Free The Silent Strength of Stones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Matt Stawicki Page A

said, burying my hands in my jean pockets.
    “Come on, idiot.” She took my arm and we went back inside, where Jeremy immediately came over and asked Willow to dance.
    She glanced at me. “But I came with you.”
    “People switch,” I said.
    Her forehead furrowed. Then she gave Jeremy a small tight smile and her hand, and he led her to the floor. I wandered over and asked Megan for a dance.
    “Haven’t seen you at Lacey’s,” she said when we had gotten the first adjustments to each other’s styles out of the way. Her breath smelled of spearmint. Sanders was playing “Earl’s Waltz” really slowly, and for once I didn’t mind; it would make it easy for Willow in her first dance with somebody else, I figured.
    “I work at the Venture Inn store,” I said.
    “You do? You sell bathing suits there? Mine’s old. It tore when I put it on.”
    The inventory came into my mind. “Sure. We have one that would fit you. Black with a rainbow stripe from the shoulder to the opposite hip.”
    She stared at me, eyes wide. “What size?” she said after a moment.
    I knew I had written everything on the legal pad, but I couldn’t see the writing anymore. “Four, six, something like that,” I said.
    “How would you know my size?” she said.
    “I’ve got my arm around you,” I said. Still, it was a good question. I had never paid attention to women’s clothes, beyond knowing we had a few in stock. “Could be wrong,” I said.
    “Is this a line?” she asked.
    “Huh?”
    “It seems like a really weird way to pick up girls.”
    I tried to think of a way of answering that without being insulting. I wasn’t interested in her except as someone to dance with while Willow was off with someone else. “I don’t have much experience,” I said. “What works?” I would never have said anything like that before tonight, but tonight I already had a date. A really, really weird date.
    Megan laughed. “‘Has anyone ever told you you have very beautiful eyes?’” she said.
    “That works?”
    She fluttered her eyelashes at me, grinning.
    “Well, you do have beautiful eyes,” I said, noticing them. They were an intense turquoise blue.
    “Thanks. It’s the contacts.”
    “Wow, I always wanted those! Brown ones and green ones. Turquoise seemed like it would be too easy to tell.”
    “Fooled you for a minute though, didn’t I?”
    “Yeah.”
    She looked at me. “I don’t know. I don’t think brown eyes would look natural on you. Green, I could see.”
    “What if I changed my hair color?” My eyes were gray-blue, and my hair was dark. I had thought a lot about disguises, which would come in handy whether I was being a detective or just running away from home.
    “Somehow I can’t picture you with some other color hair. You should get that spray-on, wash-out color and experiment.”
    “We don’t carry it at the store,” I said.
    The tune was coming to an end. “I’ve got some at cabin nine,” she said slowly. “Red and blond, silver even.”
    “I’ve got a girlfriend. I think,” I said. I was watching Willow. Jeremy was holding her a lot closer than I was holding Megan, and Willow didn’t look happy.
    “I know,” Megan said slowly. “Bring her if you want.”
    “Is that a line?” I said.
    She grinned.
    Sanders played a final flourish. I released Megan and clapped, and she clapped too. Willow pushed at Jeremy’s chest. He laughed. Finally he let her go, and she came straight to me and pressed herself against my chest, hiding her face. I put my arms around her. “Thanks for the dance,” I said to Megan, who was looking at Willow and frowning.
    “Any time,” she said. She gave me a little wave and wandered back toward their stretch of bench.
    “What’s the matter?” I murmured to Willow.
    After a pause, she looked up and said, “He was trying to kilianish me. Without waiting for a yes.”
    She had talked of kilianish and owning a person when I had talked about being hooked. Jeremy was trying