Page 122 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
Luna
It was great! I just stayed in and relaxed after the party.
Papa
Good. You need to prepare for finals.
Luna
Yup, but that’s still next week!
Papa
Better to start studying early.
I was almostdone getting ready for school when my phone rang. Of course my mind went straight to Gabe—not that he’d left it at all in the hours since we said goodbye. Even my dad’s textscouldn’t bring me down from the high I got from being with Gabe.
“Lulu!” Kriz shouted into the phone. “Are you home?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“We’ll be there in five. See you!” Then she hung up, leaving me blinking at my reflection in the mirror.
After Gabe’s appearance at my party, I should have known my friends wouldn’t waste time waiting for my updates. That they stayed away yesterday was a miracle in of itself.
When I got downstairs, Chloe’s car was idling by the entrance, and as soon as I opened the rear door, Kriz and Chloe turned around in their seats and pinned me with matching looks of expectation.
“So, what happened? Tell us everything!” Kriz said, shoving a takeaway cup of coffee at me.
I took it even though having coffee first thing in the morning made me jittery the entire day. “You lifesaver. Thank you.” Between reliving that kiss with Gabe and fantasizing about what might’ve happened if he hadn’t stopped, I’d barely gotten any sleep.
I gulped down the latte and let the caffeine punch through me.
“Hey!” Chloe snapped as she started driving. “No talky, no coffee.”
“Give me a sec.” I inhaled another mouthful.
Kriz oohed. “Did Professor Martins keep you up?—”
“Banging your headboard against the wall?” Chloe supplied in her typical fashion.
Luckily, I’d already swallowed my drink, otherwise I would have choked on it. “It wasn’t like that. We just played cards and talked.”
Kriz glanced back at me, pouting. “No. Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” Gabe had won the next round and closed out the game by asking me what my perfect day looked like. Next to the previous questions, it was harmless, and it led to a discussion about the best road trips to make from Sterling.
“You couldn’t have suggested strip poker?” Chloe threw in. “Or you could have used my gift and let him teach you a thing or two.”
“That would have been so hot,” Kriz said.
“I know, right?”
I shook my head at both of them. “You guys are way too invested in this.”
“Because we care about you, Lulu,” Kriz said. “And Chloe’s right—you need some stress relief.”
“You seriously spent all that timetalking? Like, there was no making out? No feeling up or going down?” Chloe sounded aghast.
