Page 105 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
I hummed noncommittally. What were the chancesshe’dforget with the way she knocked down shots?
Trying to act casual, I glanced around the club. Still no Gabe. I wondered if he had messaged, and then I scolded myself for obsessing over him again.
Standing, I announced, “I’m going to dance.”
“Kai, go with her,” Kriz said.
He grinned. “Hope you don’t mind my two left feet.”
“Just avoid my toes, please.” I laughed. “Let’s go.”
gabe
I shouldn’t be here.
Everything in this club was too much—the noise, the crowd, the lights. The energy. I’d lived in Sterling for almost a decade, and this was my first time stepping inside this place. If I had it my way, it would be my last too.
No force on earth could have convinced me to be here . . . except for Luna. How could I say no to her on her birthday?
Finding an empty corner in the far back, I pulled out my phone and opened our message thread. Her last text had been an hour ago when she told me she’d keep her phone in her purse so Chloe wouldn’t take it.
Luna
If you get the urge to drop by, we’re in the second booth from the right facing the stage. Just say you promised Ate you’d check on me. But no pressure!
How pathetic was it that I had to use her sister as an excuse to be at her birthday party?
I pocketed my phone and, taking a deep breath, joined the fray. The heavy electronica music—was that even the correct term?—assaulted my ears, and I wondered how anyone could talk in here. Then again, talking probably wasn’t the point. Ifanything, the noise provided a convenient excuse to stand too close to someone under the guise of being able to hear them.
I spotted Chloe in just that situation, standing in front of the second booth while an older man leered at her.
My feet halted a few steps away from her as I contemplated retreating. Luna wasn’t in the booth. No one had spotted me yet, which meant I could still escape.
“Professor Martins!”
Damn my indecision. And damn the DJ for turning down the music at the exact second Chloe screeched out my name.
Steeling myself, I faced her and nodded.
She stepped toward me, her mouth agape. “What are you doing here?”
The man she’d abandoned glared at me as though he saw me as competition.
“Luna’s sister asked me to check on her.” In my panic, the excuse Luna gave me spilled out.
“Oh. Well, that’s nice of you.”
I hated myself for lacking the courage to own up to the truth—that I was here for Luna, not because of her sister.
“She’s dancing up front,” Chloe told me. “You made it in time for her birthday shots. You can join us, right?”
My knee-jerk refusal died as I caught sight of Luna in the midst of countless pulsating bodies. Even though she had her back to me, it was impossible not to recognize her. She’d done up her hair in some kind of bun that showed off her bare shoulders and upper back. If it weren’t for the bright pink bow around her neck, I would have lost my mind. I simultaneously anticipated and dreaded seeing the front view.
Swaying, she shifted and presented her profile to me. Happiness lit up her features, and my mouth curved in an automatic response.
Then I noticed the guy she was laughing at.
Kai.
