"Wooohooo, Luna!" Jax shouts, rising to his feet to clap along.
Asher jumps up to join in, picking up the dance moves as quickly as Luna, and soon, we're all up dancing. Somehow, Connor seems to be blending in some Irish dancing and Mo some Middle Eastern. Me? Well, I'm just trying my best to stay on two feet.
The sound of Luna's laughter fills my chest as my heart pounds a beat beneath the tattoo of my brother's name that I have carved into my skin. Hartley would have loved everything about this.
Later, when Luna's on stage at the monstrous stadium in Berlin, there's a natural break between songs. She tells the audience she's been soaking up German culture and begins to replicate the moves she learned trapped in a hotel room with seven bodyguards and six dancers-for-hire. And you know what? The crowd eat it up, cheering and joining in.
Luna's life may have changed, but maybe we can help her see that it's not all bad.
I look around at my friends, who are currently trying to maintain professional straight faces, and see a shared lightness in their expressions. Maybe it's me imagining things, but could they all be thinking the same?
9
ASHER
We land in Athens at lunchtime, so by the time we reach the hotel, we're all famished. Connor is still feeling awful for preventing Luna from going out in Berlin and has secretly arranged for us to take a quick guided tour of the Parthenon Temple and museum after an authentic Greek lunch. He might always seem like a hard-ass, but underneath the tough exterior, he has a heart of gold.
Luna barely gets time to freshen up before Connor tells her the plans. To say she's excited is an understatement.
"What is traditional Greek food?" Ben asks as we pull up outside a gorgeous taverna, painted white with blue shutters and lined with planters of pink and red flowers. The tables and chairs outside are crafted from smooth wood with woven straw seats. Grapes hang from the vine that shades half of the space.
The owners have sectioned off part of the outside at our request, pulling our table next to a wall so that we have some privacy. Luna is wearing sunglasses, like practically every other woman in Athens, so there's a chance she won't be spotted. In fact, today, it's us bodyguards who are standing out; Seven huge men out with one tiny woman. It's certainly a sight to behold.
When we take our seats, I find myself at one end with Luna on one side and Hudson on the other. The owner of the restaurant, a short man with a broad black mustache, comes over to welcome us to his restaurant. He obviously has the customer service skills perfected because he immediately tells Luna she looks like a Greek goddess, which seems to please her immensely.
“What would you recommend?” Connor asks, his finger trailing a long and complex menu.
“How about a meze?” he says.
“It’s a mixture of lots of small dishes,” Mo explains. “It’s perfect if you want to try lots of different things.”
At least, that's what it's supposed to be. When the food arrives, there is nothing small about it. The whole table is swamped, and our group is left wide-eyed at the amount of food we have available to consume. Dips made of yogurt and eggplant, soft salty cheese baked in tomato, salad with black olives, and squid fried in batter. It's all delicious. The bread that accompanies the meal is soft and perfect for enjoying with the dips. The final platter contains meat cooked on the grill and is served with home-cooked fries that are sprinkled with oregano.
"Try this," I say, holding out a plate of strange-looking tentacles.
"What the hell is that?" Luna asks.
"Octopus," Mo says. "Most likely cooked in red wine."
Her expression is so comical that Hudson starts laughing. "Octopus?"
"Yeah…you know, the thing with eight legs."
"Ugh," she says, screwing up her face. "I can't eat that! That documentary on Netflix about the octopus… they're so intelligent."
"You'd be fine to eat Ben then," Connor quips.
Ben tosses a piece of bread at Connor's head, but Connor manages to catch it before it makes contact.
"Manners, children," I shout, enjoying how light-hearted everyone is today. It's a rare occasion for us all to feel relaxed enough to step out of our professional roles, just for a time.
I finish eating first, mostly because I'm distracted. The food is awesome, but the setting is what really deserves my concentration. Pulling a pencil from my pocket, I begin to sketch on the back of a paper menu, my eyes flicking across everything in my view, picking out the things that spark my interest. The restaurant is set on a pretty stone square. Old buildings with intricate balconies and blue wooden doors frame the lively area. I try to capture passers-by with lines of movement to show the bustle of the place, but in the foreground, Luna is still and serene. From the side, her profile is almost doll-like, with a high forehead, button nose, and pointed chin. From this angle, I can't reflect the intensity of her soulful eyes, and so in a way, the woman I've drawn doesn't seem to fully reflect the woman she is.