Page 56 of Blood Moon
I groaned, crossed my arms tightly. “We’re still doing this?”
“Good morning to you, too.” A smug smile set in his face, but in all fairness, it didn’t matter how he smiled. Each one was stupid and perfect.
I continued my stride forward, and Julian followed beside as we squeezed past others on the sidewalk. “But to your question. It depends. Do you still hate me?” he asked.
“More and more every day.”
“Good.”
“Fucking fantastic.”
A coyness there, almost as if he were impressed by me. He put his shades on to block his eyes from the bright sun. “About yesterday—”
I huffed. “I’m over it. I don’t want—”
“No,” he interrupted. “My actions are inexcusable. I know better, and I apologize.”
I wavered, coming to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk; someone following close behind sneered. “Well, well, well … look at you, owning up to your actions. It’s almost as ifyoucare.”
“Don’t mock me now.”
I raised a brow. “Don’t tell me what to do.” Beneath the tint of his shades, his eyes narrowed, flitting to the hollow of my throat, and I brushed my hair behind an ear. “But thank you for saying that. It’s appreciated.”
Julian shared a single nod, and we kept walking.
“Sev said your family and his family have been feuding for a while. Why?”
There was a break in his face. “Sev? As inSeven?You talked to him about that?” I was unsure if it was jealousy or astonishment, but the statement filled me with intrigue.
“Is that a problem?”
Julian furrowed his brows, lips thinning. “What else did he say?”
“He said it was complicated.”
“It is.”
“And that’s all you have to say about it?”
“Yup. Next question.”
“Why are you such a dick?”
“Irrelevant. Next question.”
I stuttered to a stop. How dare he just cut past my questions when he owed me? I glared in his direction, imagining daggers impaling the line of his back, before picking up my pace to follow.
Julian was speaking before I fully caught up to him. “What? Cat got your tongue, Bells?” he remarked, and I pulled on his backpack to slow him down. He stopped.
“What!” I exclaimed. “Don’t call me that.”
“Is there not a single nickname you like?”
“From you, no. And don’t think you can talk to me the way you did back there.”
He let out a long breath, removed his glasses.
“I’m deadass. If we’re going to do this whole …” I wasn’t sure what to call it. “Thing… you need to cooperate with me. Being near you is frustrating and confusing as it is, and I just want to find out what I need to know, so we can both move on with our lives.”
