The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0443

“Hi, Piper!” Susie said, suddenly rushing past me. “Bye, Piper!” She took the stairs of the stage.

Bridget’s gaze never left mine. She didn’t say anything more, just winked at me, then turned to follow Susie up the stairs.

I stared after her for a few long moments, shaken inside and out. Just what had Bridget meant by that? A true kiss of passion, she’d said. With Nicholas?

No. I couldn’t believe it. Nicholas had said he won’t kiss anyone he didn’t want to, and I couldn’t let Bridget’s words shake my faith and trust in him.

But what if Bridget was someone he wanted to kiss. The lights of the stage could be intoxicating, and Bridget was a good actress. If anyone could convince a man to kiss her, it would be Bridget.

My stomach twisted into tight knots. Maybe I shouldn’t watch at all. Maybe I should just return to the sitting room with Elva and wait for Susie to tell me what happened.

Yes, that was what I would do. Decided, I turned away from the stairs, only to notice a figure lingering at the other side of the backstage, half in shadow. No one really went to that side, since this side was far more convenient.

Yet I recognized that shadvenient

Julian.

My worries dimmed a little under the wave of determination that rolled over me now. I still needed to talk to him, and here he was. We could speak privately there, and an escape would not be easy for him.

Resolved, I started toward him.

Onstage, the scene began, with Bridget talking to Susie. Susie delivered her one line. Her voice trembled with obvious fear, yet she still managed to say the words. I was proud of her. I would tell her later. But for now…

“Julian, we need to talk,” I said.

Julian didn’t even glance at me. His eyes were glued to the stage.

said,

Did he just shush me?

blocking his view of the stage. Face blank, he simply

to watch this scene as much as I wanted to avoid it. Was he some kind of masochist? Liked the pain? Or was this way of dealing with the potential rejection? Did he need to see Bridget and Nicholas interact like some kind of proof? Even if it was only an

wouldn’t stand in his way, if this was what he felt he

+15 BONUS

him to try to sneak away again. So I reached out and clenched his wrist in

words with Bridget. The scene made my stomach clench no matter how many times I witnessed it.

His blank expression had not changed. Suddenly, I began to worry about him even more than before. It wasn’t like him to not be quick with

I would speak with him, but I would want to anyway. Even if I didn’t want the truth about what happened

“Julian…” I whispered.

said, still not looking at me. “I’m watching the show

closed my mouth again. He really did want to torture

guessed that meant I had

time for the kiss. Beside me, Julian tensed. I tensed too, holding onto

Nicholas’s face from here, only Bridget’s. She looked up at him with such pure devotion in her eyes. She was a great actress, but I wondered if not all

so slowly, they leaned

caught in my throat.

Nick. No.

the last moment, Nicholas turned his head and

relief pushed

face to center him, pressed herself up onto her

cheer. So

and I realized how tightly I was holding him. Still, I couldn’t force

of the kiss. He looked like a statue, unmoving. When Bridget pulled back, smiling, he knocked

for a moment. But then she corrected herself. She smiled as she