Page 108 of Wishing for La Luna
I breathe the dark fruit scent of her hair and close my eyes. “You can say it. I know where this is going.”
She spins around, and we are face to face, almost as close as we were in the stairs when we kissed. “How can you know where this is going when I fully don’t?”
“You do, Luna. We know each other well enough. I put your job on the line and made the world talk about you again. You didn’t sign up for this, and Elevate is going to be on your ass. I don’t blame you. I would dump me too.”
She flinches. “This is not your doing alone. I made a choice today that changed everything.”
“Because of me.”
“Yeah. But you didn’t ask me to. I volunteered.”
“To save me, Luna. And you don’t need to do that. I have money and people to do that. I don’t ever want you to lose your career for me, even if I think you are better than that place.”
“I know what you think about the agency and my job, but I told you this is important to me. And obviously, you are more, because I thought nothing about almost throwing all of it away. And I would do it again.” Her eyes are clear and focused on me.
“What can I do?”
“Can you stop being insecure about Thierry?” she asks. “Can you be okay knowing I will continue to work with him? Can you ignore a bunch of childish messy men when they question you for supporting me?”
I shake my head. “No. Because it’s not about that. I worry about you and what they’ll try to do to you.”
“Do you trust me?”
“With my life, but you’re not the problem. He won’t stop coming after you. He won’t be able to help himself. He’s destructive.”
“But I’m telling you none of that matters,” she insists. “I took measures today to make sure it doesn’t.”
“You don’t need this job, Luna. You have all the other work you do. You have every cent I own at your fingertips.”
“I didn’t go to school all those years and bust my ass to get straight A’s to depend on a man, not when my dream job has been laid before me, not when I’ve spent years getting the necessary experience to be able to land it.” She shoves a hand through her hair and walks up to me.
She places a hand over mine. “You’re not okay with this, and I get it. But I can’t sacrifice this for you because I’m going to resent you. This is my dream. You’re already living yours. You got built back up to number one, touring sold-out venues all over the world. Now it’s my turn, and I’m not willing to give that up.”
“I would never ask you to do that, so say it,” I beg her. I can’t take any more of this.
“I love you too much. I see myself putting you first, and I don’t want to be that woman whose ambitions get lost in a man’s. I also don’t want to be your downfall. You were doing so amazing, and you did this because they used me to bait you.”
“Say it.”
She shakes her head.
“We don’t need the words, do we?”
I kiss her because I can’t help myself. “I’m always going to love you, Luna Zaira.”
And I walk past her and out of the apartment.
26
Luna
I think I've forgotten what color looks like. The thought almost makes me laugh. It’s ludicrous but true. For the past three weeks, I’ve only been going from my apartment to the office and back. Lots of gray and beige, along with New York City white subway tile, and brick backgrounds that blend into each other. When I’m home, I oscillate between zombie and obsessed, moving around my place like a horse with blinders on.
The vibrant shades of orange, yellow, and red from the trees that line the highway are so bright it makes my eyes feel like they're in a fish tank.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask Maeven as she speeds her way up the Cross County Parkway. “There are parks and trails closer to both of us.”
“There are, but I wanted a more private venue. I know you hate the attention you’re still getting, and I want you to be comfortable and honest.”
