Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
“A sex pro?”
“Uh-huh.”
His muscles tense beneath me, and I watch him take a much longer drag. I’m about to ask if he’s okay, but he tells me, “I’ve always enjoyed sex, but I never knew it could be like this until I got with you.”
“Like what?” I ask him.
He holds my gaze tenderly. “Loving.”
It floods my lungs with helium. I float to his lips, kissing him. He cups my cheek, and when I pull back and sink against him, I blink a ton to stay focused on my boyfriend. Observation cannot cease! Must continue…exploration…of human.
My human.
Vision blurring, I see the outline of his jaw and his hoop earring. I think his lips rise. “Sleep, Luna.”
I fight exhaustion. It tugs at my eyelids. “I don’t want this to end,” I whisper.
“I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.” He seals it with our pinkies. Another earthly promise made, I sink against his calm heartbeat and fall fast, fast asleep.
MARCH
“Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that, even if we can’t understand it.”
— Interstellar
CHARLIE & LUNA’S TEXT THREAD
March 6th
10:32 a.m.
Charlie: Are you sick of screaming newborns yet?
Luna: Yes and no. It’s kinda cute when Maeve and Cassidy cry together. I pretend they’re in their own screamo metal band as duo singers. Cry Baby Cry. Or Pacifier Letdown. Band name might need workshopped. Ideas?
Charlie: Move to New York.
Luna: Who will make Pacifier Letdown merch?
Charlie: Their other adoring fans. Our nieces have plenty.
Luna: True. They’re both already Instagram royalty after the pic Jane posted where they’re sleeping and hugging. Did you see it?
Charlie: Yes.
Luna: Did you think it was cute?
Charlie: Not enough for 10 million likes.
Luna: Fair.
Luna: I love Philly, you know. More now than I ever have. It’s more than a place to Donnelly. It’s a part of him. I can’t see myself ever leaving.
55
LUNA HALE
I pocket my phone after texting with Charlie.
It’s a Wednesday.
Which means I’m split apart from my boyfriend for most of the morning and afternoon. While he protects my brother at Dalton, I’m whisked away to an Ivy League by my bodyguard chauffeurs.
Except, Quinn Oliveira is noticeably MIA from the driver’s seat—unless he’s transformed into the beefy blonde Gabe Montgomery (highly unlikely).
I’ve seen Gabe protect just about everyone lately, including my nephew Ripley. Donnelly calls Gabe the “SFO floater” so I guess he’s floated to my detail today.
“Where’s Quinn?” I ask from the backseat. We’re ten minutes out from Penn’s campus.
Frog swipes sparkly pink gloss on her lips. Not using a mirror, she’s scanning the streets while Gabe drives. “We think he has the flu,” she tells me. “He’s been hacking up a lung all morning.”
Donnelly told me he used to live with Gabe, Frog, and Quinn three floors below the penthouse, but I still can’t wrap my head around it. In my mind, he’s always meant to be right on the other side of our bathroom.
Gabe fixes his comms earpiece, one hand on the wheel. “Could just be a 24-hour bug. We don’t know what he has until he sees the doc.”
Frog stabs the wand of gloss in the tube. “Good thing Farrow is bringing him a flu test then.” She twists the cap and lets out a huff. “I need to get this off my chest. I swear Nessa gave him the flu. She’s been sneezing all weekend and calling it seasonal allergies.”
I’ve met Nessa.
Not in the sense that we’ve been introduced. But I’ve observed her from a distance.
Many times, after Quinn gets off my detail, a short, excitable brunette will be waiting for him in the apartment complex’s lobby.
She’s trendy and fashionable like Frog, but Nessa rarely wore the same outfit twice. Her wrists and neck sparkled with delicate layers of silver jewelry and cute heart pendants. I wasn’t shocked when Quinn told me she’s a beauty influencer with her own social media channel. She looks like she’s stepped out of an Instagram post with 1 million likes.
Other occasions, Nessa has appeared on Penn’s campus while Quinn was on-duty. She’s waited for him outside of my Astronomy class before.
Quinn usually tries to steer her away and remind her he’s working. She’ll steal the moment to kiss him in front of Frog, and she’ll always have pastries and thoughtful gifts for him, like a handcrafted bracelet or a beanie he’d forgotten in the cold. It seems to touch Quinn’s heart.
Frog calls it love-bombing.
“It’s suspicious,” she’s said to me before. “No one, not even my own mom, has given me a gift every single day. It’s like she’s saying sorry for something.”
“Maybe she knows it’s wrong to distract him from his work, so it’s like a preempt apology,” I theorized. “Or maybe she’s doing it because she knows it gets under your skin. I don’t think Nessa likes you very much.”