Page 21 of The Explorer
“English, please,” I reminded him with a grin.
Dabbing at his wound with the cloth a last time, Banni straightened to his full height. “All right, here’s my message… wait, is this for a man or a woman?”
“Woman. Sparrow isn’t a man’s name.”
“There’s no need to roll your eyes at me. How was I supposed to know that when I’ve never met anyone called Sparrow?”
I looked into the camera. “Sorry about that, sweetie. He doesn’t know any better.”
As I talked, Banni came to wrap his arm around my shoulder with a charming smile. “Listen, Sparrow, all you need to know is that you don’t have to worry about Aubri. Trust me, we’re taking good care of her. If you need convincing, feel free to come by for a visit. We French arevery welcoming.” The way his tone turned sultry at the end made me elbow him and pull away.
“Okay, tone it down, Frenchie. If Sparrow shares this with my brother and cousin, they’ll think that you’re coming on to me.”
“What if I am?” Banni teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t say that around Indiana or he’ll blow up again.”
“Say what around me?”
I should have known Indiana was keeping an eye on me. Looking up I saw him leaning against the drone with his arms crossed.
“Stop scowling like that. Nothing happened. Wanna say hi to Sparrow?”
“Sure.” Shifting his balance to stand straight up, Indiana declared:
“Sparrow, tell Mason he owes me big time. I’m stuck here babysitting his twin while he and Belle are…”
I held up a hand to cut him off, swinging the camera away from Indiana and back to me. “Don’t listen to him. He’s not babysitting. If anything, he’s crashing the party because I never asked him to stay.”
“Ihadto stay.”
“Mm-hmm…. Why don’t you just admit that you were having the time of your life today when we went river rafting, climbing, and exploring?”
Indiana crossed and uncrossed his arms. “I’ll admit that I enjoyed it at times.”
“See.” I walked over to stand next to him and filmed us both. Looking up at him, I pushed my luck. “How about you tell our friends at home that being here isn’t as miserable as you want them to believe?”
He groaned. “Being out here is fine, but what happens when we have to live in that apartment and figure everything out?”
I smacked my tongue. “Tsk, you worry too much. It’ll be an adventure. We’ll get to try new food, meet new friends, and Banni already promised he’ll take us to a fight club.”
“A fight club?” Indiana’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Banni, who was close enough to hear, was quick to correct me. “No, I said a nightclub, not a fight club.”
“Oh, what the hell is a nightclub?” I asked.
“It’s a bar where there’s music, dancing, and flirting. Don’t you have that in the Northlands?”
“Ehh… sort of. We have bars and the yearly festival where there’s dancing, but it’s not limited to the nighttime, they can do it during the day as well.”
Indiana looked into the camera with a serious expression. “Sparrow, it’s better if you don’t show this vid to the others. There’s no need for them to worry. I’ll make sure Aubri doesn’t flirt with anyone.”
Remembering my father’s threat from this morning, I played along. “And with that promise, we’ll end our greeting. I have to send a message to Dad, who wants me to apologize for sacrificing myself. Apparently, only men are allowed to be heroes.”
Ending the call, I looked up at Indiana again. “We’re going to that nightclub.”
“Aubri…” It sounded like a half-hearted protest.
