Page 32 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Yeah, definitely.” I looked around the counter to give myself something to focus on because if I thought of how I’d gotten the shirt any longer, I might just start bouncing on my heels. “Anything I need to know for my shift?”
Kai shook his head. “Nope, nothing out of the usual.”
“Great! Thanks, Kai. I’ll take it from here.”
“Awesome.” He stepped away from the counter and hesitated before tugging on his backpack. Then he said, “Have a good one, Luna.”
I waved goodbye, and as he left the store, he held the door open for a group who came in asking about our planners. The first hour of my shift passed in bursts of students looking for supplies. When I hit the usual lull during the afternoon classes, I took the chance to refresh our display stocks. As I arranged our selection of planners, my mind replayed how I’d gotten the shirt I’d wanted.
Gabe had left after helping me clean up the dinner spread. Fresh from a shower, I finally opened my Moscato and poured out a glass to drink while opening my presents. A gift bag stood out to me because it had one of those white bifold cards instead of the printed tag that came when you ordered a package for delivery.
Lifting the flap, I found a short message written out in black, capitalized print:
L—
I hope you don’t have this yet.
Merry Christmas.
There was no “from,” but that alone was a giveaway. Anyone else would have signed it—except for Gabe.
I held my breath as I opened the bag with fumbling fingers. Inside, I found what looked like a shirt wrapped in cream tissue paper, and when I saw exactly what it was, my heart jumped into my throat.
Somehow, Gabe had gotten his hands on the nicest shirt the school had designed . . . and he’d gifted it to me.
That night, I called him for the first time. He picked up after two rings, saying, “What’s wrong?”
Since he didn’t waste time on a greeting, I went straight to the point too. “Why didn’t you give me the gift yourself?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said without missing a beat.
I ran my fingers down the chunky maroon lettering. “Uh huh. Well, if you find out who gave me this Sterling U shirt, could you tell that person I love it? And that I didn’t get to buy it, so it’s perfect.”
“I’ll pass on the message.”
“You do that.” I rolled my eyes and laughed. “You are such a liar, Gabe.”
“You’re drinking, aren’t you?”
“Do you really want to know?” I took a long drink because I could but also because hearing his voice on the phone had me parched.
He let out a breath. “Take care, Luna.”
“Night, Professor,” I sang out before ending the call.
A message came in as I emptied my glass.
Gabe
Glad you liked the shirt. Merry Christmas.
As much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t lie to myself. I was down bad for the professor, and it might just lead to my undoing.
I walked downthe central path through the quad, my mind running through what I needed to do tonight. Homework for finance, readings for English, then there was the chore I least enjoyed—household accounting. Nothing like tallying up your expenses and paying off bills to make you feel like you’d never get enough money.
“Luna!” Chloe strode toward me with her tennis bag slung over her shoulder. “I called your name, like, five times.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about something.” Now that she’d caught up to me, I had to adjust my steps to her faster pace. “Good practice?”
