Page 160 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
I whirled around just as Gabe drawled, “Mr. Walker.”
“Professor Martins.” Kai nodded.
“It’s Gabe. Congratulations.”
“You too.” Kai jolted back and stammered, “I mean—I should go. Congrats again, Luna. See you around, uh, Gabe.” With that, he dodged his way through the crowd.
“Am I that frightening?” Gabe’s tone was even but the corner of his mouth twitched up.
“It must have been the laser beam you aimed at him,” Chloe said.
“I take insult to that.”
I snorted. “Sure, you do.”
“Congratulations, Chloe,” Gabe said to her before turning to Kriz. “Thanks again for getting the flowers to her, Kriz.”
“Of course!” Kriz smiled at him. “Anything for true love.”
“Nice move there,” Chloe told him. “Luna can’t wait to show you how grateful she is.” She gave me a sly smile, leaving no doubt what she meant by that.
I narrowed my eyes at her while Gabe chuckled. Then I heard my name called out, and I glanced to the right just in time for Ate and Lonzo to crash into me. Their voices mixed together in my ears as they squeezed me tight, with Jason grinning behind Ate.
“We’ll catch you later, Lulu,” Kriz said, tugging Chloe away.
“You did it, Lu!” Ate told me. “I’m so proud of you.” Her eyes were glossy as she gazed at me, triggering my own tear ducts.
“Congrats, Ate.” Lonzo patted the top of my head as if I were a dog, and I mock-glared at him.
“Don’t mess up my flowers!” I said.
“Speaking of flowers—” Lonzo moved away and my jaw dropped as Mama moved into his place.
She held out a brightly colored bouquet and grinned at me with teary eyes. “Congratulations, Luna.”
Just like that, my eyes welled up too. “Mama!” I pulled her in for a hug, crushing the flowers between us. “I thought you had work?”
“We arranged for time off,” Papa said beside her. “We couldn’t miss your graduation.”
I burst out into tears. Letting go of Mama, I embraced my dad. “I can’t believe you’re here! This is the best surprise ever.” If anyone had told me my parents would come to my graduation, I never would have believed them. They’d been so apologetic about having to attend to things at work, and I knew they were concerned about the expense too, though both Jason and Gabe had offered to help.
“Wait.” I pulled away from Papa. “Have you met Gabe?”
“Of course,” he answered. “He picked us up from the airport.”
Whirling around, I looked at Gabe. “I thought you had a meeting.”
He wore the small smile he reserved just for me. “Technically, I did have one.”
Right. This was what I got for being with such a smart guy.
Lonzo distracted our parents with some story about their flight, and I took the chance to murmur to Gabe, “You’ve been busy.”
He chuckled and took my hand. “So busy I left my gift for you at the office. Do you mind if we pass by there on the way to dinner?”
“As long as I get to drive.” Since I’d gotten my driver’s license, I’d been calling dibs on the wheel more often. Gabe sometimes grumbled about being relegated to a passenger in his own car, but then he’d immediately open the driver’s side door for me and spend the ride fussing with the music, reaching for my hand, and watching me drive.
His scowl had barely even formed before it turned into a grin that lit up his eyes. “Then I get to choose the music.”
I laughed because the threat I’d given him at the airport had turned into a running joke between us. Laughed because the girl I’d been then never would have imagined we’d get to this point—when it didn’t really matter who drove or who picked the music as long as we were together. The odds had seemed against us, yet somehow, here we were, standing side by side out in the open with my family on one of the biggest days of my life.
As Ate tugged me back into the conversation, I mirrored Gabe’s smile and said to him, “Deal.”
