Page 73 of Wishing for La Luna
“Well, the Belmonts want to convince the world that you and Luna were getting down in the bathroom.”
He scoffs. “We were there for, like, five minutes. I need more than that.”
My gaze snaps to his, and the crooked smile on his face stuns me. The way he’s looking at me leaves no room for doubt.
“Good for you,” Maeven adds. “I’m waiting for the greatest hits, like how you snuck into Adina’s DMs before you hit on Luna.”
“That again?” He looks at Adina. “Can you all stop it with that shit? It didn’t happen.” He turns to me. “Luna knows it, too. She saw the text thread.”
I’m confused, but the way he’s staring…it’s obvious he’s trying to communicate something to me. I nod.
“You know those are private conversations,” Mrs. Belmont tells him.
“Go ahead and sue me. We’ll release everything and see who’s got more to lose.”
“Go. I got it from here.” Maeven waves a hand in the direction of the bathroom.
I take his hand as we walk away, and the minute he closes the door behind us, I square up on him.
“Show me the thread.”
“Luna, I shouldn’t have said?—”
“Show me, Riomar.”
My use of his full name makes his jaw go slack, but he grabs his phone from his pants pocket, and hands it to me. “I’ll go finish my shower.”
With his Instagram DMs on the screen, I scroll all the way back. The conversation is full of Adina fangirling over him. Rio’s responses are cordial. I stop at one message where he asks if she’s bringing me to Niko’s private concert. He continues, mentioning there was a misunderstanding, and he wants to clear the air with me. Adina tells him that I have a boyfriend who's jealous and felt guilty about the flirtation.
I pull out my phone and match the dates. This was the same night I told her about him hitting on me and her freaking out. It was the first time she had ever turned on me like that. She knew it too, because the next morning, she showed up at my house apologizing and admitting that I would never stab her in the back.
The conversations go back and forth. Adina openly declared her interest, but Rio never did or led her on. For months, he asked why I’m so cold to him.
This bitch played me the whole time.
17
Rio
I wrap a towel around my waist and get out of the shower. Just having Luna this close, twice in this bathroom, and controlling myself has been tough. And there she is when I get out, still looking through my conversations. This time, she has her phone, looking back and forth.
This is not good.
“You okay?” I ask.
“She played me.” Luna shakes her head. “She told me you were trying to go out with her, but it was her the whole time. My best friend.”
“She was fucking Chico before, even that night, in one of Niko’s bedrooms. I don’t have that many people I call friends, and the ones I do, I would never disrespect. She’s not my type. I like thick chocolate and curves for me to crash no matter where my tongue goes.”
I say it in a joking-non-joking way just to make her laugh because she looks fit to kill. And she turns those eyes on me, looking as feral as she did when she blacked out. But fuck if I’m not excited.
“I’m pissed the fuck off. Don’t catch a stray, Riomar.”
“Coño Mami,how can I be serious when you say my name like that? Like,castigame, dame con la chancleta.”
Her mouth goes slack, and then she starts laughing. She drops her phone. But the sound makes me laugh too.
“Estás loco.”
