Page 51 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
I frowned at Lonzo. It wasn’t like him to make snap judgments. “You’ve known him for ten minutes.”
He jutted his chin—a sign that he was prepared to argue the point. “I saw the way he looked at you.”
“With annoyance and a sense of duty?”
Lonzo snorted. “Trust me, there was no annoyance on his face when he looked at you.”
“You’re imagining things,” I said above the pounding of my heart. “You heard it from him—he’s only looking out for me because of Ate.”
“I heard what he said, and I call bullshit.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he slumped deeper into the chair. “I don’t want him for you.”
“That doesn’t matter because like I said, there’s nothing going on between me and Gabe.”
Lonzo raised an eyebrow at me. “Someone’s defensive. Right, Ate T?”
The doorbell rang then, saving Ate from having to answer. We spent the next couple of minutes bringing my bag inside and tipping the bellman. After that was settled, Ate and I sat on the sofa, and I ran my hands over the plush velvet upholstery.
“This is the life.” I sighed as I rolled my head on the ultra-comfortable backrest.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lonzo said. “Back to Gabe. Why did no one tell me the guy looked like some, I dunno, Latino actor?”
Ate and I exchanged glances and laughed.
“He’s going to love that.” I filed it away in my head for future use. I could already picture his reaction when he heard it.
“Jason had a similar first impression of him.” Ate’s expression turned serious as she said to me, “I’m glad you two are getting along better.”
Lonzo leaned forward, perching his elbows on his knees. “Are you seriously okay with him hanging around our sister?” he asked Ate.
“You’re getting worked up over nothing, Lonzo,” I said.
He continued staring at Ate. It was as if he couldn’t hear me—as if my opinion didn’t count. “He’s so much older than her.”
Ate sighed.“I trust Gabe with my life. And Luna can make her own decisions.”
“But—”
“I’m not meddling with your relationship, and I won’t meddle with hers, either,” she continued.
“Dani’s my age,” he argued. “It’s not the same thing.”
“It’s not the same thing because Gabe and I aren’t together,” I said loudly. “Trust me, if we were, I wouldn’t hide it.”
Lonzo shook his head. “I don’t care what you two say—I’ll be watching this guy.”
“I thought you’d be more into watching the game, but go ahead.”
“You’re lucky Papa’s not here, or he would drag you back home.”
“Alright, you guys,” Ate called out before I could respond to that. “Relax. It hasn’t been an hour yet, and already you’re fighting.”
“Just like the old times. Right, Ate L?” Lonzo winked at me, suddenly reverting to his easygoing self.
I rolled my eyes. “I need coffee.” Standing, I headed for the kitchen, which was bigger than the one in my apartment. Along the way, I poked Lonzo’s bicep as a sign that we were okay, because even though he annoyed me to no end, he was still my brother.
Back in Manila, he’d looked out for me when it came to other guys but he’d never been this protective. I wondered if it was just Gabe’s age that bothered him or if there was any truth to what he said about the way Gabe looked at me.
Then I tried to stop myself from hoping that there was.
