Page 11 of Fallout

Jasper lifted his brows.

“I’m not thirsty.” Just a tiny twitch of the skin of her nose. Defiance looked good on her.

Except she was lying.

Not lying should be the first rule if he was going to train her. They needed to be honest with each other.

But he already knew what his number one rule was going to be.

Definitely, don’t fall in love with her.

FIVE

“Yeah, girl. Just like that.”

Destiny blinked. The voice in her earpiece had been telling her which way to stand for the last five minutes. So the Famous Ones could get a look at Jasper? She felt the corner of her lips curl up. She couldnotsmile right now. She bit the inside of her lip. Thankfully, Jasper turned away.

Through the earpiece, she heard a satisfied noise. “Look. At. That.”

Destiny sucked in a breath through her nose.

“Homegirl does not like you ogling her crush.”

Destiny glanced aside, knowing full well they could see her from their positions at the edges of the room, or from some eagle’s nest spot. Who knew? But they were talking about her like she couldn’t hear.

“Ooh, yeah. Look at that face.”

An older woman with a crazy huge necklace passed her. Destiny said, “Good evening,” wishing she could tell her guardian angels to cut the chatter. That was something an operator would say, right? Except Clare had told her that tonight their weapons were words, not…actual weapons. She glanced at the line of Jasper’s jacket and wondered if he had a gun. Probably, right?

“Look at her, checking out his behind.”

Destiny looked away and cleared her throat.

“Hey, turn a little to the right.”

Destiny rotated, angling her body to where a guy with a laptop played music, holding his headphones over one ear. Not a DJ, since it didn’t take actual skill to hit play on a playlist. Also, not a live band.

“See that?” one said.

Another replied, “Yeah, got him.”

“Get me a better view, homegirl. From by the windows.”

Clare glanced back over her shoulder. Destiny tipped her head as though asking permission. Clare nodded.

Jasper didn’t miss a thing. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice the earpiece in her ear. He glanced down at her dress, and that neutral expression ignited for a second.

Destiny spun away.Danger, Will Robinson. Danger.

“Oh, yeah. He totally likes you.”

Destiny kept her pace easy, even though she wanted to run. “I screamed at him.” She whispered the words over comms.

“Psh. He knows you were hurt.” A brief pause. “Now, show me the room.”

Destiny leaned her back against the glass. Cold on the bare skin of her shoulder. The dress went to her throat and cut horizontally across her back above her shoulder blades and bloused around her waist. Only her arms were bare, and the dress went to the floor.No one can tell.None of her scars would be visible, and she planned to never wear a bikini again. She had to give the Famous Ones credit. They’d taken care of her.

“Doing okay?”