by Vivian Wood
I gulp as Dr. Montgomery closes the door behind us. My pulse is racing. I turn to Gabe, a plea on my face and in my voice. I reach out to him, touching his forearm with my cold fingers. He tilts his gaze down to look at me.
“What?” he asks me. “Just tell me.”
I open my mouth to explain, but Dr. Montgomery cuts in. “I’ll explain. You see, I asked our little Luna here to spy on you in exchange for advancement at the university. And she agreed.”
I blush furiously. Dr. Montgomery grins, looking back and forth between us. Gabe turns to me.
“Is this true?”
I hesitate for a moment. “I didn’t go through with it, obviously. I felt like I couldn’t just tell Dr. Montgomery to take a hike—“
“You should’ve seen her agreeing with me,” Dr. Montgomery cuts me off again. “She was actually excited about the opportunity to get ahead! I asked her for the route map you guys would be working on…”
“I didn’t actually give him anything!” I blurt out. “You said I’ve been acting weird for the past week… I’ve been trying to figure out a way out of this whole thing without betraying you or hurting my career!”
I’m so worked up that I’m on the verge of tears. I inhale a long, shaky breath.
Gabe’s expression is suspiciously neutral. He folds his arms across his chest. “Fletcher, you can right fuck off. Do you hear me? Run along and play your nasty little games with someone else.”
My heart lifts. Maybe Gabe sees D’s play for what it so clearly is. Maybe he believes me when I say that I was not going to spy on him.
Dr. Montgomery sneers at him. “Whatever, Gabe. We both know that you’re a fucking loser who cheated to win today.”
Gabe cocks his head at Dr. Montgomery. “You’re just lucky that there are so many witnesses here, Fletcher. Because given the chance, I would beat the living daylights out of you.”
Dr. Montgomery makes a disgusted sound and starts to leave. He pauses with the door open partway to shoot his final arrow right at me. “You are done at the University of Washington, Luna. You’d better find another med school that will accept your ass.”
A wrinkle of worry forms in my brow. My shoulders tense. But Dr. Montgomery is gone in the next second, slamming the door, leaving me and Gabe facing off in the bright sunlight. I look at Gabe with a sigh.
His expression is so guarded that I can’t figure out what he’s actually feeling. He takes a long moment to study me. “I don’t even know where to start, Luna. I just… I thought I could trust you. I thought you could trust me too… and yet, there are still these secrets between us.”
My heart jumps into my throat. My eyes mist over. “I swear, I wouldn’t have actually spied on you for Dr. Montgomery.”
“That is not the point!” he shouts. His blue green eyes pin me in place. A muscle ticks in his jaw. “The issue is that you had a problem, maybe the biggest problem you’ve ever had… and you never came to me about it! Instead you deceived me, just like Michelle did.”
“Gabe, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I reach out for him, but he steps back.
His expression is tortured. “I can’t do this again, Luna! I won’t!”
“But… but I love you!” I whisper. Tears fill my eyes and I do nothing to stop them from rolling down my face. “Please, Gabe…”
He closes his eyes for a second, looking like I just punched him in the gut. “I’m sorry, Luna. You don’t know how much I wish I could trust you.”
“Don’t let Dr. Montgomery win!” I beg him.
Gabe shakes his head. “I think I should leave. And… you should start finding another summer internship. I don’t want to see you anymore.”
And with that, he turns on his heel and walks away. I start sobbing, knowing that there is nothing I can do or say to bring him back.
32
Luna
A Week Later
I’m lying on my living room couch, staring at the television screen. The tv is on but the sound is muted. Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone pedal their foot-powered car across the screen. The doorbell trills and I pull a face, looking back toward the entry hall.
I’m in my stretchy pants and a loose pink sweatshirt, my hair thrown up in a ponytail. This is definitely my moping around the house outfit, complete with a box of Kleenex beside my head and balled up tissues on the floor in front of me.
