Page 25 of Cream

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“That even if you refuse to take my calls and refuse to come down to the farm to fill out purchase orders, you and I are still meant for each other.”

14

BRENT

My blood is still boiling from the image of Craig with his arm around Luna.

Part of me wants to go find him and beat the ever-living hell out of him, but I know that’s the wrong move. I don’t need to escalate things any further, and kicking the crap out of a kid ten years younger than me isn’t a good look.

I get what Luna was doing, though. She was trying to make me jealous, and it worked. What I want to know is if those two have been up to anything in the last three weeks that she and I haven’t seen each other.

She’s gone and ignited a little spark in my mind that I can’t seem to put out. But seeing as how she managed to get rid of Craig so quickly, my guess is it was all for show. But if he’s had his hands on her at all while I’ve been trying to get back in touch with her…

I push the thought into the back of my mind and look directly at Luna, who has clearly had too much to drink tonight. The angry little smile on her lips pops into a giggle.

“You and me are meant for each other?” she asks. “Did you really just say that?”

“I sure did.”

“What do you think this is? A rom-com and I’m just going to fall into your arms so you can sweep me back to my dorm and make sweet, sweet love to me?”

She’s looking back at me like she’s challenging me. My heart is about to rupture within my chest. I didn’t realize just how big tonight was going to be until this very moment, and now it’s like a floodgate of emotion has opened, and we’re both about to be carried away in the rush of the waters.

“Luna, I grew up on the farm and watched my dad run it as I dreamt of bigger and better things. Like getting out and becoming a bigtime lawyer or a surgeon. But my father insisted that the farm stay in the family. ‘This will all be yours’ he used to say. ‘You don’t appreciate it now, but one day you will.’”

Luna’s expression changes slightly. She looks at me like for the first time tonight, she’s actually seeing me. And not just the Brent she believes did her wrong.

“Okay?” she replies.

“But I didn’t listen. I busted my ass for a scholarship to NYU and left. Then one night during my sophomore year, my mom called and said his heart was giving out and he’d been rushed to the hospital.”

“Oh my God…”

“I packed a bag and sped home, but by the time I got there, it was too late. He was gone.”

I see her swallow hard like she’s fighting back tears and reach out to take her hand. It feels so perfect in mine.

“I finished school and came back to take over the farm, and after a while, I realized he was right. I did love it.” I smile, thinking back to those first years as boss. “But he was gone, and we never got to reconcile. I never got to tell him he was right.”

The base of Luna’s eyes are filling up with tears now.

“Brent…”

“I’m not telling you this to manipulate you, Luna,” I say, stepping closer. “I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I want you to understand me. I want you to know that you’re the only person on Earth I’ve ever told this to. Other than my mom, no one knows this story.”

Even in this light, I see her pupils expand. Her gorgeous eyes flash, and she steps close and presses herself against me.

“And what do you want from me, Brent?” she asks. I’ve never heard her so vulnerable before. A sharp contrast to the performance she was putting on minutes ago.

“Trust, Luna,” I reply. “I want you to believe me when I say that all I want is you. I want your love, your devotion, your affection, your beautiful body, and I want you to be my partner and that last piece of joy that’s been missing from my life. Because that’s what I am offering right back to you.”

Her gaze drifts to my lips before surfacing back to my eyes. I slip my hand around her waist and palm her lower back, pulling her tighter against me as though we were dancing.

The rest of the room seems to fade away–the music, the sounds of chatter, the other bodies moving around us. It’s all gone. All that exists in my world at this instant is her.

“What do you say, Luna? Will you make me happy and whole?”

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