Page 66 of Mocha Kisses

“No! We need to sleep. You realize we have to take a fucking plane tomorrow to get to that party? No doubt Yana is going to find out and prep for us. We need our game faces—beauty sleep, whatever.” I struggle away from Rome, glaring at him when he pulls me closer and starts kissing down my cheek and then sucking on my neck. Nova’s hand rises higher as Griffin watches on, intrigued. He’s not going to be any help. “I’m serious! The last time we did this I slept for days. We don’t have time.”

Suddenly, their touch disappears and I feel bereft of the pleasure my body was leaning towards. My traitorous pussy clenches around nothing and a whine peels from my lip that I’m too slow to cover. Rome snorts. “You either want a release, sweetheart, or you want to sleep. You can’t have it both ways.”

“Can’t someone just fuck me to sleep?” I bite my lip when Nova looks a little too eager and I sit up completely, crossing my legs so I’m not touching any of them. “What did I say?”

Griffin leans down over my shoulder, “Nova’s into that. Never thought you’d be.”

I don’t know what they’re talking about. I just want someone to fuck me until I pass out and curl up against their chest. Wait,oh.I throw Griffin a pointed glare and he grins, knowing full well that’s not what I was referring to. But now that he’s mentioned it, I wouldn’t mind waking up to one of them rocking their hips against mine, taking their pleasure and filling me up as I shatter the moment my eyes open.

“Oh, she likes that. I’ll save it for later, angel.”

Griffin slides off the couch and grabs his phone. “We should film something. I don’t really manage my Instagram but something to say what’s really going on. Not sure they’ll believe it, but… Luna, how good is your acting?”

“It was shit in high school, probably still shit now.”

“Well, I’m going to need you to cry on video so grab the eye drops from the bathroom.”

“Why is she crying?” Rome asks, confused.

“We’re talking about how her step-mom is a bitch. What? No one made that connection? Luna keeps saying her life is like a bad movie so let’s play into it. Step-mom wanted her money.Literally.Bahaha, I should write a book.Anotherbook.” Griffin’s giddiness is infectious as I run to the bathroom for eye drops. Whatever show we’re about to put on is going to be a piece of work but it’ll give me yet another happy memory to store away.

Griffin returns to the couch, pulling up the camera to record the play of a lifetime but I have one more question. “My father—John. What about him?”

“He’s taken care of.” Rome and Nova say together. I should be worried about the sinister tone that follows those words but I’m really not. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not.

Griffin

Withafewhoursof sleep, I’m squished beside Nova on a plane to Shephard’s Press, Luna across the aisle beside Rome. She’s passed out, worn out after we were up all night giggling through the little video we tried and failed to make correctly. It’ll all be over in less than 24 hours, which is a fucking relief because then I can have Luna back at my side, as well as my men.

I lean forward and glance across the aisle, Rome throwing me a small smile. Just before we boarded this morning, I caught him coming out of the bathroom. It was awkward but the sweet kiss he gave me and the ‘I want to try’ is all I need to know that we’re going to be okay. My phone dings and I frown, not expecting any messages. I don’t have my socials linked to my phone, Maximillian knows that we’re on our way, and Yana has never reached out to me personally.

Pretty sure she caught on this morning when no one answered the door.

I turn on the screen and see Rome has sent me a message. When I open it, Instagram pops up and lo and behold is the video we made yesterday. Luna and I giggling, falling over each other as we try to make a video about our awful past, Luna’s father, and Yana’s connection to it all. Through tears, playful punches, and sweet kisses, the world now knows our story. Nova wraps an arm around my shoulder and kisses my head.

“Thought you’d enjoy that. I knew you weren’t going to post it because you thought you needed to be serious but the world needs to see that you’re in love. And that? That’s a man who lost the love of his life and is determined to keep her now that she’s returned.”

I cling to that as I press replay on the video and snuggle into Nova’s side.

Eight hours later, with the help of private transportation and a little bit of coaxing on Nova’s part, we’re on our way to a hotel. The absence of cameras gives me some relief as we park around the back and head up to the third floor. Luna’s been silent the entire time and while she seems okay, I know that she’s observing everything around her, cataloging it, and storing it for later.

I can’t imagine knowing that her father and her stepmother, in some roundabout way, have engineered her life to be one of failure. Granted, Luna has survived masterfully if I have anything to say about it. It isn’t until we are inside and our bags are on the floor that Luna finally lets out a sigh.

Ah, outside makes her just as uncomfortable as it does me—for wildly different reasons.

“Does Yana know where we are?” I ask timidly. I don’t want to rehash the last two days but I’m anxious to finish this.

Luna sits on the edge of the bed and chucks off her shoes, Rome sliding onto the mattress and pulling her into his lap. I love the way she curls into him and rests her head on his chest. Nova moves me closer and pulls a similar move, sitting us perpendicular to the foot of the bed and pulling me onto his lap while he leans against the wall.

Nova sets his chin on my head as he wraps his arms tight around me. “She knows. Maximillian sent a text an hour ago to say that she already showed up at the office, throwing a fit about changing plans. She’s also not happy about the video that Rome uploaded to your socials but it seems everyone else is now just confused.”

I glance over at Luna, her attention on her hand. It takes me a few moments to realize she’s staring at the ring. “You want a real ceremony, Luna?”

She twists around and I see the smile I fell in love with all those years ago on her face. “Only if it includes all three of you.” It’s meant to be a joke but I can’t see a future that includes any less than the four of us. Marriage is a ways off for sure but building a future together isn’t. At least it’s a start.

I won’t push the idea, mostly because we’re not ready. Marriage never came up between me and Nova, although I knew from the moment that I met him he was mine. After all of these shenanigans, figuring out where we want to live is the next step. Wherever these men are, I’ll go but I have a feeling that Luna wants a bit of normalcy.

Something only Spring Haven can bring.

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