Page 155 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“I haven’t said enough of them to you.”
“Oh, trust me, you’ve said plenty,” she assured me as she took my hand. “I guess it’s a good thing you did that, or we might have never ended up here.”
I didn’t want to imagine an alternate reality where I didn’t have her by my side. Squeezing her hand, I said, “Definitely. How was your study date?”
“It was fun. We didn’t get to do a lot of studying, but I did get to brainstorm for my entrepreneurship project.” She told me about her social media-based thrift shop idea and how she’d gotten her friends to agree to model the clothes for her. “What about you—how was your day?”
“It was interesting,” I said. “Guess who texted me?”
“That real estate guy? Is he signing you already?”
“No. Your brother.” From the corner of my eye, I saw her mouth drop open.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m happy to confirm that I am not.” Then I recounted the exchange that had me running late for a meeting. It was worth it though.
“Did he threaten you or something?”
“No.” On second thought, I amended, “Not explicitly.”
Chuckling, she shook her head. “Heisa future lawyer. Of course he’s not going to put that in writing.”
“Smart of him.”
“I’m glad he reached out to you even though your opening was like a month ago.”
“I can’t complain when I don’t process things easily, either,” I murmured.
She put her hand on mine, understanding clear on her face. “It’s not about how fast you get there. It’s getting there and what you do when you’re there that counts.”
When I parked at our usual spot near the kalachuchi tree, I unbuckled my seatbelt so we could switch seats for her driving practice. But as I reached for the door handle, Luna said, “Wait.”
And then she crawled over the center console and wedged herself onto my lap. “Hi,” she smiled down at me.
I wrapped my arms around her back. “Hi.”
“Now give me a proper greeting.”
Grinning, I pulled her down for a kiss that might have gone a little too far. But she asked for a proper greeting, and I aimed to give her exactly what she wanted. I made sure she enjoyed every moment of it.
luna
“Luna!” Gabe holleredfrom the dining table. “We’re going to be late.”
In my bedroom, I checked my reflection one last time. “It’s just a call. We don’t have to be there on the dot.”
“I’m trying to make a good impression.”
I bit my lip. “Right. I’m sorry.”
Heading into the kitchen, I stopped next to Gabe where he sat with my laptop already open. A glance at the clock told me we had three minutes to spare, so I wove my fingers in Gabe’s hair and held his gaze. “No matter what happens, remember that I think you are extremely awesome.”
His mouth twitched. “Not just plain awesome, huh?”
I put on an exaggerated air of seriousness and pretended to reconsider. “Well, if you’re satisfied with that . . .”
He chuckled. “I’ll take the adverb, please.”
