Page 115 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“I’m glad you did. I’m tempted to ask you to put your shoes back on so I can see the full effect.” She laughed, and so did I.
“Later. I didn’t know you had a footwear fixation.”
“Footwear is part of fashion, too, you know.” A frown wrinkled her forehead as she stared at my socked feet. “You don’t like the slippers?”
“They’re comfortable, but it feels strange wearing someone else’s shoes.” I’d kept questioning if they belonged to Kai or another guy she’d dated in the past.
“I bought them for you,” she said. “No one else has worn them.”
“Oh.” My chest felt full and weightless at once, and I couldn’t stop my lips from turning up as I put on the slippers. They werethe best pair I’d ever worn because Luna had gotten them for me. “Thanks. I love them.”
I love you.
“Good. I wanted you to have something comfortable to wear whenever you came over.” She gave me a shy smile that had me longing to kiss her again. “So you should come more often.”
Like I could stay away from her now. “I will.” Then I remembered the earlier distress on her face. “Is everything alright? You looked worried when I arrived.”
Her face fell. “I shouldn’t have invited you to the club.”
“Because?”
“It was selfish of me. What if someone reported you and you lose your job? It’ll be my fault.”
“No, it won’t.”
She lifted her chin. “It will be.”
“You invited me, yes, but I could have said no,” I told her. “Idecided to go. Whatever the consequences are, they’re my responsibility, not yours.”
“You wouldn’t have made the decision if I didn’t ask you in the first place.” The stubborn glint in her eyes reminded me of Tala.
It was jarring to say the least. Before, whenever I looked at Luna, my mind immediately went to Tala and how she was Tala’s sister. Now I saw just Luna, except for these rare moments that their similarities reared up.
I took her free hand. “Luna. You invited me because you wanted me there. I came because I wanted to be there, and I knew the risks involved. Trust that I can handle the outcome.”
“I don’t want you to lose your job.” She bit her lip. “Or your degree.”
“Maybe I’m learning there’s more to life than my job and degree.”
Her hand jerked in surprise, and I stroked her skin with my thumb.
“Are you ready to play?” I asked.
She tipped her head to the side, looking like she wanted to say more. “Sure. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
luna
“Not again!” Igaped at Gabe’s cards, which clearly trumped mine. “Did you practice or something?”
In pusoy, each player had thirteen cards. You needed to arrange them in three levels—two groups of five in the bottom and middle levels and one trio on top. The goal was to come up with the strongest combinations for each level, with the best belonging in the bottom, so you could beat your opponent’s corresponding levels. Whoever beat two out of three levels won, and if you won all three, you’d be pusoy, getting double your bet.
He shrugged. “Lucky hand.”
I gave him a mock glare. “Good thing we don’t have stakes yet.”
“Do you want to set some for the next one?”
“Do you?”
