Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 174544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Luna doesn’t know that anymore,” he says quietly and pulls socks on his feet, fighting with those too.
“You came here for her?” I’m guessing.
Xander ditches the socks and just shoves his feet in sneakers. “Not just for her.” He’s having trouble meeting my gaze.
I go still. “What do you mean?”
He runs his fingers through his shaggy haircut that has all the teenagers swooning. Letting out a couple anxious breaths, he says, “I’m here for you too. Okay, look, you’re attached to me. Where I go, you go, and if I’m stuck anywhere where Luna isn’t—then you can’t spend time with her.”
I ruminate over this for a quick sec. “That’s sweet and all, man, but you shouldn’t be changing your life for me—”
“She wanted to be with you, and I was a complete dick about it. Now that she can’t remember you, who knows what’ll happen in the long run, in the endgame. She could end up with another bodyguard like”—don’t say his name—“O’Malley.” He said it.
“Would she get with him though?” I ask, only partially considering ‘cause if I fully consider I might put a hole in the wall.
“Maybe.” He’s wide-eyed panicked at the idea, and I gotta say, I like this reality where Xander is now Team Donnelly and no longer hoping O’Malley is her OTP (one true pairing).
Xander’s been a Nervous Nancy about crowd control at the Con, and he’s only here to ensure I get some quality time with his sister. “You can back out of this, no worry,” I tell him. “Just hang in the hotel room.”
“Where will you be?”
“Outside your door or chilling in here with you.”
“No.” He shakes his head profusely. “No.”
“Xander—”
“Look, I’m doing this, and just so you know…” He stares around the room, his breath heavy like he’s running even though he’s standing in place. “I plan to hang around my sister a ton more, so you better get used to this.”
Is this good for him or bad for him? I can’t tell.
“Your decision,” I say, just as comms sound in my ear. I miss Quinn’s update for me, and I click my mic. “What was that?”
“Your girlfriend is ready,” Quinn repeats.
I reach for my mic on my collar, about to correct him. Not my girlfriend. We’re in the “no labels” zone. A zone I had already punt-kicked with Luna before her amnesia. Woulda been her boyfriend easily by now, but things are different. I’m in a hazy relationship land that Farrow would never step foot in, and despite me setting some boundaries, it’s still murky.
I don’t get the chance to respond to Quinn.
“Incoming,” Frog says on comms, just as a knock sounds on the door.
“It’s Luna!” Luna calls to her brother.
“Come in,” Xander says, slipping me a very gentle look not to tell her shit about our conversation. He wants her to believe he’s a Beneath a Strong Sentiment stan so she’s unaware of his true intentions here. It’s a bit devious for a Hufflepuff like him, but I have to roll with it.
“Heidi ho,” Luna greets, springing forth in a bright orange wig that I’ve seen her wear when she cosplayed as Leeloo from the Fifth Element. With a baggie sweatshirt and glitter under her eyes, she looks cute—beautiful, really—and disguised enough. Being in her vicinity, my heart double-thumps, if that’s a thing hearts can do.
Frog and Quinn enter the room but stay near the door. At least O’Malley is way back in Philly or New York. For once, I’m loving the West Coast.
Luna displays a blue chromed mask to Xander. “Tah-dah.” She wiggles it. “For you.”
He takes it. “A Riven mask?” He must’ve binged Bass before the Con if he recognizes the mask from the show.
“Everyone’s wearing them,” Luna says.
“Probably because they’re dope as fuck,” I chime in.
“And people always like the villains more,” Luna adds.
“True that.” Rivens, the chromed-mask wearers from Bass, are the antagonists. I nod to Xander. “Now you’ll blend.”
He releases more of his anxiety. And he puts on the mask. “What do you think?”
“Never seen him before,” I tell Luna.
“Nope. He’s not one of us,” she says.
“Great. Let’s go before I change my mind,” Xander says.
Luna and I share a grin, and I make a rock on gesture to my bodyguard comrades. Let’s do the thing.
The vendor hall. A congested hellscape I wasn’t sure Xander would ever brave. His costume is coming through, though. No one has spotted him, and I’m barely blinking while I survey the crowds around the merch booths. This isn’t the sort of place I can really talk with Luna.
Making sure they’re safe is all that’s on the brain right now.
Xander is more interested in the hand-carved dice than any of the Bass paraphernalia, but he tears himself away and trails close to his sister.
I maneuver around him as they stop and browse. Frog and Quinn are doing the same and pretending to be Luna’s besties on either side of her. We scan for potential threats. We watch our clients. No one seems to recognize us, as far as I can tell. More so, I’m worried they’ll spot Quinn first. The Young Stud Casanova of SFO is a fan favorite on WAC forums.