Page 40 of Loving Luna

The pounding continued.

Luna stirred beside me, but I brushed her hair back with my hand and whispered “Sshhh, baby. Go back to sleep.”

Pulling on my boxers and a pair of sweats, I padded out of the bedroom, down the hall, and pulled the front door open.

“What the heck?” I whispered when I caught sight of my mom on the other side of the door, her hair still in the rollers she wore every night, the ratty robe she’d had since we were kids tied tightly around her nightgown. Her feet were stuffed into a pair of my dad’s old sneakers.

Dread chilled my bones.

“Mom! What’s wrong?”

I stretched my arms wide without thinking, and she fell into them, collapsing against me, a sobbing mess.

“He… I… The amb-hic-bu-lance… heart…” She blubbered into my shoulder words I could barely make sense of. The sense I could make, I didn’t want to.

“Mom. Mom.” I grabbed her and all but pulled her into the house, keeping her body tight against my side, to keep her from collapsing even though I felt like collapsing myself.

Somehow I managed to get both of us on the couch, my mom still clinging to me, her nails digging into my shoulder.

“Drake,” she sobbed. “He’s gone!” The last part was delivered in a high-pitched wail that sent a chill down my spine. My hands went cold. Bile rose in my throat. My stomach knotted and clenched.

“Mom,” I managed. “Who’s gone?” And though I was sure I already knew the answer, I managed to choke out, “Mom, where’s Dad?”

Her only answer was to throw herself face first against the back of the couch and let out a heartbreaking, blood-curdling wail.

Fuck. I had my answer, even if I didn’t.

“Mom. Mom.” I shook her shoulder and gathered her in my arms. She allowed me to hold her and clung to me, her sobs shaking my body. “Mom,” I gasped out. “Tell me what happened. Please.”

I had to know. I mean, deep down I knew, but I had to hear it out loud. Had to hear details.

“Oh, Drake,” my mom cried, pulling away to pat my cheek as tears fell like waterfalls down her cheeks. “He loved you so, so much and he was so proud of you. Never doubt that.”

Fuuuckk. I couldn’t hold back my own tears now. They filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

“How?” I whispered again, my voice cracking. “Mom. please. Tell me what happened.”

As if my please pulled out the caretaker in her—the mother in her—she dragged the backs of her hands across her cheeks, drying her tears and drew a shuddering breath. “I woke up to him grabbing my arm. I sat up and looked at him and he was grabbing his chest with his other hand and gasping for air. And then his hand fell and his eyes closed. And I…. He was gone before I could even call 911.”

“Oh my god.” I couldn’t believe it. How could I? He’d been here mere hours ago, drinking whiskey with me. Sitting by me down at the lake, sharing his wisdom in the way he always did. Clapping me on the back and calling me “son”. And now he was gone.

My brain went to the short hug we’d shared as they were on their way out the door. If I’d known it was the last one I’d ever get from him, I would have held tighter, hugged longer. I wouldhave made him stay longer, shared another glass of whiskey, squeezed every last bit of advice I could out of him.

But now he was gone. Lying in a mortuary somewhere.

“Fuck!” I screamed. I let go of my mom, and jumped to my feet, kicking the coffee table. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” A frustrating combination of rage and despair filled me, and I was filled with the urge to throw things. To smash plates, to punch walls. To break things.

Of course, I didn't do any of those things and instead, covered my face with my hands as my legs gave way underneath me and I sank to the ground in front of my couch. My mom tried for a few moments to provide support, her tiny hands kneading my thick shoulders as she pressed her head against mine and tried to be strong for me, but she only managed a few minutes. Not that I blamed her.

Finally, she sank onto the floor beside me, and held me as we sobbed in unison.

That was how Luna found us an hour later as the first morning lights were starting to peek through between the slats in the blinds.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LUNA

The moments before I was lucid were beautiful. I stretched awake, smelling Drake’s scent on the sheets and pillows beneath me. My ass tingled where his cock had filled it, and my skin felt alive where he’d scrubbed me clean. My heart felt light, my soul fulfilled, and as I came to, I had the thought that I was happier than I ever remembered being.

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