“And what is that?” I prop my chin on my hand.
“Flirting. With me. Outrageously.” He licks his lips, mirroring my earlier move in a deliberately sarcastic way. It’s sexy as hell, and my stomach flips.
“Luca, if you think this flirting is outrageous, your previous partners haven’t been doing it right,” I say, scrambling to regain my internal equilibrium to avoid slipping up.
“See?” Luca shakes his head. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” He plops an orange drink on the bar in front of me with so much force that some of it sloshes over the rim and trickles down the side. I bend over, licking the spill up slowly.
“Delicious.” I draw the word out, my voice husky, then pickthe drink up and sip from the straw with a deliberately loud gurgle. “What were you saying?”
“Unbelievable,” he mutters.
I wink at him, and Luca throws his head back and laughs out loud. Despite my manufactured flirting, I’m struck by the sound. In all our interactions, I’ve never seen him let go, even for a moment. It’s addicting, and I want more of it.
Luca is the kind of classically good-looking guy who ends up memorialized in art, no matter which century or realm he’s born in. The fact that he’s got this sexy grunge thing going on makes him more attractive. Perfection with a lived-in appeal.
No wonder Celine watches him when she thinks he isn’t paying attention. If the two of them weren’t so in denial, they would have ridden off into the sunset together way before I wandered into town. That’s their mistake. I have no problem making a mess to get what I want.
THIRTEEN
Unspoken rule of the Fringes #46:
Volunteering too much information is a great way to bury yourself.
CELINE
This fucking guy... He’s hitting on Luca. I watch from the hallway, agitation making my wings flutter. They’re heavier than usual tonight. “Damn that demon,” I mutter.
“You could always piss on him or something.” Imani leans against the wall next to me, her lips curving into that annoying smile she gets when she thinks she knows something.
“What?” I snap, irritated that I got caught spying.
“You heard me.” She gently nudges my right wing lower to get a better view of the bar. “What I haven’t figured out yet is which one you’re more jealous of. You could always piss on them both to be safe.”
“That’s gross,” I murmur, only half listening to her.
“I guess you could always lick them,” she teases. “Or suck them... off.”
Sputtering, I crane my head to gawk at her, then smack her in the face with my wing when she laughs out loud. “Dammit, Imani, I’ll drown you.”
She covers her mouth and gasps. “I should pretend that upset me. What kind of friend tosses her bestie’s trauma in her face?”
“The kind who squares up to fight that trauma every day by her side,” I deadpan, giving her a deliberately invasive once-over.
“Oh, stop it, I soaked this morning.”
“Fully submerged?”
“Head and all,” she groans. “It sucked.”
“Good.” I nod with satisfaction.
“Wow.” Imani tsks. “Some best friend—saying my pain is good.”
I roll my eyes. “This from the best friend deliberately misunderstanding me.”
“Babe, I understand you perfectly, which is why I let you focus on me while you collected yourself.” She tips her chin toward the bar where Luca and Ciprian are laughing, their heads almost as close together as ours. “You need to decide what you want. This thing with Luca is fun to tease you about, but I don’t want it to blow up in your face.”
I open my mouth to deny everything, then close it again. I can’t bullshit her or myself. Not when I’m lurking in the hallway like a creep.
