Jenna tries to push past me again and I hold her back. “Let’s follow the rules of the clan, Jenna. We can take this issue to the council.”
She mutters under her breath, saying a lot of unchoice words about Doug. I won’t argue with that opinion of him. He was never going to be a friend under the best of circumstances, but now, not ever…and especially not after the way he spoke to her.
And to think that they were together until today. He had called her his girlfriend, and yet he turned around and treated her this way. I can’t understand how he could be so cruel to someone he once liked or even loved.
Doug is not a good person. And now I am even angrier with myself for having made such stupid mistakes during the duel. I could have won. I could have proved what I’d set out to prove all those months ago when I’d challenged him. All those hours I spent working out, and all that time and money spent with a private martial arts trainer. I could have been the better man…I could have been worthy.
But I hadn’t proven myself. I’d failed. Yet again.
That same frustration stabs painfully in my chest. My fists tighten and I escort Jenna out of the tent. She has her head down and her skin is flushed.
“Are you all right?” I ask. I can’t tell by looking at her—or anyone, really. These are things that come so easy to everyone else, but I have to study
mannerisms, gestures and tone of voice. Even then, I rarely get it right.
Jenna doesn’t say anything for a long time, but finally she nods. We are making our way up to the center of the park. There’s a large main tent where the council will meet shortly. I turn to her. “You need to eat. And so do I. When the council meets after lunch, we can speak to them.”
She reaches out for my hand, and before I can pull it away, she squeezes it. “Thank you so much. It was very kind of you to stand up for me. I…” Her voice trembles and fades away as she blinks rapidly. “It means a lot to have a friend with me for this.”
She drops my hand, and I’m left confused as we make our way over to the cook fires to buy some lunch. What did that mean? That’s the second time Jenna has taken hold of my arm. She likes to touch people. But I’ve never been able to understand exactly why and under what circumstances she touches them.
We are served bread and stew in wooden bowls, along with mugs of mulled beer. We’re sitting down on opposite sides of a nearby picnic table when my knee brushes against hers. She doesn’t pull away. I look up and she’s staring right at me.
Oh crap. My eyes drop to her hands on either side of her plate. She wears a plethora of rings—one on almost every finger, even her thumbs. Some are made from semi-precious stones. I recognize hematite and tiger-eye. And the fingers themselves are long and slender, half the size of mine. I’d like to know what it would feel like to wrap my hand around hers, to hold it tight.
She looks away and begins fiddling with her rings. “I could go to small claims court,” Jenna was muttering. “I could win that case.”
I frown, shifting my eyes to her. “Would it be rude to ask you why you put the tiara up to secure a loan?”
She’s still for a moment, but then she reaches over, breaks the roll in half and dips it into the gravy of her stew. “It’s not rude to ask, no. I told you. I needed the money.”
I puzzle this for a moment, rubbing at the whiskers on my chin. I usually don’t shave while I’m at an overnight outing. It bothers me to have itchy whiskers, but it’s more tolerable than trying to shave in ice-cold water while we are camping.
“You’re not in some kind of trouble, are you? Because I’d help you if you are.”
Her hand pauses, the bread immersed in the gravy. Then she slowly begins moving it again, and I follow the path of that drenched morsel of bread from the bowl to her mouth. Jenna has lovely pale pink lips, as elegant and refined as the rest of her. She presses the piece of bread to those lips and opens her mouth to take it in.
A familiar buzz of heat and excitement runs through me, and now I’m thinking about what it would be like to kiss her. I’ve kissed other women. It was all right. But I think it might be different to kiss Jenna.
“I’m not in trouble.” She grimaces. “Not how you’re thinking, anyway.”
“Hey, kids!” Someone plops down suddenly beside Jenna, and I turn to see that it’s her best friend and roommate, Alex. “That smells good. I’m ‘a get me some of that.”
“Here, have the rest of mine. I’m not super hungry.” Jenna pushes the bowl toward Alex after only three bites.
Alex turns to me, speaking between scooping up spoonfuls of the stew and swallowing. “Hey, William. That was such a good fight. I’m sorry you didn’t win.”