james.
James shrugged his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. âYouâre right. Iâve broken a lot more expensive things a lot worse than that window sill. They can probably get a guy to fix it by the time we wake up in the morning!â He laughed at his own stupid joke. It was probably true though, the complex seemed to be just magical that way. A small smirk appeared on his face and he nodded his head.âIâll take you up on that bet, actually. What do you say? Ladies first after all,â he waved a hand dramatically at her before letting out another short laugh. He hadnât thought that the two of them would be getting along this well and it was making him unsure of himself which was something that he also didnât like. Hook kept his gaze on Zarina as he leaned on the arm of his own chair, leaning just a little closer to her but not close enough to make her complain about him getting into her personal space. âIâll do my best, I promise.â He pursed his lips and tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. âSoâŚhowâs everything been going? Have your parents tried to contact you lately?â
Sitting down in the chair, and staring up at the sky, Zarina realized that sheâd missed this. Ever since that summer, she had prevented herself from stargazing like that, out in the open, because she was afraid of the memories itâd bring back. But there she was, and it didnât hurt as much as she thought it would. âIf we tell them, that is.â She went along with his joke, actually grinning a bit. âAlright, weâre doing this. What do you want to bet on that?â If he made it too outrageous, she could always back down. As he leaned in, she fought very hard not to back away from him, and succeeded, feeling awfully proud of herself, even though she was taken aback by his sincerity. âMe too,â she replied earnestly, maybe a little more than she wanted. âGood. I made a new friend. MY parents tried to call me, but I didnât pick up. Although itâs family day soon, theyâll probably try to use that as an excuse to barge in. Trust them to fly here to do that.â She rolled her eyes. âYou? Heard anything from the boys?â she said, almost like she was still part of that group when she knew she wasnât anymore.
James had spent a lot of time in his life since Barcelona staring up at the sky. Hell, heâd done it far before then too. Even when he was a little kid, watching the stars was always a favorite past time. It helped him to imagine places he could go an things he could do, but right now the only thing he thought of was staying where he was. A smirk on his face, he held his hand out to the woman next to him. âWinner buys the other one dinner. I bet it takes them a week to fix it.â He knew there was a chance she would deny it, but it was worth a shot. A huge part of him hoped that things would go better than he expected. Letting out a snort of laughter, he rolled his eyes. âOh what a glorious day that will be huh? Iâm sure you mom will be thrilled to see that Iâm here. Maybe we can work something out to give your mom the shock of her life...if youâre down for it.â James winked at his companion before shrugging his shoulders. âNot recently. Kind of hard to keep friends when youâre traveling the world a lot, you know?â It hurt a little more to admit that than he thought it would.














