Page 15 of Heir of Fire
“Didn’t he end up meeting you at the club?” Cecilia asked. “You seemed to really like him and after that night you just stopped talking about him completely.”
“I realized I was too good for him,” she said quickly. “He was boring and cheap, not my type at all. I mean, complaining about a twenty-dollar cocktail, who does that?”
The lies slipped out of her mouth so effortlessly she almost believed them herself. It worked out better if they were able to believe her standards were over the top instead of hashing outher spiral over how no one would ever truly love her. There were some things her best friends didn’t need to know, and unfortunately, that night was one of them.
“He always seemed like an asshole to me,” Luna said, cutting into her eggs Benedict. “I don’t think you should ever have to settle for anything.”
Cecilia snorted. “Easy for you to say.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, confused.
“You’re married now to a man who is obsessed with you. You don’t know how terrible the dating scene is out here,” Blair said. “It’s like a war zone, just constantly dodging missiles left and right.”
“Believe me, I realize how much worse I could have it,” Luna said, shaking her head. “But all I know is that you all deserve the world.”
Now Luna was in on believing Gianna deserved better, just like Finn. If only she could believe it herself, but it seemed that no matter how many people tried to repeat those words to her, her mind was unwilling to truly hear it.
“Having someone obsessed with you isn’t all great,” Cecilia said, pointing her fork around in the air. “I’d rather be alone.”
“You have a stalker. There’s a huge difference,” Gianna told her, patting her back in condolence.
She still didn’t really know what the hell went on between her and Augustus, and she didn’t want to know. Hell, her own life was too complicated at the moment to get caught up in whatever was going on there.
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you guys that Finn came over the other day,” Luna said.
Gianna froze but covered it up swiftly. She reached for her mimosa, taking a big drink.
Finn Kingsley.
Perhaps her long dance practices had to do with her also trying to forget his hands on her, his minty breath, his warmth. She didn’t know what it was but those moments with him had been replaying in her mind on a loop.
Maybe it was a moment of desperation that made them seem far more intimate than they actually had been. She tried to convince herself that it was just him trying to help her out, that there was nothing romantic or sensual in the way he let her breathe from him.
Nothing at all.
Nope.
“And what happened with that?” Blair asked.
“Well, he apologized for everything. We ended up having a heart to heart, which was so needed. Everything was weighing on me so heavily, I think we both needed to just let everything out,” Luna said. She had a smile on her face that showed she meant what she said.
“I’m really happy for you,” Gianna told her.
“Thanks. He seems to be warming up to staying here now too. He even asked for the arena back so he could host another Fight Night,” she said.
Gianna couldn’t help the swirl of excitement that swept through her. She loved a good fight more than she was willing to admit, but why the sudden change in his attitude? He seemed so adamant about leaving, and now it seemed like he was trying to set up a life for himself here.
“I thought he was completely against being here?” Cecilia asked.
“I thought so too, but something seemed to have swayed his mind,” Luna said. “Do you think he’s met someone?”
Gianna’s eyes widened. “Met someone?”
“I know it sounds stupid. I don’t think he’s the type to settle down, but one minute he’s ready to pack up and never lookback, then the next he’s wanting property back. The only thing I could think of is that he’s trying to impress someone, maybe get his life together for her.” Luna shrugged so casually that it was completely juxtaposed with the rapid beating of Gianna’s heart.
Did he have someone else?
If he did, that would mean everything that had happened that night meant nothing. It couldn’t mean anything because he already had a girlfriend or something equivalent.
