Page 92 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Sounds good. I’ll bring snacks.”
I grinned. “Perfect. I’ll take care of the coffee.”
This was exactly what I needed—an accountability buddy and a productive weekend without thoughts of unattainable men to get me down.
gabe
“I didn’t thinkyou could be any more broody,” Max said, pointing his beer bottle at me. “You proved me wrong.”
“Broodier,” I corrected him absentmindedly. Luna hadn’t replied in almost two hours. She’d mentioned meeting up with a friend to study, but surely she would have checked her phone within that time.
“You say tomato, I say?—”
“It’s a matter of grammar, not pronunciation.”
She didn’t mention if her friend was a guy. Was “study date” code for an actual date these days? What if she was maximizing her student experience and everything that entailed? Itwasa Saturday, and shewassingle. She had every right to enjoy herself. Even I had found the time to blow off steam in college from time to time. I just hoped she didn’t choose the same activity that I did back then.
It’s none of your business whether or not she does.
“I thought only numbers could get you worked up.” Max snickered. “Who’s the lucky woman?”
Nothing could have snapped me to attention faster. “No one.” Damn it.
He snorted. “Spoken like every other person in denial. Are you in the doghouse? I give good relationship advice, you know.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Don’t you know what they say about keeping your emotions bottled in?”
I cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Right. This is you I’m talking to.” He took a swill of his beer and put it on the table with a thud. “I wish I could say the dark broody man bit isn’t attractive, but I’d be lying.”
Kai’s laughing face flashed in my mind. I knew Luna found me attractive, but did she think the same of Kai? Next to him, I didn’t just look grumpy and old, I felt it too.
I gave in to the urge to check my phone, opening my inbox to see if she’d read my texts. The last two messages were marked “delivered.”
Was it too much to text her again?
“Still no reply?”
“No—” My head snapped up.
His grin reeked of triumph. “So thereisa woman.”
“It’s not like that.”
“If you give me the ‘she’s just a friend’ press release, I’m calling bullshit. It’s a widely accepted fact that ninety percent of the time that’s what someone says to try to convince themselves their relationship is platonic when it’s not.”
“Do you have evidence to back that up?”
“I mean, I’m looking at it.” He chuckled. “She must be one hell of a woman.”
Luna was. And she deserved someone who would proudly take her out. Someone who wouldn’t need to hide their relationship like it was something sordid.
More and more, I wished I could give her just that.
luna