I’m not interested in the intrusion of anyone or anything. It’s not like they could pierce the fog I’ve been in all week anyway…
The doorbell trills again, insistent. I sit up with a groan, dragging myself off the couch and going over to the security panel. Cate and Harper stare up at me impatiently, and Harper pushes the doorbell button again. Exhaling a long breath, I type in my door code and the door buzzes, unlocking after a second.
By the time that my two best friends let themselves in the apartment, I am already sinking back into the blue velvet couch.
“Hello?” Cate says. “We come bearing your absolute favorite donuts…”
I scrunch up my face and assume the position: curled in ball on my side, my face pushes up against the pillow that migrated onto the couch from my bed.
“Okay,” Harper says, her tone businesslike. She marches over and finds the remote, turning off the television. “Enough of this. You’ve been avoiding us all week and moping around this apartment instead of having fun. This apartment is great, honey, but it isn’t that great.”
Cate chimes in, her voice soft. “And I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but… you really need a shower.” She makes a sympathetic face. “Come on. Get up.”
“Seriously. I’ll make coffee while you’re in the shower,” Harper says.
I sit up, giving them both a look. “Are you sure I can’t just have a donut?”
“Yes!” both my friends insist.
Muttering under my breath and shooting daggers at them with my eyes, I get up and go shower. I’ll admit to staying under the steaming hot water longer than I really need to. And my beauty rituals, which I’ve basically been ignoring all week long… it’s nice to spend some extra time putting lavender-scented lotion on my whole body, brushing my teeth for a couple of minutes, and washing my face really thoroughly.
When I get out of the shower, I find that one of my friends has already laid out a pair of jeans and a fancy blouse for me. It’s almost like I’m an invalid or something. Rolling my eyes, I dress myself and then pad out to see them in the kitchen.
Harper wolf whistles at me.
Cate cheers. “Yay! I have a best friend again. I knew you were there, under all those layers of grime…”
“Yes, yes,” I grouse, taking a seat at the kitchen island. “I smell coffee.”
Cate beams, hurrying to pour me a cup of coffee. Harper opens the box of donuts and slides it over to me.
“You look thin,” she says gravely. “Eat a couple of those, get some sugar in your system. That’ll jump start everything.”
I take the cup of coffee and nibble on a donut. But honestly the donut tastes like dirt and the coffee just makes me antsy. After a few bites and a couple big sips, I put them both down. Harper tilts her head.
“So what happened?” she asks.
I close my eyes for a minute, summoning the energy to deal with this. “Well…” I sit back in my seat, making an angry gesture. “Gabe called me during the regatta. He needed someone to sub in for his sister at the last minute. So I did it, of course. And we won.” I look down, sadness filling me. “And he actually said he loves me, which was a huge reveal for him.”
Cate covers my hand with her own, giving me a sympathetic smile. “I’m assuming that’s not the end of the story.”
Shaking my head, I swallow thickly. “No. After we won, we went up to the yacht club… and D walked in. He wasn’t very happy with anyone, especially not me.”
Cate’s eyes widen. “D told Gabe that you two had conspired against him?”
I didn’t realize that my eyes had fille
d with tears until once breaks away and rolls down my cheek. I scrub it away with the side of my hand. “He did. But Gabe wasn’t even upset about that… he was really upset that I hadn’t told him my problem.” I sniffle. “His ex hid a lot of stuff from him, I guess. And because of that, he said we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”
Putting my head down on my hands, I suppress a sob. Not particularly because I don’t want to fall apart in front of Harper or Cate — they’ve both seen worse since we’ve been friends. Acted worse, too.
No, I am trying not to cry because I’ve spent almost a week either crying like a toddler or exhausted from it, staring blankly at the television or wall. I’m just over it. Done.
If only my heart would get the message…
“Hey, hey,” Cate says in her most soothing voice. “It’s okay, Luna. Really. You had a life before Gabe. You will have a life after him too.”
