Page 41 of Conner's Luna

The boys all burst out laughing. Braxton laughs so hard he chokes on his bagel a little.

Conner wipes tears from his eyes before he leans over and kisses the top of my head. "You're so cute," he snickers. All of the tension at the table has faded away. Braxton picks up the piece of his sandwich that fell out of his mouth and pops it back in, chewing away happily.

"Shut up," I mutter. All of the eyes in the cafe are on us. Conner suddenly wraps his arm around my waist. We all eat quietly for a minute while I fight my blush at his proximity. I can feel the heat pouring off of his thick, muscular body. We've been physically close before, several times, but there's something different about being snuggled in a booth together, in full public view of everyone who comes into the cafe.

"Show her," Sean says suddenly. He sends Conner a significant look and immediately the temperature at the table drops.

"Bailey," Conner curls his left arm around my waist and tugs me close then slides a picture onto the shiny linoleum surface of the booth table. "Do you recognize her?"

I look at the picture and nod. "Jo, right?" Conner looks at Sarj before sliding the picture back into his pocket. "What's wrong?" I ask, my voice sharpening.

"How do you know her, babe?" Conner asks me.

I feel my face twist into a scowl. I hate it when he answers a question with a question, but something tells me that now isn't the time to push the issue. "She was always hanging around Lydia and Raina."

Conner withdraws his arm from around me and smoothly gets out of the booth. I watch him, bewildered, as he goes to the counter and orders something. Glancing at the cups of coffee and tray of bagels and croissants on the table, I look up at Sarj in confusion.

A muscle twitches in his jaw. "Jolena disappeared a while ago," Sarj says quietly. Braxton is glaring at his coffee and doesn't look up at me.

I feel sick. "Disappeared how?" I wrack my brain, but I've been actively avoiding that crowd for the past couple of months. I wouldn't necessarily notice Jo's absence from Lydia's crowd.

"She was killed," Conner's cold voice makes me jump. He ignores my stiff frame as he slides back into the booth next to me and places a soft cookie in front of me. "I wanted it to still be warm for you," he practically growls at me. "Eat."

I can't eat. Not after being told that a girl was killed from right here at C State. The half of a bagel I just ate is sitting like a hard lump of stone in my stomach. "Why isn't this in the news?" I ask them, trying to quell the panic rising rapidly in my throat. "Crap, poor Jolena."

"Our uncle is in the FBI. They're keeping it quiet for now," Braxton offers in a voice that doctors use to deliver the news that you have an inoperable tumor.

"Why? Do they have a suspect?" I ask him, ignoring Conner as he breaks off a piece of the cookie and holds it up for me to take. "I can't, Conner."

"You look pale and need to eat something. Another bagel?" he asks me.

"The cookie won't be nearly as appetizing if I vomit all over the table," I whisper.

Strong fingers grasp my chin and turn my head. Green eyes, hard and uncompromising, bore into mine. "Jolena fell in with a bad crowd and was murdered, Bailey. I need you to always be careful. Let one of us escort you around campus all the time, understand?"I open my mouth to protest, but Conner cuts me off."I'll also stay with you at your house until your dad gets home."

I feel my eyebrows knit together in a frown. "You don't have time to babysit me in my own house, Conner. Besides, why is all that necessary? You make it seem like there's a serial killer on the loose."

His face falls into a chillingly-emotionless visage that I haven't seen in weeks. His fingers fall away from my chin as I look around the table frantically. "Are you serious? You said Jolena fell in with a bad crowd," I whisper.

Conner's eyes fall closed as Sarj rolls his eyes in disgust at him. "Less is more, Conner," he says.

"Why wouldn't they announce that on campus? Shouldn't everyone be made aware?" I ask them.

Conner shakes his head before opening his eyes. "No, Bailey," He says to me sternly. "And you can't say anything, got it?"

Uneasiness rolls through me. I know that crime shows aren't exactly true-to-life, but what possible reason could this silence really have? If girls don't know to be careful then they simply won't be. Even with warnings, some people don't take threats like this seriously, but the attempt still has to be made, right?

"Our uncle is taking care of the security. Please just trust us, baby," Conner says softly. "Let us protect you."

I'm not so independent that I'm an idiot. I'm also not naive. "I will live my life, Conner, but I promise to communicate everything with you."

Conner tugs me into his side. "Fine." He inhales deeply. "Eat your cookie, Bails."

I nibble on it. My stomach is still churning, but the warm cookie is the very definition of comfort food. I barely knew Jolena, but knowing that she is dead,murdered, is utterly shocking. Worse is how calm and collected Conner and the other boys are about it all. Sure, Conner is exhausted, and he always looks a little bit like he's walking a tightrope between safety and the cliff, but this should have any sane person acting upset.

Or eating their second warm cookie. I thank Braxton in a small voice. He just smiles at me sympathetically.

Conner lets out a little shudder next to me and tucks me even closer to him. I look at him, noting the slight tightening of his mouth. Laying my head on his shoulder, I close my eyes and just listen to the thud of his heartbeat while he plays with my hair.

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