible boss I am.”
If Jenna suspects anything she doesn’t let it show as we all walk back toward the kids. After grabbing an extra chair for her and some paper for Rory, I position all three in a line in a shaded spot where we can watch all the different groups practicing.
I shouldn’t feel this on edge considering we didn’t get caught doing anything and sitting here together isn’t illegal, but considering I can smell Aurora on the hand I’m leaning against while Jenna asks me about college, it feels pretty illegal.
Chapter Twenty-Five
RUSS
You know when you feel like everyone is staring at you while you’re doing something but you tell yourself it’s your imagination?
That. Except I look up from my breakfast plate and everyone is staring at me.
“What?” I mumble with my mouth full of scrambled egg.
Aurora looks ready to start a fight, but she was perfectly content an hour ago when I managed to find us a private spot for two minutes and press her against a very large and discreet tree to make out.
Emilia looks like her usual, perfectly normal self, but Xander looks as pissed as Aurora.
“Do you have something to tell the group?” Aurora says dramatically, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest. I’ve hated getting into trouble my whole life but the way she’s staring at me is kind of sexy.
“No? Am I supposed to have something to tell the group?” There’s that many fucking traditions in this place that it’s perfectly plausible I’ve forgotten something ridiculous.
“Your birthday, Russ,” Aurora snaps, “is tomorrow.”
I concentrate on my eggs but Aurora kicks me under the table so I look back up. If I look at her for too long she’ll pout or smile and I’ll agree to something that makes me the center of attention when I don’t want to. “Is it?”