Page 87 of Vicious Luna
“C’mon, just a little something,” Cheyenne urges, endlessly fascinated by Sloane’s abilities.
Sloane blows out a breath, standing up in the pool and easing backwards to lean against the edge. Steam wisps fromher bronze skin and beads of water roll down her petite body as she shuffles backwards, hopping up to take a seat on the smooth stone ledge while her legs remain dangling in in the water. “I like him too,” she says with a shrug. “I think he’s a good person who was born into bad circumstances.”
“Spoken like Mother Teresa herself,” I mutter.
Sloane darts me a look, clucking her tongue. “You can’t honestly say you don’t like him, Aves.”
“Sure I do, but that’s not the point,” I sigh, twisting to grab my cup of wine off the ledge behind me. “Not everyone sees the world like you do, babe. Even if he singlehandedly ended this war, the pack wouldn’t accept him.” I bring my cup to my lips and tip it back, downing the rest of the wine inside.
“I don’t think you give our pack enough credit,” she replies as I lower my cup, wiping my mouth off on an arm.
“I mean, he fought on our side the other day,” Lo offers.
“And we all saw how he saved Sloane, that has to count for something,” Andie adds.
There aren’t many problems that a little girl talk can’t solve, but this might be one of them. I frown down at my empty cup. “Do we have more wine?”
“I think that was the last bottle,” Chey says, glancing over her shoulder toward the cluster of empty wine bottles on the bank. “I should probably get going anyways, I told Iver we could cuddle up with a movie tonight.”
“Boo!” Andie heckles as Cheyenne pulls her feet out of the water and shuffles backwards, pushing up to stand.
“We should all pack up, it’ll be dark soon,” Lo points out, climbing out of the water and grabbing her towel off the bank.
I kick out my feet, letting the back of my head dip into the water. “Ugh, this day went by too fast,” I groan, blinking up at the dusky sky visible through the canopy of leaves overhead.
“You wanna keep this buzz going?” Andie asks mischievously, and I pick up my head, nodding as her lips spread into a grin. “You know what tonight is, right?”
I blink back at her, not following, but luckily Sloane’s brain is working quicker than mine is right now. “Ladies night at the Stillwater Tap!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together eagerly.
My mood instantly shifts from somber to excited at the prospect of a night out with my girls. I push up to stand, gathering my long hair over a shoulder and twisting it to wring the water out. “I’m definitely in,” I say, glancing over to where Chey and Lo are stripping out of their swimsuits and toweling off. “What about you two, up for keeping this party going?”
“Maybe next time,” Chey chirps, rummaging in her bag for her clothes.
“Lo?” I ask.
She fakes a yawn, stretching her arms over her head. “I dunno, I’m kinda tired.”
“Shut up, you just wanna get laid,” Andie laughs, splashing out of the water and climbing up onto the bank. “Just come for one, tell Javi to pick you up there.”
Lo cuts her a withering look, but nonetheless concedes with a nod. She knows as well as the rest of us do that it’s pointless to try to argue with Andie once she sets her mind to something.
Andie grins in victory, turning to my cousin next and arching a brow in question.
“I’ll have to catch you guys later,” River sighs, brushing the dirt off her thighs as she rises to stand. “I won’t even make it through the door before someone’s texting my dad trying to earn brownie points.”
“You’re a legal adult now, Riv,” Andie declares, sauntering over to River and slinging an arm around her shoulders. “You should just do whatever you want.”
“Youhavemet my Uncle Theo, right?” I laugh, stumbling a little as I wander around the edge of the pool toward my friends. Now that I’m on my feet, my wine buzz is even moreintense, and from the way Sloane’s wobbling beside me, I can tell she’s feeling it, too.
“It’s not worth the argument,” River mutters, shrugging Andie’s arm off. “Just hurry up and take those hunters out so I can move up to the squad complex, kay?”
“We’re on it,” I say, giving her a mock salute.
We get to work packing up our things, putting on dry clothes and cleaning up the cups littered around the edge of the natural hot springs. Lo agrees to drive us to the Tap in Sloane’s car, since she’s the most sober and Sloane’s far too buzzed to get behind the wheel, while River hops in with Chey to catch a ride home.
As we all settle in and start for Stillwater, it occurs to me that I can’t even remember the last time we all went out like this. And when Andie demands tunes and Lo flips on the radio to find ‘Call Me Maybe’playing- which just happens to be me and my girls’ unofficial anthem- I already know it’s bound to be a memorable night.
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