Page 111 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
He followed suit. “Not really. I do it out of necessity, not enjoyment.”
“Have you tried making the spaghetti?”
“No. It won’t be the same.”
“I’ll write the recipe down so you won’t forget.”
“It’s not that. It’s just not the same without you.”
I put down my fork. He really had to stop saying those kinds of things or I’d convince myself he had feelings for me.
Though hehadkissed me. Okay, technically, I’d kissed him first, but he took it to another level. If he hadn’t grown his conscience back, I wouldn’t have woken up alone in bed. Maybe. Probably.
I eyed him as he chewed. Should I bring it up? It wasn’t exactly breakfast discussion material, but he was leaving soon. If I put it off, it would be harder to approach the topic later,and I didn’t want to talk about it over text. I needed to see his reactions in real-time so I could gauge what he felt as best I could without additional filters.
“What’s on your mind?”
The perfect opening for my question. Instead, I blurted out, “I thought you’d be gone this morning.”
“I told you I would stay, and I didn’t want you to wake up alone on your birthday.”
“Thank you. For all of it.”
He opened his mouth and paused. Nodded. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“I’ll probably grab some lunch, then hang out here.”
Frowning, he said, “I thought you were going out with your friends.”
“After last night? I need my recovery time.” I cut a piece of pancake. “Don’t worry about me. I like going out and I love my friends, but sometimes I just want to stay in and chill.”
“Chill, huh?”
“Ever heard of it?”
“Once or twice.” He gave a half smile. “I’m not sure I’ve experienced it.”
I tried not to get myself excited over the implication of his words. “Are you fishing for an invite?”
“I don’t fish, Luna. I was leading up to asking if I can join you. But if you wanted to be alone?—”
“I wanted to ask you, but I already took up a lot of your time. Also, you said you had to go.”
“I said I should. Not that I wanted to.” One brow lifted in silent challenge. “You did promise to beat me at pusoy.”
The look in his eyes almost had me melting in my chair, and I wondered how I could be so lucky to have him to myself today. “Guess it’s time to break in my new deck.”
After breakfast, Gabeleft to take care of some matters, telling me he’d be back by lunch. I took the time to chat with Ate and Lonzo, who had stayed up for me. They asked about my party, and I avoided mentioning Gabe because I had more questions than answers and I wasn’t ready to dive into it knowing he would return soon. I didn’t want to trigger Lonzo’s weird overprotectiveness either.
But just when I thought I was in the clear, he asked, “Did that guy show up?”
My stomach tightened at the disdain in his voice.
“Gabe would never go to a club,” Ate said.
Staring at me through the camera, Lonzo raised his eyebrows. “Is that right?”
I hesitated, and in that split-second pause, Lonzo’s face morphed into a glower.
