The Luna Choosing Game

“Excuse me,” Nicholas said to Bridget and walked away from her. He met me at the base of the stairs.

Behind his back, Bridget narrowed her eyes slightly, but then shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. I still had no idea how she could be so bright.

Maybe she’s slipped some liquor into her coffee to take the edge off. She didn’t seem drunk though.

Was it possible she just had a natural sunny disposition, even after drinking a whole bottle of wine? How unfair.

“I'm sorry about this, Piper,” Nicholas said. He nodded his head toward the front of the manor, and taking the

hint, I began walking beside him in the way he'd indicated.

He led us to a small sitting area near the front door of the mansion, where wicker furniture was arranged in a semi-circle. We didn’t sit, though. We just stood there in the middle of it.

“I know this isn’t what you envisioned about this week,” Nicholas said. Softer, he added, “Me, either.” We'd recently talked about playing out a fantasy. We had thought while we were here, we could pretend to be strangers and fall in love again. We knew we’d have to hide it from Jessica and Bridget, but we had thought in the moments alone that maybe we could have our chance.

even our moments alone would

your fault,” I said. “You had no way of knowing your father would want the cameras here.” “I should have, though. He cares about appearances. I should have known he wouldn't let us

can’t predict everything,” I

his head,

great king. He would settle for nothing less than excellence in

man needs

mean we can’t have some fun, right?” It was harder

suppose,” he replied, but didn’t seem convinced. I guessed I

to help him relax as much as

make an offer to

opened and

and new anxieties