“Maybe it is best if we don’t say anything right away,” I said, and then felt stupid. We’d kissed once and I was already planning a long-term relationship. “I mean, assuming you wanted to . . . if we were going to . . .” I trailed off, my cheeks hot.
Julian grinned, his arms circling my waist. He pressed his lips to mine.
“You’re cute when you’re nervous,” he said when he pulled away, and then kissed me again.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting my fingers weave into his hair. He kissed like someone who’d had a lot of practice, and I did not mean that as a criticism.
A soft buzzing noise sounded from his pocket, and he sighed as he pulled away.
“I have to go,” he said. “Grayson’s waiting for me.”
I nodded, my body still humming from his kiss.
He reached for the door, then seemed to change his mind. He wrapped his arms around me again, pulling me into a hug.
He briefly pressed his lips to mine again as he pulled away, then pushed open the door. He peered down the hallway before stepping out of the closet. I followed, shutting the door behind us.
“I’ll see you later,” he said, and looked over his shoulder once as he walked away. I bit my lip to keep from grinning like an idiot.
When I returned to my room, Priya was standing near her cot, observing the other girls. Zoe was glued to her phone. Madison was staring into space, twisting her hair around her finger. Laila was on her stomach on the floor, sketching something in a notebook. My smile faded as my gaze drifted to Dani’s empty cot.
“Let’s get out of here,” Priya said.
Madison snapped to attention. “What?”
“Let’s get out of here. We haven’t even had a chance to see Paris. Let’s go see the Eiffel Tower before we die. Julian said we could do whatever we wanted tonight. Clara, are you up for it?” She gestured to my bandages.
“Yeah, it’s no big deal. Just a scratch.”
Laila looked up from her notebook, one eyebrow cocked. “Getting shot is no big deal?”
“I mean, it just grazed me. Does that count as getting shot?”
“I think you can count it.”
“Laila, grab those beers we bought,” Priya said. “Clara, get dressed. You can tell people you got shot and saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time all in the same day.”
“Usually you need to be in America to see major historical landmarks and get shot in the same day,” Zoe said.
I shed my sweats and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. I zipped a hoodie over it and followed the other girls out into the hallway. We walked to the end of the hallway, where the boys of team seven were staying. It was a bigger room, with at least twenty cots. Clothes and food wrappers littered the floor. It did not smell great.
Three guys in the middle of the room laughed loudly, and in the far corner, an angry dude yelled into his phone. Noah and Patrick were hunched over a laptop on the floor, and Gage stomped around the room, lifting up suitcases and peering underneath blankets. Edan was on his cot reading, apparently oblivious to the madness around him.
“Where’s the rest of team seven?” Priya asked from the doorway. None of us stepped inside. A shirtless bearded man regarded us and scratched his stomach.
“Dammit, Edan!” Gage yelled, grabbing something from beneath a pile of clothes. His phone was clenched in his hand as he whirled around. “Stop stealing my shit!”
“I have no idea what you’re referring to, Gage.” Edan calmly turned the page of his book and peered around it at Priya. “They’re in the lounge, I think.”
“Get them. We’re all going to the Eiffel Tower. Meet us downstairs in five minutes. Bring snacks and alcohol if you want.” She walked away without waiting for an answer. Edan hopped up, leaving his book on his cot.
I followed the other girls to the lobby. Priya and Laila talked softly to each other, and Madison showed Zoe something on her phone. I was alone, a few steps behind them. It didn’t feel quite so bad, now that I maybe had Julian.
Still, it didn’t feel great. I slid my hands into my pockets and tried to look like I enjoyed being left out.
The boys appeared in the lobby a few minutes later. Besides Edan, Dorsey and Archer had suffered minor injuries—Dorsey had shallow scratches on his arm and Archer had a bandage on his ear. Gage and Patrick were unharmed. Patrick still seemed a little terrified.
“Do we actually know how to get to the Eiffel Tower?” Patrick asked, gripping the straps of his backpack.
“Yeah, we can take the metro,” Madison said. “I grabbed some passes from Grayson.” She handed one to each of us, then led us outside and across the street to the subway stop.
We took the subway to a second station, where we had to change lines. People stared at us as we piled onto the second train. We must have seemed suspicious, eleven American teenagers traveling together. Maybe they could tell we were part of Grayson’s squads.
I stood next to Madison on the second train, watching as Edan looked from her to a man wearing a black cap a few feet away. Edan reached out, pushing Madison’s purse so it was in front of her body. Madison frowned at him.
“Pickpocket,” Edan explained, jerking his head at the guy.
“Oh. Thanks.” She put a hand over her bag.
Madison squinted at the man, who had turned away from us. “How can you tell?”
“Just a guess,” Edan replied. He caught me watching him and quickly looked away. The guy probably reminded him of himself.
At our stop, I followed the rest of the team out of the train, up the stairs, and onto the street. It was a clear, cool night, a light breeze ruffling my hair. We were in a touristy part of Paris, the streets full of people taking pictures and carrying
