Page 12 of Introvert

"Are you sure?" Santino gestured to my outfit. "Becausewith the clothes, you kind of look like one."

"I'm sure."

"That's—ow!"

Ryker had thrown one of his sticks at the other guy, landing it smack in the middle of his forehead. "Santino, shut up. She's not a freaking stripper."

"Yeah," Elliot said, staring at me from behind his glasses, "it's giving me flashbacks to private school."

"Me too," Hayen said. "Lookslike the uniform they used to make us wear. Minus the skirt."

Felix met my gaze, and his lips twitched. "Told you they'd likethe costume," he said.

I shook my head.

"Also, just so you know, I wasn't thinking stripper when I said that."

"I'll keep it in mind as a backup in case the violinist thing doesn't work out."

Total lie.

I would never have the guts to take my clothes off in front of people.

My courage only went so far.

Plus, I had thick thighs and hips, semi-decent boobs, and a lack of coordination that showed up at the worst times.

So yeah, dancing in front of people—with or without clothes—was a no-go.

"How do you know my brother?" Ryker asked.

My eyes widened at that.

"Your brother?" I repeated.

"Yeah. Can't you see the resemblance?"

Now that he mentioned it, I could.Looking between Felix and Ryker, I was surprised I hadn't noticed before.They had the same bone structure with high cheekbones and a strong jawline. Ryker was a little more muscular whereFelixwas lean, but they were both tall with broad shoulders. Even their eyes were the same disarming shade of brown.

"You're younger?" I asked Felix.

"Yeah," he said, "and better looking, smarter, more talented."

Ryker threw his other stick, but anticipating this, Felix ducked out the way just in time.

"Better reflexes too."

"Funny," Ryker said. To me, he added, "Welcome to the HERS tour, Aurora. Glad you could make it."

"Me too," I said.

A woman boarded the busand tapped me on the shoulder, "Hi, hello there! Can you move please, sweetheart? I just want to make sure we're all ready."

"Oh, of course," I said, trying to shift out of the way.

Unfortunately, I got two steps before I tripped on nothing.

My body pitched forward. I was prepared to catch myself, but before I could, someone stepped in front of me, wrapping a hand around my waist. We ended up chest-to-chest. My heart was beating fast. It felt like his was too. But Felix sounded perfectly calm when he spoke.

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