Wiping my face, I slowly shake my head. “I don’t think so, Cate. I don’t think he’s the type of guy you get over.”
Harper makes a face. “Girl. Seriously. Gabe is just a dude. There a trillion more fish in the sea, especially the sea where you are located. Okay? You’re white and privileged. You are gonna be all right. Trust me.”
Drawing in a breath, I shake my head again. “I love him, Harper. That’s not an easy thing, considering my family history.”
Harper pushes out of her cheek with her tongue and looks at me for a minute. “Have you tried to contact him since then?”
My cheeks burn a little bit. “Yeah. His phone is off.”
“You haven’t gone to his place though?” Cate asks. She wrinkles her forehead. “You would be a terrible stalker, Luna.”
“Really terrible,” Harper says, gently teasing me. “For real. If it was me, I would be knocking on Gabe’s door, demanding another chance.” She puckers her lips. “If you love someone the way that you say you love Gabe, you can’t just let that go.
“But what would I even say? I feel like everything has already been laid out on the table. He just rejected what he saw.”
Harper rolls her eyes. “I swear, you are being so passive! You’re usually so hard-headed. Use some of that stubbornness to your advantage! Don’t just throw your hands up in the air, Luna.”
“She’s right,” Cate says, nodding. “If he hasn’t closed the door all the way, there’s still a chance. And you won’t know if the door is closed unless you try to open it.”
“Remember, you didn’t really do anything wrong.” Harper crosses her arms.
Cate agrees. “Yeah, it sounds like he just has a personal hang up that really has nothing to do with you. It isn’t fair, blaming you for someone else’s mistakes.”
I give them both a sad smile. “Gabe is damaged, plain and simple. He’s still wrapped up in the past. And I don’t know that any amount of loving him is going to fix that. Unless he comes around about things, I don’t see a future for us.”
Glancing down at my lap, I try to quell the sadness that washes through me at the thought.
Harper heaves a sigh. “It sounds like your mind is made up about that.”
I cock my head. “It is.”
Cate stands up. “Then we should go do something else, then. A little retail therapy, maybe? We could hit the Grove… followed by lunch at that sushi place you love so much?”
“Oooh, I can look at the new purses in the Kate Spade store!” Harper says. “I say we do it.”
I give in. “All right. Maybe while we are shopping, you guys can help me decide what to do about Dr. Montgomery. I’m not going to just lie down and take what he’s dishing out to me.”
Cate slides Harper a look. “Okay… sure.”
“What?” I ask.
Harper raises her brows for a second then shakes her head. “Nothing. Go get your shoes and purse.”
Shooting them a look, I slide out of my seat and head back toward my bedroom.
33
Gabe
Malkia finds me polishing the chrome handrails on the High Hopes. She shades her eyes against the sun, looking up from the dock to where I stand on the deck of our yacht, scrubbing intently. She stares at me silently for about a minute before I can’t take it anymore.
“What?” I snap, looking at her.
Her lips curve upward into a smirk. “I am just wondering why you are here.”
Rolling my eyes, I scrub a spot on the handrail with a vicious kind of energy. “What do you mean? This is my job.”
She surveys me coolly. “No it is not. You are a captain, not a deckhand. You are just so tense that you are focusing on doing menial tasks rather than doing what you should be doing.”
I pause, shooting my sister a glare. “And what do you think I should be doing, Mal?”
“Where is Luna?” she asks. Folding her arms and cocking her hip, she stares me down.
I cringe at hearing Luna’s name. Throwing my scrub brush down with a disgusted sigh, I take my time to get to my feet. “I don’t know. Just like I don’t know where any of the rest of the crew is… except you, apparently.”
“Are we going to play pretend now?” She tilts her head. “Are we going to pretend that Luna is not your girlfriend?”
Putting my hands on my hips, I wrinkle my nose and look at across the marina. “I don’t know what you mean. She’s just an employee. Not even a current one either. I fired her.” I stretch. “Do you want to walk down to the Fiesta Cantina food cart? I’m hungry.”
