Page 15 of Bad Moon Rising

Chase adds a winky face.

Hey, weird question, but are you and Orion Bellua an item?

I stare at my phone. That’s definitely a weird question.

Why?

I just wondered, is all. I see you walking with him after school most days, and if I try to talk to you, he gives me this look like he’s going to get medieval on my ass.

He does?

I’ve never noticed that. Is it strange to say my stomach flutters at the prospect?

He does! I thought it was just him being Orion, but he’s always walking you between classes, and the only time he talks is to stick up for you if someone says something mean, and so I thought maybe you were a couple...

I send him a laughing emoji, even as my heart does this weird flippy thing. Orion sticks up for me?

He shoots Chase angry looks when he tries to talk to me?

How did I not notice this?

Why does it make me feel so…wanted?

I realize that I’ve dropped my phone. I fish it out from under the bed and tap out a message.

Nope. No star-crossed lovers over here. We’ve been friends practically since we were in diapers.

Oh, right. What about Jackson Bellua, then? He’s always teasing you.

We’re just friends, too.

I picture the way Jackson’s face lights up every time he sees me, and how he’s always smoothed things over whenever Brooks and I got into arguments. I wish he’d been there today, maybe he could have stopped Brooks from being an ass—

My phone dings again.

That’s cool that you have so many friends. It must be nice.

Is it nice? Is it?

Or is it confusing? And frustrating? And a million other things I can’t define…

Chase and I chat a little more, but then I tell him I have to work on my essay. I turn back to my computer and stare at the blank screen until Mom calls me for dinner.

As I’m getting up to head downstairs, I catch sight of the Bellua’s backyard, where the four of us used to play together every day as kids. Orion’s out there, curled up with his sketchpad in the old treehouse fort we built (Well, me and Orion and Jackson built it while Brooks barked orders at us.)

Orion looks up, almost as if he senses me watching him. He waves at me tentatively, and his usually serious face breaks out into a wide, genuine smile. As I wave back, I can’t help the way the butterflies in my stomach start grinding on each other.

I’ve spent weeks trying to figure out what I should do about prom. At lunch, Jackson would make jokes about the dance and he’d wink at me and my heart would skip. And sometimes, Orion looks at me like he can read my thoughts, and it makes me go all tongue-tied because what if he sees all the filthy, R-rated things I think about him? About his brothers?

Every time I’m alone with either of them, I will them to ask me, but then I feel guilty because if I go with Jackson, I can’t go with Orion. If Orion takes me, then I’ll have to watch across the dance floor as Jackson flirts with some other girl. And I can’t bear either of those situations.

Admitting my true feelings to one means closing the door on the other. And I like them both equally. And then there’s Brooks…grumpy, possessive, overprotective Brooks…

It’s impossible. How do you force your heart to choose between your three best friends?

Finally, I decided I’d ask the twins as friends. No romantic, mushy stuff. No hand-holding or slow-dancing or professions of love under the moonlight. Not that I want any of that stuff anyway…

But seeing Brooks today has made me question everything again. I remember how he rejected me when I asked him to be my first kiss, and I start shaking.