Page 27 of Touch the Sky
“I thought maybe you hated me.”
Tess flinches like she didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“I don’t hate you.”
I say it just a little too quietly, quiet enough that she has to lean in closer to hear.
Her lips really are ridiculously shiny. I don’t know how anyone in the room is looking at anything else.
“Jacinthe, can you check if the—oh.”
I spring away from Tess like a searchlight just beamed down on us, but it’s only Natalie tapping me on the shoulder.
I crank my neck around to glance at her behind me. She’s staring straight at Tess with the kind of grin that can only mean bad news for me.
“Who’s this?” she asks.
I should probably say something, but my heart is pounding so fast from Natalie’s sneak attack that all I can do is clutch my chest.
When it’s clear I’m not jumping in, Tess lifts her hand in a nonchalant wave. She’s slipped right back into that easy, commanding swagger.
“I’m Tess.”
Natalie steps around me and sticks her hand out for a shake.
“Natalie. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before?”
Anybody else would think Natalie is being nothing but friendly, but there’s a sickly sweet edge to her voice my ears are trained to pick up on. It means she’s about to fuck with me.
“I’m new to the area,” Tess tells her. “I just took over a farrier business.”
Natalie lets out a delighted gasp, like an evil Disney villain.
“Oh my god, you’re the hot farrier!”
I squeak.
I literallysqueak.
Then I jam my elbow into her rib cage. She lets out a satisfyingoof.
“Excuse me,” she says, clutching her side. “I meant to say Jacinthe has told us so much about you.”
I make a mental addition to my calendar:
2AM: break into Natalie’s apartment and smother her with a pillow in her sleep.
“Wow, it’s really nice to meet you,” she gushes, ignoring the threat of another elbow jab. “I should get Brooke and Maddie to come say hi. They wouldloveto meet you too.”
She starts to step away, but I catch her by the wrist. I have to take action before she calls in back-up.
“That’s fine,” I grit out through a clenched jaw. “We’ll see them around.”
Natalie slips her wrist out of my grip with some kind of subtle ninja maneuver.
“No, no, no. Let me go find them. They need to see?—”
“We’rebusy,” I hiss.
