And there went the rest of the smile. “Oh, God, what did she say?”
“Did you guys date or something?” The minute those words left her mouth, she regretted them.
“What? Oh, hell no.”
Bethany folded her arms. “Really?”
To her surprise, he laughed and cupped her elbow, guiding her toward the dirtied window overlooking the back parking lot. “She and my brother are dating—well, not right now, but on and off for as long as I can remember.”
Annoyed by the fact that she was relieved to hear it, she frowned. “What? Since they were ten or something?”
Dawson shrugged. “What did she say to you?”
Bethany gave him the quick and dirty version. By the time she finished, Dawson looked like he wanted to punch something. “Do they really see me as that big of a threat?” she asked.
His jaw ticked. “Yeah, they do.” He kept his voice low. “See, they don’t know you. And they don’t know any humans outside the DOD who are aware of them. This is new for them, but inexcusable.”
Part of her was glad he was so pissed, but she didn’t want to come between them any more than she already had. Forcing a smile, she stretched up on the tips of her toes and kissed the corner of his lip.
A shudder rolled through his entire body.
Bethany grinned, loving the effect she had on him. Sure, he was an alien with pretty much unlimited power, but she made him tremble. Score one for the pitiful human!
“You know, I have an idea,” she said.
“You do?” He snaked an arm around her waist as his head dipped, running his jaw up the side of her neck. For a moment she totally forgot what she was saying. “Bethany?”
“Oh.” She flushed, pulling back. Students were practically gawking at them. “I was thinking maybe things would be easier if we didn’t act like it was a big deal. If we didn’t try to…stay away from them. Maybe if they got to know me…”
Bethany trailed off because he was staring at her like she’d just kicked a baby into the street. “Okay. Never mind.”
“No.” He blinked and then grinned. “It’s a great idea. I should’ve come up with that.”
She beamed. “Yay me.”
He dropped his arm over her shoulder. “Well, let’s get this over with, then.”
Wait—what? She slowed her footsteps. “Huh?”
“How about we make an appearance at lunch? Most of them share your period.”
The great idea sounded good in theory, but now that they were putting it to the test, she sort of wished she’d kept her mouth shut. But she pulled her big-girl panties on and prepared for probably one of the most awkward lunch periods of her life.
PHS’s cafeteria was like every high school cafeteria. White square tables crammed into a room that smelled like Pine-Sol and burned food. The loud hum of conversation was actually kind of comforting to her. Normal. The line for food moved quickly. Dawson stacked his plate with what may’ve been meatloaf, and she’d grabbed a bottle of water. She always packed her lunch—peanut butter and jelly. Her day wouldn’t be complete without it.
Bethany didn’t need to know where his friends sat. She felt their stares and wondered if that was a super-alien power—drilling holes through bodies with just the power of their eyes.
Beside her, Dawson was a picture of ease. The easy half grin was plastered across his striking face, and he seemed oblivious to the stares he was getting as they headed down the middle of the cafeteria.
Dee and Daemon were at the table, sitting beside who she suspected was Andrew by the open-mouthed stare he was giving them. She assumed the rest of the students sitting at the table were human, because Dawson had said that most of the Luxen were younger or older.
“Hey, guys, mind if we join you today?” Dawson sat across from his brother before anyone could answer, tugging Bethany into the seat beside Dee. “Thanks.”
Bethany put her paper bag on the table, holding her breath.
“Bold move,” Daemon murmured, lips twisted into a smirk.
Dawson shrugged. “Nah, we just missed you guys.”
Daemon picked up a fork, and Bethany seriously hoped it wasn’t going to turn into a weapon. “I’m sure you did.” His familiar-yet-foreign green eyes slid to her. “How are you doing, Bethany?”
“I’m doing well.” She pulled out her sandwich, hating the fact that she could feel her cheeks blazing. “You?”
“Great.” He stabbed the meatloaf. “Don’t see you in here often. Are you skipping along with my responsible brother?”
“I usually eat in the art room.” She paused, pulling her sandwich into chunks. An odd habit of hers that Dawson made fun of.
“In the art room?” Dee questioned.
She nodded, lifting her gaze. There wasn’t an outright look of scorn or anything on the beautiful girl’s face. Mostly curiosity. “I paint. So I’ll eat in there and work on projects.”
“She’s really good,” Dawson threw in. His lunch was half devoured. “My girl has skills.”
Andrew leaned forward and said in a low voice, “Your girl is going to turn into one huge, mother—”
“Finish that sentence and I will stab you in the eye with the spork Bethany’s about to pull out of her bag for her apple sauce.” He smiled gamely. “And she’d be very upset if I got her spork all messed up. She’s rather fond of the thing.”
Yeah, she would be upset over that…for many reasons.