Mal wrinkles her nose, looking off over the marina toward the open sea. “Yeah, I could eat. If you’re buying, that is.”
Jumping down off the yacht onto the dock, I chuckle. “Yeah. All right.”
We walk up the dock to the marina entrance. To the right are rows and rows of parked cars. To the left is the little space that’s cleared out for the food cart. Fiesta Cantina’s cart is a big red box and it has several faded red tables and matching chairs clustered around it.
We each order two tacos and a tamale, then take our glass Coke bottles and sit at one of the tables. Mal notices that our table is wobbly and tries to wiggle the table around, but eventually gives up.
I just watch her, sipping my Coke. She looks up at me, a careful expression on her face.
“You should be happy,” she says.
My expression darkens. “Is that right?”
She gives her head a tiny shake. “I meant… instead of moping around and scrubbing railings, you should be spending time with Luna.”
I press my lips into a thin line. “I told you. We had a falling out.”
Mal spreads her hands across the table, leaning closer to me. “Whatever you guys fought about, it cannot be that serious. You are both alive. You are both in good health. You are obviously into each other. Simply put, there is no good reason for you two to be apart.”
My lips tug down into a frown. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Is it?” she fires back. “I do not think that it is, frankly.”
Eyeing Malkia, I try to decide what tack to take. The man brings out our food and a plastic squeeze bottle of their green hot sauce. After covering my food in the sauce, I point the bottle at Mal.
“Luna lied to me,” I say. “Since the day she walked on my yacht, she has lied. She didn’t tell me about essentially being extorted by Fletcher. She just kept it to herself and tried to figure it out on her own.” I hand the hot sauce to Mal. “You know that I can’t deal with that kind of deception. I won’t. Not after what I’ve been through.”
“You are being a big baby,” she says, accepting the hot sauce from me. “Just because Michelle made some deadly mistakes — and she really did — that does not mean that you can just hide in your shell like a shy turtle. No risk, no reward. No reward, no happily ever after.”
I’m about to take a bite of my taco, but Mal’s words stop me. I set the taco down and stare at her hard. “Funny, that’s what Luna said. You two been hanging out and talking?”
She rolls her eye
s. “No. I have my own friends, thank you very much. Besides, what I said is just common sense. You cannot let the past dictate how happy your future will be. It is madness.”
My gaze tightens on her face. I take a bite of my taco, chewing and considering her words.
Do I miss Luna? Of course I fucking do. She’s all I’ve thought about and all I’ve dreamt about for a whole week straight. I’m going crazy without having her here by my side.
A silent sigh escapes me. “That doesn’t change the fact that she lied to me.”
Malkia glares at me, her mouth full of food. She chews and swallows, then takes me to task. “Gabriel, do you know how many things I have going on that I have not told you about? I can think of six things that I keep to myself just off the top of my head. Some of them are private. Some are things that I think you would get unnecessarily upset over. Some are just not related to you at all.”
I wrinkle my forehead. “So?”
“So everybody has their things that they do not want to talk about. Do not think that one day, you are going to fall into a relationship with a woman who is… what is the word? Without guile? That woman does not exist, Gabe.”
Rather than fire right back, I take a beat. I chew my food, staring at Mal.
Is she right? Are all women flawed in the same way? Am I crazy to give up the one woman that managed to capture my heart over a flaw that everyone has?
My heart beats a little bit faster at the very thought of forgiving Luna. Of taking her in my arms and pressing my lips to hers. Of being around her, smelling her hair, hearing her laugh.
My heart hurts at the way she deceived me… but maybe…
Maybe I should just look past it.
After all, it was just one tiny indiscretion…
Glancing up at Mal, my brow lowers. “How can I be sure that Luna won’t lie to me in the future?”
She considers my words for a long moment. “It is not possible to be certain. But if the potential reward outweighs the chance of being hurt…” She shrugs. “It would be worthwhile, would it not?”