“You win, you win,” Luca sighs, letting me slip in his arms a little until we’re face to face. “That was awesome – you improved so fast.” He nudges me happily with his nose. “We should have got you in the gym long ago, Shrimpy.” “Well,” I sigh, letting my weight fall back against his arm as I stre
Ben leans closer to Jesse, probably explaining quite patiently that Jesse’s completely misinterpreting the entire situation, as I tug on Luca’s sleeve, feeling his anger surge, trying to draw his eyes back down to me. “Luca, please,” I say quietly, a little desperate, glancing between him and Jack
“All right. I just…have very little time alone with you now, Ariel,” Luca says, straightening up and slipping his hands into his pockets as he, apparently, adjusts himself to the knowledge that his time-share deal with Jackson is apparently dead. “At least, time without him around. And that’s…diffic
“It’s okay,” he murmurs back. “What I want is…not the most important thing. I just…feel like I’m losing you, Ariel.” “What?” I gasp, whipping my head up to look at him. He shakes his head sorrowfully at me, raising a hand to trace his thumb across my cheek. “I don’t want you to feel bad. I proba
The next morning, my wolf wakes me up early, knowing that I need it. I mean, she doesn’t frequently function as my internal alarm clock – we both like our sleep way too much for that – but today she gives me a sleepy little nudge with her nose before climbing to her feet and giving her fur a rough s
Jackson follows quickly – of course – and is already pulling himself up onto the platform before I’ve barely pulled the gun out of its bag. Jackson murmurs his admiration as I set up the gun and then he settles down with his back against the low rail, pulling a book out of his bag but not moving to
“I don’t know what the Games are because nobody tells me!” I growl, smacking Jackson hard on the arm as I bare my teeth at him, pissed that apparently everyone knows what these ‘Games’ are except for me.“You have a handbook in your room, Ariel,” Jackson says, laughing at me, completely ignoring my
He laughs a little, nodding to me and running forward to catch up with the other boys as I do my very best to catch up. I mean, I fail…But hell, it’s good to try.About twenty minutes later my spirits are quiet a bit lower and my feet are dragging, a little, as I haul myself into the breakfast. I m