Page 56 of Mistlefoe
I don’t have a lot of room for big movements, so I can only shift my eyes to Sierra. She’s clenching her jaw hard enough that a muscle jumps, which immediately tells me this interaction isn’t welcome.
“Brandy,” Sierra spits back.
The other woman turns her attention to me. “How fascinating to see you here at all. Kyle and I are here for our wedding tasting—you do remember Kyle, right?”
“How can I forget? You two made my high school experience an unforgettable one.” Sierra’s lips stretch into a tight, humorless smile.
All at once I remember a conversation that feels simultaneouslyten years ago, and also yesterday. Sierra mentioned that she had been bullied through school for being the janitor’s daughter. I don’t know if these two led the charge, but they certainly had a hand in making Sierra miserable.
Something lights up in my brain that activates my body before I can fully control it. One second I’m about to eat a morsel of food, and the next I’m nuzzling my nose behind Sierra’s ear.
“I got you,” I murmur softly against her ear.
Her body breaks into a shiver but she jerks her head into a nod and doesn’t pull away. I do what I’ve been itching to do since we sat here: I rest my arm on Sierra’s shoulders and bring her flush against me until she can feel how hard my heart slams in my ribcage. I place a hot, soft kiss under her earlobe and turn to the other woman.
“So, are you a friend of my Sierra?”
“Oh, um.” She blinks fast. “I’m Brandy Jackson, the future Mrs. Kyle Montgomery. And you?” I ignore the hand she offers.
I tilt my head. “Still wondering about the answer to my question.”
“I—I—” The woman gives an awkward laugh. “Yes, of course we’re friends. We went to middle school and high school together.”
“We’re not friends,” Sierra says with a deadpanned voice as she leans forward to pluck a churro from the plate. I’m close enough that I can see her hand shake slightly. “In fact, Brandy and Kyle here were the biggest bullies in school and they should feel ashamed at even showing their faces in front of me.”
Damn. My chest swells with pride for her. Sierra doesn’t really need me to play knight in shining armor when she herself is a shield and a sword all in one. I don’t know why but I find that hotter than the chocolate steaming on the table.
The Kyle dude snorts and doesn’t even look up to say, “Hey, babe. Can we just sit down? My feet are getting tired.”
Just hearing his whiny voice is almost enough to ruin my appetite. It recovers quickly as the blonde stutters something and leads him to the booth next to ours.
I pull away slightly so I can face Sierra. She continues eating in silence for a moment until she meets my eyes. When she allows the silence to prolonge, I ask in as low a timbre as I can manage, “Are you okay?”
“Unsure,” she admits with a shrug. “Can we hurry?”
“Say no more.” I unleash my full hunger and polish my half of the food in the blink of an eye. Sierra’s slower, but it seems like the brief encounter with her past tormentor has closed off her stomach and I end up eating the rest.
“Conor?” she asks after I’m done stuffing my face. “Would you please do me a favor now?”
“Anything.”
She startles a bit at the vehemence of my answer, but recovers quickly. “Can you please keep pretending you’re my boyfriend?”
“Sure.” I lean closer to her so I can speak directly into her ear. “What kind do you want me to be? Whispering sweet nothings into your ear like this? Publicly handsy? Openly hostile to them?”
“Um, all of the above?” Her voice comes out like a squeak.
“Deal.”
We get up from the booth and exchange a glance. We’re doing this, all right.
I offer my hand to her and Sierra grabs it without hesitation. We march over to the counter to wait for the owner. His voice drifts over from the booth where the two shitty people are sitting, waiting for their little food. It could be just me but I feel laser beams on my back. Bullies hate it when someone else is the center of attention—I wouldn’t be surprised if the realreason those two set their sights on younger Sierra was because she was smarter, cooler, and more beautiful. And I’m sure that at least the blonde woman is going to lose her shit seeing someone else prove this.
Letting go of Sierra’s hand, I place mine on her opposite side, right at the curve of her waist and hip, and slowly travel it lower as I pull her flush against me. Sierra gasps and blinks up at me, but doesn’t stop me as I move my hand lower around her, until I’m sliding my hand into her front pocket.
Her face is red like a streetlight, though.
“Um, good acting.” She lowers her eyes.
