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“His family is dangerous, Luna. There are no buts. I’m handling this with Donnelly. It’s the team-up no one saw coming, especially me.” He touches his chest. “It’s Cyclops and Peepers.”
Too afraid to unlock the screen and see social media, I just stare at the time and a pic of me and Donnelly in our shared bathroom. A mirror selfie: his inked arm is resting on my head while I show off my green tongue piercing. He’s flashing his silver nipple ring.
I captured the photo a couple days after our first (and only time) having sex, which was a week ago. We’ve mostly fooled around after that, but his cock has only been inside me the night he made my bounty hunter/alien queen fantasy come true. Then, we dated in our bedrooms for the week. When he came home from protecting Xander, we would binge TV, eat Tastykakes, smoke a little. I wrote on my laptop some nights, and he drew in his sketchbook.
“Dad told me that it’s okay if I never had friends. He said that I’m the queen of my own galaxy, and after so many years, I’ve realized there are people in the universe who make you feel at home. Donnelly has made me feel like my galaxy is the happiest, most exhilarating place to be, even if I’m the only one there.” I drop my head and gaze back at our photo. “He treats me like I’m his moon. His stars. Like I’m the person who makes him glad it’s today and there’ll be a tomorrow, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been that for anyone who’s not my family.”
I’m important to someone. I’m not a failure. I’m not a fuck-up or future screw-up to Donnelly. I’m someone worth something. And he’s worth everything to me.
Everything is all backwards and shit. Can’t date Luna. Now I’m texting my dad. I’d say Mercury is in retrograde—but Luna told me that it already happened back in October. So I can’t really blame this strange turn of events on any planet.
And there’s still a part of me that thinks Papa Hale has a hitman on retainer.
I let out a gnarled groan. “You know, pussies and I have a longstanding history, and they usually love me.” My voice rises. He hisses. “What? You don’t like being called a pussy? It’s what you are, man. A pussy cat. Look in the mirror.”
Being on Lo’s shitlist, I can handle, but if I’m on Lily’s, I dunno…I think I’d still go fling myself off this planet and sob.
She’s the only girl who wants, truly wants, what I can give, and how unjust is it that I have to wait to give her all of me? Fuck me, right? Always, fuck me.
Sex and Luna. Emotions and Luna. Life and Luna. It’s all fucking me up. But God, I don’t want to fuck her up too. So I gotta sort through this with her somehow.
“I know you said we’re written in the stars,” Luna whispers, her eyes on mine again. “But what does that mean for right now? The more I try to understand, the more confused I get. Like we’re just us but less than us, than what we were yesterday?”
“We’re not less,” I say. “We’ll never be less.” I’m not sure if it’s the truth or if I’m just hoping.
She says, “And we’re the kind of friends that don’t fuck each other.” I laugh. “Girl, that’s ninety-nine percent of my friendships.” I tilt my head. “The one percent was always just you.” She was the only friend I’ve ever fucked.
Question of the Day: Can I take Luna to the Fanaticon Convention in December? Is a butterfly kiss considered a real kiss? Is Ryke Meadows’ secretly Loren Hale’s hit man?
“Do you know how to deliver a baby?” Baby. B.A.B.Y.
Even spelling it in my head doesn’t make it seem real. My pulse is trying to go haywire. “Only if watching Grey’s Anatomy counts. You?” “Roswell,” she names another TV show. “Think you have more experience since this is a human baby, not an alien.”
On one knee, I quickly peer between her legs. No baby’s head is breaching through Jane. Good signs? I have no clue, but I can one-hundred percent tell she’s dilated. A lot. And that definitely means labor. Meredith Grey would be so proud of me, I think.
“Lo knows I can’t have my family thinking I’m in love with her.” “Love?” Eliot’s grin has exploded. He buttons his slacks with an amused, delighted laugh. Tom is grinning now too. He told my best friends he’s trying to date me. That he loves me. It’s sinking in, and I feel my smile mushroom. Donnelly shares the grin. “You think I would do all of this just for a girl I sort of like?” “This is beautiful,” Eliot says, “and tragic all at the same time.”
He searches my gaze again. “The way you look at me, Luna…” He seems overwhelmed. “How am I looking at you?” I’m trapped in his orbit, not wanting to be set loose. “I’m the hero of your story.” His voice drops to the same hushed sound as mine. “I don’t know if anyone has ever placed me there, but one of the things I’m most scared of is disappointing you.”
I’m caught in how he’s looking at me now. If he’s my hero, then I’m his queen.
So when I look at you, I see someone who embodies the light side, and maybe I admire you more because you found balance even living among the dark.”
“To remind you of our future together,” Donnelly says. “Time is irrelevant when I’m always right here.” He hoists my wrist, the watch secured perfectly.
Today’s Focus: stop thinking about fucking your friend Luna. (I’m deadass now.)
Water: Stop thirsting after Luna. Get a fuckin’ grip of your dick. ALSO! Drink actual water.
Her eyes stay fixed to mine, more than just pleasure pooled in them. She manages to breathe out, “I really….really love you.” It plunges into my core. Steals oxygen. I kiss her and whisper, “I love you more.” I feel so connected to this girl. It’s unreal.
I press my forehead to hers again, consumed with her scent—the animalistic instinct to take her is wrapped forcefully around me. “I’m fucking you because you’re mine,” I rasp into a grunt. “I’m fucking you because I’m the only one who’ll keep you alive, and no one else will ever fuck you like this again.”
