Page 117 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Didn’t we go through this already? Easy—no. I’m not interested in Kai as anything other than a friend.” I tsked. “You wasted a prime opportunity for something juicy.”
“I wanted to go easy on you with the first question.”
“I can take it.”
“Alright. In the car, you said you were only attracted to one person. Who?”
“I already told you.” Sure, I’d drank my share of vodka, but I clearly remembered admitting it to him.
Gabe set his jaw. “Tell me now that you’re completely sober.”
If he thought I’d shirk it, he was wrong. “You’re the only one I’ve wanted for years.”
“Since when?”
“Those were two questions.” I reached for the cards, brushing my fingers against his in the process. “My turn to win.”
His brows drew together, then he chuckled. “Be my guest.”
This time, I shuffled and he dealt the cards, doing it at twice the speed that I had. I opened my hand and fought to keep a poker face. Full house, two-pair, Ace high.
I’d get him now.
When we flipped our cards, I mentally cursed. My bottom cards beat his trio, but his middle two pair was higher than mine,andhe had another pair up top. His hand matched mine, only instead of building a full house, he’d split it up and sacrificed the bottom for a stronger top.
Which meant I owed him another truth.
I flicked my braid over my shoulder and leaned against the sofa. “Hit me.”
Bracing an arm across the back of the couch, he studied me for a few seconds. I expected him to repeat the question I hadn’t answered, but instead he asked, “I asked you before if you were considering moving back to Manila. What are your thoughts on that now?”
My eyebrows rose at the unexpected question. I looked past him, mulling it over. “Honestly? The same. I miss my family and all, but I love my life here. I don’t know how things will be after graduation and whether I can get a job right away, but I know I’ll try my best to be able to stay.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” he told me. “Anything—just say the word.” His eyes were earnest, and I marveled at the stark difference from his distant, unfeeling expressions when we first met.
“Thanks, Gabe. You should know it’s the same for me.”
He nodded and leaned forward, his arm stretching toward me. Then he stopped. Straightened. “Next round?”
I gathered the cards and concentrated on shuffling them, hyper-aware of him staring at me.
The third time was the charm. I won by the skin of my nose, beating his middle two pair with my trio and his top Jack with my Queen.
“Nice work,” he congratulated me with a half-smile. “What’s your question?”
I’d been ready with one, but now that I had the chance to ask it, I second-guessed myself. What if it led to another rejection? I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it if so, but I needed to know. “Last night. Why did you stop? And don’t just give me the same line about the alcohol.”
He braced his palms on his thighs. “It wasn’t just a line, Luna. It was the truth. There are multiple power imbalances between us already without adding alcohol to the mix.”
“I know my own mind. I know what I want.WhoI want,” I said. “I meant everything I said, Gabe. If it weren’t for your reality check, I would have been all over you.”
“I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”
“You wouldn’t have been doing anything I didn’t want you to do.”
He rubbed a hand across his nape. “I wanted to be sureyouwere sure about what we were doing.”
“And if I kissed you now that I’m completely sober? What would you do?”
