Page 65 of A Sea of Secrets
Ace held up his bionic hand, which instantly silenced him. I only laughed harder as he swiped the crustacean from his cheek with a finger and flicked it back over at me.
“The crab fork is this one, Twiggy,” I pointed out innocently.
Ace’s face turned beet red. “You and I are going to have a real fucking problem if you open your mouth one more time.”
Before I could answer, a wail sounded across the room, and I looked in alarm as Zane jumped out of his seat. “Seb! My bunk buddy, my cuddly little crustacean. I thought Kendra murdered you a little while ago but turns out someone else did!”
“Me?” Kendra said indignantly. “Why the hell would I—”
“Who would do such a thing?” he continued theatrically, patting the crab on the plate gently. He glared at everyone. “How could you all? They’re just trying to live their best sand-loving lives before you rip them away from their splendiferous seas.”
“Don’t you eat meat?” Ace asked bluntly. “What’s the difference?”
“I’m from the ocean you cantankerous turtle! It would be like being a cannibal. Do you rip the legs off your mates? No! That would be psycho even for you.”
As silly as the idea was, I could tell Zane was genuinely upset over the choice of dinner and his missing friend, even if I couldn’t understand it.
“It’s okay, Zane,” Fallon said quickly, patting his hair. “We’ll, er, we’ll give him a burial.”
She rose and we followed, padding over to Zane and Fallon’s table where he lifted his gloomy face. Zane’s eyes turned to daggers as he beheld my hand. “What. Is. That?!”
“Um… this?” I waved my fork, which only caused the juicy wad of crab meat to fly off and thunk on Zane’s plate, right on top of his now succulently cooked friend, Seb.
“Oh, no,” Noah muttered.
“You’ve done it now,” Ace said smugly.
“Shit,” I agreed.
Zane roared as he leapt across the table at me, his fists slamming into my face one after the other.
“Potentials!” Luna yelled. “Stop this at once!”
Zane ignored me, pummelling me with all his might. I just let him take his rage out. Poor Merman baby needed to get some steam out, too.
“Why is it always on my watch and why is it always your group?!” Luna grumbled from across the room. “Etiquette lessons are over. Now, all of you get out!”
Fallon gave her an apologetic look, which Luna just waved off with a stressed smile. Zane was still trying to rage on me, so Ace and Noah held him back while Fallon steered me out the door.
“I think it’s best if you give him a small break.” She considered. “Okay, maybe a long one. You know how he gets with his sea stuff.”
“Unfortunately.”
Zane pushed out the door shortly after, gave us a look resembling a deer in headlights, and then bolted down the hallway.
I shared a look with Fallon. “That was weird.”
She snorted, then shook her head. “What isn’t weird when it comes to Zane? Come on, let’s get out of here. Wanna workout? We never got to finish our sprint on the treadmills, you know.”
I groaned, remembering the time my treadmill had fritzed out, sending me crashing off the damn thing. We’d been sprinting as part of a game… Turns out I’d had none. Somehow, it had worked in my favour, though.
“Maybe let’s move to the weight racks,” I suggested. “Meet you in 10?”
She slapped my bum before walking away. “You got it.”
“Hey sweet cheeks,” I called, watching that beautiful face crinkle in amusement.
“Yuh?”
