“That,” I say, “is very distracting.”
“What is?” She’s not even looking at the path ahead anymore. One of her arms is wrapped around my waist, and theother is tucked unabashedly under my shirt. “This?” She drags her hand across my abs, moving steadily downward. “Is this distracting?”
I inhale. “Yes.”
“What about this?” she says, staring up at me, the picture of innocence as her free hand travels lower, then slips just underneath my waistband. “Is this distracting?”
“Ella.”
“Yes?”
I laugh, but the sound is breathless. Nervous. It’s a struggle to maintain the control necessary to keep my body from announcing to everyone exactly what I would rather be doing right now.
“Do you want me to stop?” she asks.
“No.”
She smiles wider. “Good, because—”
“If you two are going to be disgusting on your wedding day,” Kenji says over his shoulder, “could you at leastwhisper? It’s close quarters in this crowd, okay? No one wants to hear your filthy conversations.”
“Yeah,” Nazeera says, turning to look at us. “No cute talk, either. Cute talk is highly discouraged on any day, but especially on your wedding day.”
Ella’s hand is gone from my body in an instant.
She turns to face them, the moment all but forgotten; I, on the other hand, need a minute. The effect she has on my nerves takes longer to dissipate.
I exhale slowly.
“I’m starting to think you two might be turning into the same person,” Ella says. “And I’m not sure I mean that as a compliment.”
Kenji and Nazeera laugh at that, Kenji drawing an arm around Nazeera’s waist as they walk, pulling her closer. She leans into him, planting a brief kiss at the base of his jaw.
Kenji’s provocations have grown innocuous in recent weeks. His bite is more habit than harmful, as he’s in no position to criticize. He and Nazeera are as inseparable as is possible these days, the two of them ensconced in darkened corners at every available opportunity. To be fair, we’re all lacking in privacy right now; very few people have their own rooms at the moment, which means we’re not the only ones engaging in public displays of affection.
Kenji and Nazeera seem truly happy, though.
I’ve not known Kenji a particularly long time, but Nazeera—I never thought I’d see her like this.
I suppose she might say the same about me.
“You know, technically, you two shouldn’t even be together right now,” Winston says, swiveling to face us. He walks backward as he says, “The bride and groom can’t just hang out together on their wedding day. Tradition frowns upon it.”
“Excellent point,” Brendan adds. “And as they’re both such pure, innocent souls, we wouldn’t want them to risk accidental, indecent skin-to-skin contact.”
“Yeah, I think it might be too late for that,” Kenji says.
“Seriously?” Brendan and Nazeera say at the same time.
Brendan laughs, but Nazeera turns sharply around to look at Ella, whose responding blush all but confirms their suspicions.
“Wow,” Nazeera says after a moment, nodding. “Nice. You have interesting priorities.”
“Oh my God,” Ella says, covering her face with her hand. “Sometimes I really hate you guys.”
I decide to change the subject.
“Will we be arriving at this mysterious destination soon?” I ask. “We’ve been walking for so long I’m beginning to wonder whether I’ll need international clearance.”
