Page 47 of Five Things I See in You

“Have you bought the tickets already?”

“Not yet.”

“Wow. You really are changing,” she murmurs, pulling my T-shirt up.

“I’m still going to print them out and staple them,” I tell her, sighing as her thumbs brush my breasts.

“I’d expect nothing less.”

On-screen, the sister starts explaining where she was on the night of the murder. Noa looks toward the TV, ready to remind me of her theory.

I turn it off.

Epilogue

Noa

At six thirty in the morning, the pool is empty and the ocean behind it hasn’t quite settled on a color yet.

I’ve come down barefoot, with a book I haven’t opened and without the watch I usually wear for my runs.

I woke up early. That’s all.

Jordan is still asleep, one hand beneath her pillow. Last night, she said she wanted to get up early for a walk on the beach. But when I stirred, she opened one eye and mumbled something I couldn’t understand. I left her to sleep.

“Man, Brit. Morning, huh?”

Iris appears, heading toward the hotel. Tina follows with her shoes in her hand.

“You two haven’t been to bed yet?” I ask, surprised.

“That’s a nasty question at this hour,” Iris protests. Then she takes my cup without asking, drinks, and spits it out. “Ugh. So much milk. You and the witch really are made for each other.”

Breakfast starts with the three of us, then gets steadily more crowded.

Jade arrives with a tray and has to move Tina’s sandals to sit down. Natalia and Holland come over with Lina, who’s already eaten but likes sitting with the team. Then Zoe and Tessa arrive with Wesley.

“Noa Reeves,” he says before hugging me. He’s called me by my full name since the day we met. “I’m six now,” he adds, holding up his fingers to make sure I understand.

“And I’m still Iwis. I’m starting to take this personally,” Iris complains, lifting him by the waist to sit beside her.

Hades arrives a little later with her daughter asleep against her chest. Mireya has a bag over her shoulder. She sits beside me and looks at my plate.

“Are you going to eat that?” she asks, pointing at my toast.

Someone brings another table over and pushes it against ours. By the time Jordan appears on the terrace, there are so many of us that it takes her a moment to find me.

Her hair is loose, her glasses slightly crooked. She’s wearing one of my T-shirts, a little too big on her. She stops behind my chair to kiss me.

“You didn’t wake me. I thought we were going for a walk on the beach.”

“I tried. You growled at me like a bear,” I say, making room beside me.

“Can we all fit?”

“Iris and Tina are about to go to bed,” Hades says without hesitation. “I want you on time for practice. Both of you.”

“Valeria’s taking good care of us, okay? Don’t worry about that. But we miss you,” Iris murmurs as she gets up.