He shakes his head, telling me not to say anything.
I don't listen. "Luca," I say.
He looks up. Ethel smacks his forehead.
I come up with some crap excuse. "Wanna go look at something?" It's the oldest trick in the book, but it works.
Luca hesitates then nods, collecting all of his shreds into his arms, carefully, like they're something precious. I almost feel bad for thinking he was just being destructive. But then again, he kind of is.
I lead him into the next aisle. I know he's expecting something spectacular from the way he's looking at me, but I still don't know what I'm gonna show him.
When Ethel makes eye contact with me, he leans closer. "Hey..." His green eyes shift towards me. "I know it's a surprise, but I'm actually excited. What are you gonna show us? Cacti?" He smiles.
I give him a distressed look, hoping he'll get the hint. I don't know!
He looks offended. "Well sorry I asked."
I'm about to scream at him, but Luca stops dead in his tracks. He stares wide-eyed in my direction, holding his pile of shreds closer.
"Luca-" I flinch.
He growls. His hair flattens at the top of his head. His shoulders fold in. I would've never expected a noise like that to come from him. It sounds so hostile. I take a step back, but he doesn't follow. He runs away. It's only then that I realize he wasn't looking at me.
I turn around, slowly. A group of guys around Luca's age stare back at me. "Animal," one of them scoffs. They all laugh at that.
The plan was for them to just drop us (as in me and Axel) off at my house, but when I tell Onai that Michael needs him for something, we all end up going. I figure it'll give me an opportunity to deal with three things at once: the window, cheering Luca up, and showing Michael the thing he said he had to see-a real-life werewolf shifting.
I suppose I could've just asked Axel to do it, since he was already coming with me, but Michael's not gonna see my boyfriend's naked butt. No sir. No ma'am. And if Onai refuses, I always have Ethel. It's a foolproof plan.
I lead the group to my front door, warning them to take their shoes off when they get in. But before I can pull my keys out, Megan throws the door open.
"Where have you been, young lady?" she booms in her commander voice. "You could've... I mean, I've been waiting for you to..." She looks starstruck.
I raise an eyebrow. Megan's never been shy when it comes to guests, so I'm a little confused as to why she's staring behind me, wide-eyed, like a total fangirl who just fell in love.
In one fluid snatch, she pulls her bright, pink hair bonnet off. Her freshly moisturized fro pops out like a jack-in-the-box, ready for action. Fluffing it out like she's royalty, she smiles shyly. "We... have lemonade and kool-aid in the fridge if anyone wants some?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak