Luminary {Book 2 ✔️}

Chapter 23

"You- I- ugh," she stuttered out angrily. I blinked a couple of times.

"Will you be finishing any sentences or," I laid my palm out flat, "am I supposed to read your mind?"

"Lou," Tucker warned.

I barely glanced at him. My stare zeroed in on the other girl. As I sized her up, I realized she was only a little older than I was. Two years, maybe three.

"Lou," Tucker said again, more urgently. This time I looked at him curiously. "Can you wait outside?"

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised, but I did my best not to show it. Megan shot me a smug smile as I let myself out of the office and left the two of them standing alone in the office.

I leaned against the railing outside of the office, trying with little avail to not let my mind wander to dangerous places. She's blonde, a snide voice in my head reminded me, he likes blondes.

A larger, more dominant, part of me told the voices to politely shut the fuck up. I wasn't a jealous person.

I took a few deep breaths, feeling my eyes start to droop again. This exhaustion was different from the type of weakness I used to feel after using my abilities. This exhaustion was purely my brain telling me that I needed one night of peaceful sleep. Just one.

Unsure of how much time had passed since I'd left the office, I began to get a little antsy. Finally, when Megan opened the door and faced me I found myself to be a little relieved. She paid me no mind as she brushed past me, 'accidentally' hitting her shoulder against mine.

"Good job," I called after her sarcastically, "you really wounded me with that one!"

When I re-entered the office, Tucker had an eyebrow raised. His face could've been an expression of annoyance or amusement, I wasn't sure.

"Do you have to be so..." he struggled to find the right word.

I raised an eyebrow. "Helpful?"

He shook his head. "Infuriating."

I pursed my lips at him and shrugged a little. He was leaning against the desk, his forearm muscles prominent as he gripped the edges.

"I'm still waiting for a 'thank you,' you know," I told him, "Isaac's memories, Aisha's memories...I'm going to start charging you."

"No, you won't."

He took a few steps forward, pushing himself off the desk to stand in front of me. I crossed my arms to match his as I looked up at him defiantly. The look he gave me sent shivers down my spine, but I tried not to show it. It didn't work. He smiled as he noticed.

"And why won't I?"

"You know that helping is the right thing to do," he told me matter of factly, "and you're a good person. You don't want a 'thanks' for being a good person, but I'll give it to you all the same. Thank you."

I uncrossed my arms. Sure, he could say I was a good person. He didn't know what was in my head. He didn't know what I was constantly reining in. He didn't know the secrets I was hiding. My face betrayed my thoughts so I turned, pretending to examine a piece of art on the wall.

"So what did you have to talk to her about?"

I felt his presence grow closer and closer until his chest was practically brushing my back. His index finger trailed slowly down from my shoulder, over my bicep, and down to my forearm.

"Are you jealous? Is that what this is?"

His words whispered into my ear, held a degree of teasing. I realized that he had avoided my question, but his touch making its way down my arm was distracting. We still stood back to chest and the heat radiating off of him was intoxicating. I could feel his breath rustle my hair.