Luna Hale belongs to me.
I’ve never wanted to claim her as badly as I do now. Because she’s in threat to be someone else’s. Because I’m facing a f...
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She bites my lip, and I nip hers back and breathe, “My little fucking weirdo.” I tug her mask back over her face and scoop her up around the waist.
My parents—their souls were intertwined. In my life, their love had always been one-of-a-kind. Stuff of legend and fanfiction, and the fact that it was my reality, that I got to be raised by two soul mates, was a treasure I wouldn’t trade for anything. Not even dirt from Mars or the guarantee I’d write the best sci-fi novel in the world. It was that precious to me.
“The world can be shit.” He sits with me, his arms hanging on his knees. “But living in it can also be amazing. Like ate the best ham hoagie of your life amazing, danced your heart out at 3 a.m. amazing, kissed an alien and shot to the moon amazing.” I glance at his lips, butterflies swarming me. “You’ve communed with the extraterrestrial?” “Just one.” He’s looking at me. “And she’s the prettiest alien I’ve ever seen.” “Wannabe alien,” I correct. “Sad alien,” he amends, his tone flirty. I bite the corner of my lip, smiling more, especially as he sweeps my features. He nods to me. “I think
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We share a lethal attraction, and I’ve never fully understood Romeo and Juliet till I found a love I’d rather die inside than live without.
“I’m the guy who’s never been ashamed of anything I’ve ever done. I’ve stripped down in sweaty nightclubs, humped bronze statues at 2 a.m., skinny-dipped in strangers’ pools, pierced my cock, tattooed you.” She’s barely blinking, and I don’t stop. “Went down on you after your dad threatened my job over tattooing you, then tattooed you again.”
“I’ve been the son of addicts, a high school dropout, a slut, a tattooist, and a bodyguard, and I love everything about myself, despite so many people telling me I should hate who I am. That I’m shit. That I’m nothing. Not worth air. Not worth this life. I know I’m worth everything. And the girl I’ve fallen for—she’s loved herself tenderly. Wholeheartedly.” A tear escapes her eye and slips over my hand against her cheek. “Despite so many people telling her she should be embarrassed of the things she does, of who she is.” I cradle her watery gaze. “You don’t embarrass me, Luna Hale. You never
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“Are you shitting?” Lo asks with bite. We’re video chatting, so he has a pristine view of the bathroom wall behind me. “Nah, I’m relaxing. Toilet is where I do my best thinking.” My voice sounds a little tighter than usual. “Must be where you do yours.” He’s leaning on a blue tiled wall of what resembles a bathroom. Likely the one in Lily’s hospital room. “I’m not having a come to Jesus with the toilet, Paul. That’s all you.”
“I feel very protective over you and me,” she murmurs, and I try not to tense hearing her say something she’s spoken before. She blinks a few times. “I don’t know why I said that to Moffy.” I tell her, “Same reason it was hard for us to tell anyone what we were the first time around.” Her hand is on my thigh, and I slide my fingers against her palm. “Whatever we were or are, it’s always been this fragile fucking thing. Anyone else got their hands on it, anyone else knew about it, it felt like it’d just shatter. I dunno. We’re mighty, you and me, but fuck we’re unlucky. And I think we always
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He rests a hand on top of my head, bringing me closer to his chest. It’s the most simple, casual form of affection I’ve ever slipped inside, and I burrow against the warmth of his bare skin. Quietly, he breathes, “Other people aren’t gonna stop me from being with you. If this ends, it’s ‘cause you want it to.”
“I want to get drunk off you,” I say softly. “Your grins, your face, your being.” “You’re drinking wisely,” he teases. “Uh-huh, but not responsibly. I want your face in excess.” I cup his cheeks. “Girl, you’ve got more than just my face.” His grin is also powerful, illuminating inside me. “Your ears,” I say, touching his hooped piercing. “Yours.” “Your eyebrows.” “Yours.” I look down. “Your lips.”
He kisses me, a deeper passionate kiss that tingles and aches. I grip his hair, a whimper in my throat, and his tongue melds so perfectly against my tongue. Pleasured heat swarms me, and in one breath, I say, “My lips.” He eyes them. “Mine.” He goes in for another devouring kiss, and I’m such a goner in his clutch.
I’m so fucking in love with her, it’s not even funny anymore.
My lips upturn, biting on the cap, and I write alongside her hipbone and above her pussy. Donnelly was here. I spit out the cap, just to cup her ass and lick and suck her clit. Her moan and quivering legs are engrained in my brain, top-tier spank bank material. ‘Cause unfortunately I’m not coming inside Luna tonight. Lifting her panties back up, I rise and cap the pen. “That’s so you never forget where I’ve been.” She mutters, “Holy shit.”
I grin. Yeah, fuck O’Malley. Fuck anyone who tries to take her from me. She’s mine.
“It’s cosmic,” I suddenly realize. “What is?” Moffy asks. “Cassidy’s birth. Maeve’s birth. Ripley’s birth,” I tell everyone. “They were all born on the 15th. One in November, one in December, and the last in January. Cosmic happenings bring good fortune, I’ve always believed.”
I look at her lips, then at her eyes while she’s searching mine, and I breathe, “My heart is a chasm of everything I know and love, and it will always be filled with you.” I can’t look away from her. “I love you, Luna. I love you so bad, not having you just hurts.”
