No Strings Attached

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Here's your pizza," Luke said, setting the pizza down between the two of us. The smell of oily pepperoni wafting through the parlour and in our nose. Will gazed at the pizza with a soft smile, as if he were in love.

"Thank you," I said, staring at Will as he were my universe. Luke left without a word said back into the kitchen, leaving Will and I to the food. I had dived into the food first, shoving it into my mouth.

"And I thought I was hungry," Will snorted. He took a small bite of pizza. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh pizza, beautiful pizza," I muttered as I took another slice. Will smirked.

"I can name two things more beautiful than pizza." He said, nearly done with his slice. I laughed.

"Try," I said, now on my second slice. He was silent for a moment, his eyes on my and a soft smile replacing his sly one. His eyes examined me as if that was an answer.

"You," his voice was just above a whisper. His blonde eyelashes were covering his ocean eyes but couldn't hide them. I looked down at my lap and felt my cheeks redden. I felt a sensation in my stomach that wouldn't allow me to sit in any position for too long. Will noticed it and followed his statement with, "And there's me. Me first, always."

I laughed, glad that he pulled us out the awkward tension. Or was it some other kind of tension? It didn't feel so awkward in the moment. It felt exhilarating, daring, and it felt lovely. I felt my heart sink in my stomach like quicksand. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

"Nico? Will?" A voice called out, entering the parlour. Eyes like the sea and easy smile, Percy Jackson himself stood, Annabeth next to him as he placed his arm on Will's shoulder. "Awesome to see you here? Uh, you're meeting for a project or something, right?"

I cleared my throat. "We're just meeting as friends," I said. "Just for some pizza. What about you guys?"

Percy leaned into Annabeth, who spoke in an even tone. "We're on a date."

I felt that quicksand again. My eyelids dropped a bit, and my smile came too late. "That's great for you. Hope you guys have fun."

Percy nodded, squeezing Annabeth's hand. They took a table behind Will, talking animatedly with each other.

Will noticed the dip in my mood and grabbed my hand. "We're having plenty of fun on our own, right?"

I smiled. "We are."

Immediately, all my thoughts of Percy vanished and were replaced by the good-natured Will Solace. He looked me up and down, leaning back on his seat. Either, he was really good at makeup, or just really pretty. It was probably the latter, considering the spray of freckles on his cheeks and forehead. He blinked slowly, long blond eyelashes blocking his eyes, like angled rocks hiding the prettiest beach.

"You're beautiful," I said, the words spilling from my mouth before I could stop them. I slapped my hands to my mouth immediately, cheeks fiery red. Will tried to bite back a smile, but he was grinning ear to ear, his eyebrows raised and cheeks matching mine.

"Thanks," he chuckled. "So are you, by the way."

I covered my entire face in my hands. I peeped at my pizza through my fingers, but my stomach was churning too much to down a single bite. "Thank you."

Percy and Annabeth had turned around momentarily to watch what was going on. I flashed them a small smile that convinced no one that I was feeling normal. They turned around anyway and returned to their conversation.

Briefly, Will and I heard Percy mention Octavian and laugh. I turned to see what they were saying. Annabeth's smile fell slightly, but she covered it well. Will crinkled his nose.