Page 80 of My Vigilante Valentine

because i can

Luna’s hand was in mine as we walked down the hall to Chris’s apartment, and even though it was a small thing—just fingers interlaced, a casual touchpoint—it felt like a much bigger deal.

It was like crossing a line I’d drawn in the sand, only to find that the other side wasn’t as bad as I’d made it out to be.

Well, not in the way I’d expected, anyway.

The bad part was that I’d wasted so much time fighting against gravity with this girl, and now that I’d stopped, everything was exactly where it was supposed to be.

“You’re doing that broody thing again.”

Would she ever stop saying that word? I knew the answer right away: No.

One thing I’d noticed since we started all of this, if Luna’s brain latched onto something she could use to get a rise out of me, she’d repeat it as much as she could just to watch me squirm.

I was pretty sure it was part of her flirting game, so I let it slide.

Who wouldn’t?

I glanced down at her. “I don’t brood.”

“Sure, Jan.”

“You keep saying that. Who’s Jan?”

She laughed, the sound echoing off the walls and straight into my chest. “You’ve never watchedThe Brady Bunch?What decade did you grow up in?”

“Uh… Not the ‘70s?”

She sighed. “I love the ‘70s. We’ll binge with the Bradys later. Right now, we have a serial killer to catch.”

I snorted.

But she was right—the mission came first.

And that was good to remember because I wasn’t sure when The Villain would strike next, and no part of me wanted to let it happen after what went down last night.

Though, technically, this was just a briefing. And even though Luna had basically dragged me into a team kicking and screaming, Chris had found something. Thanks to whatever he got from the phone, in fact. And yet, I hadn’t even been able to find a hint of anything useful on that thing.

Team Blade for the win.

Whether I liked it or not.

Okay, maybe... maybe I didn’t hate it all that much.

Chris opened the door before we could knock, his eyes dropping to our joined hands. And then a slow—slightly creepy—smile spread across his face. “Well, well. Since The Valentine Villain isn’t currently in my apartment, I’m gonna assume you two finally stopped pretending?”

Luna’s cheeks flushed, but she lifted her chin. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Chris’s eyebrows shot up. “Luna, you wouldn’t shut up about how hot The Blade was even while spending months talking about how hot Jax was. And now that you know they’re the same person?—”

“Chris,chill!”Luna cut in, her face now roughly the same shade as a stop sign. “We all know the story, okay?”

“I’d like to hear that story,” I deadpanned, earning me a glare from Luna and a chuckle from Chris.

I tried not to smile, but the thought of Luna having a crush on both versions of me?

I definitely didn’t hate that.

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