An Aria in Venice: A Musical Interlude Novel by Kasonndra Leigh Page B

flutter open and she stretches
them wide, focusing her hazel irises on me. She’s wearing a T-shirt and jeans,
meaning that after she snuck in this morning she must’ve collapsed on the bed
beside me.
    “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” she says
with a hint of a smile. Our faces are only a short distance apart. I guess it
should feel a little strange, but it doesn’t; and she’s holding on to my left
hand now. No wait, she has a death grip on my fingers.
    “Morning, Jojo,” I croak out through a
throat clogged with leftover tears.
    “So tell me,” she begins, “whose face do
I need to bash?”
    I manage a smile as I imagine this dainty
little blonde hopping onto someone’s back and doing her thing. At the same
time, I know she could easily do something like that, because sometimes
physical strength doesn’t come from the body, but rather a state of mind. As
in, being mad enough to beat the crap out of a guy who keeps dismissing you.
    “It’s nothing. Kind of silly, I guess.”
    She raises her right eyebrow. “So me finding
one of the happiest, most super perky people I’ve ever met all balled up and
crying in her bed is nothing?”
    “That’s right,” I answer, hiding my eyes.
    “Uh huh. What did Happy Legs do?” she
asks, smirking. This is her nickname for Nikolai. She calls him that to be
sarcastic because she swears he’s got to be the moodiest man on Earth, but when
he dances it’s so easy to see where all his happiness lies ... inside the
dance, of course. It’s the same with me; yet another passion that binds me to a
man who’s about as hard to rein in and tame as a wild horse.
    “What makes you think it was him?”
    “Are you kidding me? Look at the way you
turn all blushy red when I say his nickname. Plus, I kinda caught him doing his
stalker thing,” she explains. I perk up at once.
    “What do you mean?”
    “He was sitting in his car when I pulled
up, just kind of staring up at the window. Don’t believe whatever bullshit he
told you. The man has it bad.”
    A rush of heat and anger mixed together
flows through my body. I cannot believe he actually had the nerve to drive all
the way over here after sending dismissing me the way he did last night. A
walking contradiction, that’s exactly what Nikolai Belikov seems to be these
days. “Well, he made it clear he doesn’t want me.” My stupid voice cracks on
the last few words. Why should I be upset this way? It’s not like we’re a
couple. Girls have crushes on guys all the time. “Like everyone else, he’s too
busy loving me to really see me.” I start getting teary-eyed again.
    Jojo brushes the hair that lies across my
neck away and moves it behind my head. “Okay, that’s it. No more of this.” She
wipes away my tears and smiles. “Plus, you’ve got a bet to win. Lis has already
piled up enough dirty tutus to last for a year.”
    “Ew. I’m so going to make sure I win.” I
give a whispery laugh and her grip on my hand tightens. Suddenly, she slides
her face closer to mine and kisses me on the lips ever so lightly. I don’t pull
away. I guess it should feel wrong or weird at least, but it doesn’t. It just
feels strangely different. I’ve been without a mother’s touch for most of my
life. Sure, Katerina provides everything a daughter could ever dream of without
even so much as thinking about a price tag, but it has always been known to
both me and my half-brother, Dmitri, that Alek is her favorite child. I’m more
of an afterthought to her, someone to think about loving when my brother isn’t
around. Lis and Jojo are the first true female friends I’ve ever had.
    Jojo pulls back, staring into my eyes.
The intensity of the moment turns into smiles and grins; finally, we both burst
out laughing. “If only I could turn into a guy for just a wee little moment in
time.” She holds up her thumb and index fingers to emphasize her point.
    “I would never let you go,” I tease,
playing along.
    Her grin fades and I see