“Yes.”
Thomas puts his lips to mine, tongue slipping past my lips. “I want to fuck you now.”
“Public indecency is a crime. Was it back then for you? I’d think so, but your laws and beliefs were quite a bit different.”
“Are you asking if we could fuck on the street?” Gil lets my hair go.
“Yeah.”
“Depends on the street.”
I turn, catching his cheeky grin. Shaking my head, I take his hand and step forward, looping my arm through Thomas’s.
“How do you feel? I’m not sure how long the charm will last.”
“Fine,” they say at the same time.
“Good. Explaining why you suddenly got wings would be a challenge.” We slowly walk back along the river, and it hits me again how much I’m regretting not having a life before this. Though the more time I spend with the guys, the more I’m buying into this whole destiny thing.
Maybe I never had good relationships before because everything was leading up to this. If it was, does this mean things will last?
We walk by a group of people, and a single voice stands out to me. I slow, looking through the little crowd of people, and spot a black ponytail. She laughs, and I know exactly who that is.
“Gemma,” I call, and she turns around with a smile on her face. It disappears the second she sees me, and it’s like she was caught in the act or something.
“Hey!” she says, trying to recover before her friends notice. The older woman I saw with her at Lyra’s earlier today is there again, face sullen as she stares at me, unblinking. Then she turns to the man next to her, whispering something in his ear.
Gemma pushes through her group of friends and hugs me.
“Ace! How are you?”
“Good,” I reply, stiffening. I’m not a hugger.
“I take it your boyfriend is okay,” she says softly, stepping away. Her eyes go to Thomas and then Gilbert, and then she realizes that we walked up here together, with Thomas’s arm linked with mine and my hand fastened on Gil’s.
“Yeah, he is. I guess I should saytheyare.”
She widens her eyes and looks at Thomas and Gilbert again, trying to put it together. She’s nosey and admits it, but I don’t think she’ll flat-out ask me what’s going on. Not in front of the guys at least.
“This is Gemma,” I say, finding my manners. “And this is Tom and Gil.”
“Nice to meet you,” Thomas says, holding out his hand. Gemma takes it then immediately yanks hers back.
“You shocked me,” she laughs, shaking her hand. She’s trying hard not to obviously check them out when she notices the crystal hanging from Gil’s neck. “Pretty. I’ve always loved clear quartz for its simplicity.”
“It’s a nice night, isn’t it?” I ask, painfully aware that I’m awkward at small talk.
“It’s gorgeous out. Warm but not humid. We’re going to grab some food before the park closes. Do you, uh, want to join us?”
“We already ate, but thanks,” I say, noticing all of Gemma’s friends staring not at me, but at the guys. I get it, they’re attractive identical twins, but no one is looking at them with admiration or lust.
They’re looking at them like they know exactly what they are.
19
“It was nice seeing you,” I rush out, taking Gilbert’s hand again.
“Are we still on for a movie tomorrow?” Gemma asks, taking a step forward.
